Wanderlust

Tioman 17-19 May 2008

2008-05-25T13:50:00.004+08:00

Our story takes place on a pretty island

With beautiful turquoise waters

In the waters off this island there lives a mermaid

She starts out contented and happy with the things that be

She gets jealous when she sees her friends and their lovely legs

A weird fairy godmother appears and tells her it is possible for her too, to have legs, while the mermaid scoffs in disbelief

She makes a wish anyway

Her tail starts to fall to pieces and she screams in agony

She has sprouted a pair of legs! She is happy even if they appear pasty and pig-trotter-like

All's well that ends well.

-END-

Sentosa, Not for the Faint-Hearted

2008-03-23T23:20:00.006+08:00

Sentosa sunglasses... never leave home without it!

Into the Wild

2008-03-03T01:23:00.004+08:00

I don't know how many of you would have heard of this movie. Probably close to none... Well, it would really strike a chord with people who have gone to Alaska and experienced its wild beauty. I read the book last summer and had mixed feelings about it. But after watching the film, I'm really reminded of all I left behind there... It is an amazing place that is gentle yet raw at the same time. Haha I'm getting way philosophical here. The movie soundtrack is so good I'm gonna buy it! And I've been meaning to get KT Tunstall's album too.

Free to blog again in between jobs. Its a pretty good feeling :)

CGH

2008-03-01T22:11:00.004+08:00

Never thought I'd leave my first real job so soon. Met some really nice people whom I'll never forget. Come to think of it, I really should have taken some pictures at Aviva too.

My nice name tag and security pass. Didn't even get to keep the name tag :(

The desk that sees no human traffic apart from the cleaner (cos her cleaning supplies are kept near me)

I am very proud of my private toilet, it is so well-lit and clean!

The private sink

Sometimes when I'm really bored I walk a few rounds in this ward that's just beside my desk. I never noticed the tvs until my last day, when some technician left one on and I watched The Breakup for about 5 minutes.

The very nice pantry where we prepared all the meat and vegetables for the department lunch

I spend the mornings here reading the newspapers

My lau pok computer with the flickering screen

Lay Hwa, the very nice and good manager of the CTRU

With Pui Min and Lay Hwa

Turning my back on science and going into international relations. I hope NUS will be good.
And I must say having cellphone cameras are very useful for unobtrusive photo taking :p

Febrile

2008-01-07T21:48:00.000+08:00

Unglam pictures from TTSH days. Haha public hospitals really aren't the best. They won't let you die... that's about it. Also expect to be treated like you're really dumb.

Diagnosis: Tonsilitis/Pharyngitis

Dying...

Food is so bad.

Being on a drip is quite a pain.

Lastly, I hereby introduce the smelliest piece of pork in the world.

If none of this looks very appealing, remember to take care of your health, everyone!

Happy new year!

Why is glacier ice blue?

2007-11-02T12:14:00.000+08:00

An interesting question that has been posed to me umpteen times and I have also read the answer umpteen times and yet still can't remember it.

Here's the long answer:

Glacier ice is often a deep blue color. This is because of how the sunlight passes through the ice and what happens to the sunlight. Sunlight looks white. The light is really made up of all the colors of the rainbow. Each of the sun's colors have different amounts of energy in them. When the sunlight tries to go through the solid glacier ice crystals the sun gets broken up into lots of colors. Red and yellow have very little energy and the thick ice soaks up the red light more than it soaks up the blue light. The blue light has enough extra energy to get away from the solid ice crystals without getting absorbed or soaked up. This is why the only color people see is the blue color that escaped. The blue light has enough energy to escape the ice so that you can see it. That is why glacial ice is often a deep blue color.

Some glaciers do not look blue to people. If the glacier has a lot of air bubbles inside the ice crystals, the white sunlight gets reflected not soaked up. If the sunlight can get through the ice without all the rainbow colors getting scattered and soaked up, the ice will look white.

Glaciers get soil, rocks, snow and dirt mixed up with the ice. Then the ice can look a dirty gray color.

And the short answer is: Its structure is such that the light is refracted in a certain way and you only see the blue colour. Haha. Gray parts are just dirty!

Taiwan

2007-10-27T21:04:00.000+08:00

I love Taiwan. So many places yet unexplored, foremost of which is the East Coast and the central mountain ranges. Good food and good friends :D

Cute display outside a store selling all sorts of Halloween outfits. Saw some ang mohs poking around in there too.

Cultural performance

Spotted this cute wedding figurine on a car. Check out the bride's gown!

We went to 泡脚 for free. Very nice atmosphere with all the old folk sitting around.

Siberian husky!

They wrap 3 flavours of ice cream （red bean, yam and pineapple) and a bunch of peanut shavings in a thin wrapping. Yummy!

The huge peanut block

The northeast coast of Taiwan really resembles the Californian coast!

First trip up to Yangmingshan National Park, I met these 3 interesting oldies and we sang karaoke for SGD$0.50 per song in the mountains.

Only funny if you can read Chinese

What a local market looks like

菱角, looks remarkably like a bull's head. You crack open the shell and eat the flesh, which has a consistency similar to chestnuts.

Produce! Taiwan's typhoon made all the veggie prices go up.

Second Trip to Yangmingshan National Park

Its really quite a beautiful place if the weather is fine. In fact its my favourite place in Taipei.

Along the path from the bus station to the Visitor's Center

Special flagstone

Signpost at the top of the highest mountain in Taipei, 七星山 or Seven Star Mountain

小油坑，where the smell of rotten eggs wafts through the air

Geog students look! Fumarole!

The water was warm...

View from the vantage point outside the 小油坑 Visitor Center

Taiwan's version of autumn foliage? I asked my friend and she said the leaves don't really turn red there.

Jiantan MRT Station - access point for Yangmingshan, as well as Shihlin Night Market. A mountain hike followed by some 小吃s: perfect!

At 猫空, a good spot to drink tea and look at Taipei

Taipei 101 in the distance

At 溪头，a pretty place in the mountains around 台中

Taken in a cubicle in a public restroom haha

Central mountain ranges of Taiwan

New York and Boston

2007-10-10T23:28:00.000+08:00

An altogether very rushed trip but I enjoyed it, particularly Rent and meeting up with tons of old friends.

The M&M Store in Times Square

A whole wall of M&Ms! I like the purple and pink ones

Me and Ed

Me and Tricia

Boston

Tricia making dumplings at Val's house; she's very good at it!

Val making her claypot rice

MIT, an altogether depressing school where nerds are everywhere

Harvard is a lot prettier

Back to New York...

Pre-Rent dinner at Dallas BBQ

William and me

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artists line the walkway to the Met

Grand entrance

Mini Sphinx

The Apple flagship store on 5th Ave - super crowded

FAO Schwarz - really an amazing toy store

The glitziest McDonald's sign ever

Battery Park, where the ferries to the Statue of Liberty depart but we didn't go cos of lack of time. Really foggy day too so couldn't see her well :(

The famous Rockefeller ice-skating rink on its first day of operation

At the top of the observation deck at Rockefeller (tip: nicer and not as crowded as the Empire State Building)

Shopping in New York was of course fantastic and I highly recommend Century 21 if you ever go there :)

Goodbye Alaska

2007-10-10T08:46:00.000+08:00

At Nita's house with a bunch of Filipinos... they're all married to ang mohs!

Bill glares

Steve looks crazy as usual

I really, really miss Alaska and the two of them, plus Dan and Marlo -sob-

Juneau Escapades

2007-10-10T08:35:00.000+08:00

Went to Juneau for about five days after Tricia got here. Juneau is an awesome town (a city, even the capital by Alaskan standards only) that is kinda like a mini San Francisco cos there are lots of houses on hills. Its surrounded by mountains and water and is not accessible by road. Having said that, its got the most spectacular glaciers one could ask for and I was lucky enough to be able to see them by sea, air and land!

En route to see the Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord

The colorations on the seal bodies are so pretty...

It was a terribly overcast day (read: cold and windy) but that just makes the blues in the ice more striking.

A US Coast Guard icebreaker was going on a test run

Saw pods of whales repeatedly breaching the surface. Didn't really get good shots though.

Spent the next day walking around the city and hitting the usual tourist spots.

The Alaska State Capitol

The Juneau-Douglas Museum, and the background gives you an idea of what Juneau is like.
Viewing deck at the State Office Building

In the Juneau Museum

The Herbert Glacier Experience

Our helicopter

The landscapes formed by nature are amazing

The pilot landed on this ridiculously small-looking piece of ice and we all got out to walk on the glacier in our crampon boots.

All of us on the tour!

Mount Roberts Tramway

View from the top

The resident bald eagle which can't be released due to injuries

Mendenhall Glacier

A bear drawn in glacial silt

3 real bears - a mama with a salmon in her mouth and her 2 cubs

That's pretty much the end of the Juneau trip. Very fruitful!

Last Days in Denali

2007-10-10T08:31:00.000+08:00

Dave in the background trying to ambush us

The crew

Fish Creek area covered in snow with Denali in the distance. We made snowmen which was way fun!

Bill's 50th Birthday Party

2007-09-30T17:19:00.001+08:00

The sign directing people to the party started like this...

Somewhere along the way it became this thanks to the Panorama folks :p

Here's Bill at the start of the night with custom made "Kiss me its my birthday" signs for him and Skeeter :D

Joe demonstrating how to attract a moose in classic moose porn style.

Marlo tried to liven things up hehe

Bill looking at his birthday present with immense satisfaction

Bill's cake

He blows out the candles

Cuts his cake

Happy birthday Bill! You're the best.

Timeline

2007-09-25T23:55:00.000+08:00

Tues Sept 25 - Sat Sept 29 Juneau
Sat Sept 29 - Mon Oct 1 Anchorage
Mon Oct 1 New York
Tues Oct 2 - Thurs Oct 4 Boston
Thurs Oct 4 - Sun Oct 7 NYC
Tues Oct 9 - Tues Oct 23 Taiwan

And finally, I'll be home on that same last day of my trip. Yay.

P.S My cellphone number is (907) 223-9885. It feels so good to be connected to the world again...

Talkeetna and the Last Supper

2007-09-14T12:54:00.000+08:00

Went to Talkeetna with Dan and Marlo on one of my offdays. I was about to go crazy from staying in Denali for... forever it seemed :p Had fun!

Where we had pizza for dinner

I jumped in for the picture

Hudson Air Plane

Dan isn't a bachelor... don't cry.

His girlfriend is a moose.

Actually, his real girlfriend is Marlo and she's way cuter than a moose :D

Me with Vega, the cute kid belonging to the person who runs Talkeetna hostel

... more Vega...

And we decided to head out after that. That's all folks!

Next night, we went to 229 Parks Restaurant for dinner. Boss treated us and it was absolutely fantabulous. I had tenderloin steak and it was so good.

Dan and Marlo looking iffy about the dessert with the smallest scoop of ice cream on the planet.

Happy family: Dan, Marlo, Bill, me, Steve

Rafting with Singaporeans

2007-09-14T12:53:00.000+08:00

Went rafting with Shiangyang and Kenny who came to visit from Singapore. Fun!

Thanks for coming guys!

Discovery Hike

2007-09-06T12:17:00.000+08:00

Went on a discovery hike yesterday! And what is that you may ask?

From National Parks Service website:

Discovery hikes are a great way for the adventurous and well-prepared to explore the heart of Denali. These ranger-led hikes go everywhere, so expect uneven terrain, small stream crossings, close encounters with dense vegetation, and unpredictable weather. To see if a discovery hike is right for you please take a look at the description and gear information. For safety concerns, rangers may turn away unprepared hikers.

Discovery Hikes are offered daily during the summer and are limited to 11 persons. These ranger-led adventures range from moderate (elevation gain less than 1000 feet) to strenuous (elevation gain more than 1000 feet).

On the way into the park we saw Denali (Mt. McKinley) in all its glory! That mean seeing the bottom, middle and top of it all at once :p Most of it is obscured at any one time and its only completely visible about 1/3 of the time.

Denali from far away

...closer

... closest!

Can you spot the 2 caribou in the picture? They blend so well into the tundra.

Here's 5 Dall sheep on the side of a mountain in a drainage basin.

Closeup

Teresa (from Ireland) and me on the hike.

A fox was very curious and came close to us.

It posed for a picture!

Caribou are starting to form groups to migrate.

Very majestic-looking silhouettes.

I really love the Denali area now. Absolutely beautiful with the reds, oranges, yellows and golds washing over the landscape. Best time to be here! Also saw the Northern lights last night, although it wasn't extremely spectacular. Completed my to-do list in Alaska so I'm satisfied :)

Singaporean Food

2007-09-04T16:10:00.000+08:00

I missed curry puffs and pineapple tarts so... I made them! Hehe. A lot of work though. Not to be repeated.

Before frying

After!

Closeup

(pictures turned out blur cos I borrowed someone's camera and settings were funny, sigh)

My favourite pineapple tarts...

Yummy!

Kantishna

2007-08-31T15:58:00.000+08:00

Spent yesterday having fun! Took a flight into Kantishna (the deepest part of the park accessible by road) and my pilot named Connie was very nice and friendly. Cost only $20 as opposed to the $175 that they usually charge guests because I'm an employee. When I got inside, played ping pong at the lodge with the employees before taking the shuttle bus out. Had a really cool driver named Gary, and I managed to get him to give me a ride back to the hostel. Lucky... otherwise I'd have had to hitchhike in the dark. Not too many pictures, sky was kinda overcast. Connie is a flight instructor in Iowa - should I go take lessons? He also suggested being a flight stewardess. More and more my thoughts are starting to drift back to what I'm gonna do once I'm back home. Job hunting is the worst!

Fall colours

Thoroughfare river near Eielson

Pretty tundra illuminated by the setting sun... looks like flower fields?

... and there's a huge pile of bear scat containing blueberries, crowberries and cranberries! Haha.

Denali National Park

2007-08-09T12:28:00.001+08:00

Haven't blogged in the longest time... Due to a combination of reasons including laziness, lack of interesting happenings plus bad internet. But I had an amazing time yesterday!

So as you may or may not know, there is only one road into Denali National Park, and it is not open to private vehicles, the only way in being a ride on on of the park's shuttle buses. These aren't the most luxurious buses, and are essentially like the typical American school buses you see around.

Fortunately, and very interestingly, we have a couple of Korean guests staying at the hostel who are filming a documentary about the wildlife in Denali. So they've paid hundreds of dollars for a permit to drive into the park, and I got to ride with them! So its free, as opposed to me paying for a bus ticket, and in an SUV. Heh :)

The day started pretty uneventfully, though we did see a lot of caribou and ground squirrels.

Caribou

Ground squirrel

It was pouring a lot of the time, which is simply bad for sightseeing and obviously even worse for photography and filming. To compensate for that, we saw a lot of very pretty rainbows. I can't quite capture their beauty...

Polychrome Mountains

But on the way back, we found 4 bears foraging for food in a river valley below the roadside! The guys were filming, and the bears were moving toward us. I felt pretty safe cos the bears were way below us. Park regulations state that we should remain 300 yards (300m) away from bears, and to never get in between a mama bear and her cubs cos she'll get really defensive.

After a while I got bored and waited in the car. When I got out again to look for the bears, they were nowhere in sight in the valley. That's when I noticed them right in front of me climbing up the slope! I kinda got a little frightened and was thinking "hm this is dangerous". The Koreans were filming enthusiastically and one of them told me to get back in the car (for safety reasons). But it was so cool... the mama bear and her 3 cubs climbed up the hill, walked right past us to cross the road and continued up the mountain on the other side. We must have only been 10-20m away from the bears. Truly an amazing feeling...

The bears were in the valley at first...

The Koreans with the bears... I was hiding in the car :p

Later that night, we also saw a fox, which was cool. Other common sightings included ground squirrels, hares, grouse, and seagulls. Wildlife filming is pretty interesting, but its really a pain sometimes because 99% of the time you're just waiting for the perfect moment. And I happened to be with the Koreans when that perfect moment came. Lucky me!

Incidentally, one of them suggested me working for him as a writer while the other one is willing to pay me to live in his house and teach his daughters English. Job opportunities in Korea maybe? Haha.

Back in Alaska

2007-07-05T20:03:00.000+08:00

Hello all! Been dying to blog but simply didn't have the opportunity. This time I decided to travel light and leave my laptop behind. It was hard being cut off but my back thanks me for it. So after leaving Denali, I headed down to Anchorage, where I stayed at my friend Marc's house, then went to Seward for a couple of nights, back to Anchorage, then flew out to Seattle and finally Tokyo.

Phew. While I was in Japan I feasted on ramen, good ol' Japanese curry, fruity beers, senbei, chicken wings, and all the Asian goodness that I don't get in Alaska. Of course, the wedding was fantastic and I'm so so so happy I got to see my family again.

It was time to leave all too soon. Coming back, I stopped over in Hawaii and Seattle before getting back into Alaska. Independence Day was alright, the parade was ok but I got to eat my halibut and corn fritters so that was all good. Picture time!

Seward

Seward is a seaside community known for beautiful scenery and fishing. It has a Sealife Center here where wounded animals get rehabilitated for release into the wild so that's cool. But exhibit-wise, I'd say Underwater World, Jurong Bird Park and the Night Safari are just as good. The most fascinating thing about Seward is its fishing industry. They catch HUGE fish here. The day I was there someone caught a halibut that weighed 250 pounds! A lot of you reading this probably weigh about 100 pounds.

This starfish was walking as I took the picture, which explains the fuzzy image

Cute puffin

Cute seal

Some boat at the harbor

Bunch of fishermen with their catch

The 250 pound halibut and the guy who caught it

Halibut being pushed around in wheelbarrows. They're huge.

Took a cruise in Resurrection Bay, compliments of Major Marine Tours, which gave me the chance to see sea otters, bald eagles, a whale pod, seals, bears, puffins etc. in their natural environment which is pretty cool.

They gave me a free cruise - cheers!

Pretty island

I also visited Exit Glacier, the only glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park that is accessible by road. You can literally walk up to the face of the glacier but they put up rope barriers cos someone got killed when the glacier calved and a block of ice fell on the person :p

See the trail with people on it?

That's the glacier from really far away

And me really close to it! Those are two Taiwanese I met on the trip

After that I took the train back to Anchorage, which is an absolutely beautiful ride, passing mountains, waterfalls, glaciers and the sea.

Breathtaking la!

Japan

There are so many people here I was frightened in the beginning. Frightful heat and humidity too. But oh man the food. It actually tastes good and has nutrients! And supermarkets/convenience stores are everywhere! I sound like I come from the wilderness. Anyway the wedding was great. It was in an Italian restaurant at Odaiba overlooking the bay and my kor's quite cute friend drove us there in a Toyota Mark X. Very nice car but I digress :)

After that there pretty much was no time left and I flew off after buying assorted foodstuffs from the 100 yen shop in Harajuku. This was arguably one of the highlights of the trip haha.

Ramen and gyozaaaaaaaaa

Flight back was uneventful, passed through Hawaii and thought of going to Waikiki but it would have cost me 60USD to spend an hour that (cab there and back), so I decided against it. There's always next time!

Back to work. Gahh!

Summer Solstice Toga Party

2007-07-03T11:35:00.000+08:00

On summer solstice (June 21st), we had a toga party! I wore a pink sheet and made a headpiece out of wire and bluebells :)

Pre-party Drinks

Steve, me, Bill, Dan, Marlo

Marlo, me, Peiya, Dan

Dan the Man

Dan won the Sexiest Male Toga contest!

Flightseeing

2007-06-13T17:52:00.000+08:00

I went for flightseeing for free! Excellent excellent, because we got to go on a day when it was clear (cloud tends to obscure the peak of Mt McKinley very often, its so high that it creates its own weather). Since no one seems to know what flightseeing is, I shall elaborate.

Definition: the practice or business of transporting tourists to otherwise inaccessible wilderness areas by plane/helicopter, for viewing the areas by air or for organized hikes

Yeap. The tour that I went on usually costs about 300USD! Unfortunately there wasn't a glacier landing but its free so I shouldn't be picky. The horseback riding costs 100+ USD too. More free stuff that I haven't done: rafting and the husky tour (already went last year so no rush) and the ATV ride. Serious perks of the job!

Pictures as usual will do the talking. Obviously cannot capture the grandeur of the whole place. For that you'll have to see it for yourself. Doesn't help that the windows were kinda unclear and lotsa dead bugs were splattered on the windscreen. I did luck out and get to be the co-pilot though (my duties were to not touch anything), so good views abounded!

-Deluge of Pictures-

Glacially carved valleys tend to have braided rivers.

The Alaska Range

A lot of the park is turning green

Mt. McKinley (Denali is the Native name)

The bunch of small dots is the base camp for ascent to the peaks of Mt. McKinley. If you look carefully you can see the tiny trails heading upward from the camps.

Love the texture of the snowy mountains

Fascinating crevasses

Our pilot

That's Marlo right at the back, and Dan, her boyfriend

Beautiful ridge

I'm pretty sure this is the best thing I've done in my life (the other thing is probably UCSD). Meeting many new and interesting people, including an Irish guy who works for Greenpeace and has been to all the places I want to go. He spent February on an icebreaker cruise to the Antarctic to go after a whaling ship and now he's in Alaska after the International Whaling Commission in Anchorage. He met Hayden Panettiere from Heroes too! Amazingly he didn't think she was pretty.

A lecturer from UCSD came too! And on the day that I was wearing my Revelle shirt. Coincidence? FM, she said she teaches American Culture. Her name's Mikaela something. Heh.

Morning Mountain Hike

2007-06-13T17:19:00.000+08:00

Pictures from when the only two Singaporeans to visit so far this year were here. Shanqing and Ying Chiang! Ying Chiang was Peiya's schoolmate in St. Nicholas and we kinda all knew some people in common. Singapore is very small.

Still very early, knee deep snow halfway up the mountain.

Me, Ying Chiang, Peiya

Walking back to the main road to get back to the hostel for dinner.

All pictures courtesy of Shanqing. Thanks!

Hikes, Old Friends and a Birthday

2007-06-08T12:25:00.000+08:00

Work is tiring me out. And whenever I get offdays I go to Fairbanks or Anchorage so no rest on those days either! Anyway, still quite happy. Wish I had more time to spend not working.

Horseshoe Lake

Abandoned beaver dam.

Railroad tracks

View of Savage River from rocky outcrop

Seagull with injured wing

Pictures with New Friends, and Old Ones Too

Chris, me, Sue. Chris is uber cool and I have a place to stay in Colorado now!

Ed, Wilson, me and Marc in Snow City Cafe.

Steve's Birthday

Steve thought I forgot his birthday but I didn't! We made him the shirt he's always been joking about. It says "looking for wife" on the front, and "you'll do" on the back. Think he was very touched. He said its the best birthday he's had in ten years and I'm sure that's not true but it was still nice of him to say that.

Dan and Steve with his new shirt

Crazy Steve

Nice picture. Dan, Marlo, me, Ed, Steve and Bill.

Post

2007-06-01T10:44:00.000+08:00

Hello hello hello. Ok I know some of you have been waiting to see pictures. I'll try to satisfy those inquisitive eyes now. Its very hard to do a proper blog post because the place where I live has no internet access and the only way for me to do it is to blog at work, which is not very easy, as you can imagine.

So here goes! I'll try to make it have less words and more pictures. Life here is such that you spend your time talking to people, drinking beer around campfires, working or playing, so that doesn't leave much time for computers...

Anchorage

Outside Ted Stevens International Airport

Picture taken from outside Spenard Hostel, which my boss also owns

Denali Mountain Morning Hostel

View from outside my camper

Those cabins you see on the right are part of the hostel. Campfires, smores and beer by the creek!

Carlo Creek was initally dry and frozen

My humble abode, affectionately called "the Palace". I can hear the pitter patter of raindrops right above my head when it rains.

Horse Riding

Dave, Steve and I went horse riding on my first day off. Everyone said you'd be sore after the first time but luckily an Israeli girl who has 5 years of horse-riding experience taught me the right posture beforehand so I didn't suffer any ill effects at all. Horse riding works the back and legs muscles!

Dave the sweetheart and Steve the crazy pirate

Me and Dave

Beautiful horse, not the one I rode :(

Actual pictures of me on the horse will have to come later because they're on Steve's camera.

Fairbanks trip

As I might have mentioned earlier, I went to Fairbanks, a city 2 hours drive north, on my second and third off-days with an English guy, Ed, and a German guy, Sandor. Going somewhere with two ang mohs, hot springs, no less, might sound risky, but a Japanese girl that had been travelling with them for a while told me they were really good people so I was more reassured. It was fun!

First stop was lunch at a Chinese restaurant that was run by some Hongkongers who had migrated to Alaska. Spoke to them in Cantonese, it was really nice. Food wasn't that good actually, but they were very hospitable. Free tea, chinese cookies, hot chocolate, Coke refills etc.

Very cute baby at the Chinese restaurant. He's called Caleb, and his older brother is called Aidan. Love that name...

Chena Hot Springs

Sandor, or as we call him, Mr Ritter, met his German friend who joined us for the hot springs. I didn't have a swimsuit so they gave me 15 mins to buy one at the store. Best! Some more I couldn't fit into the adult sizes (too big) so I was shuttling about the adult, junior and kids departments. -_-" Sorry, no swimsuit pictures though English guy really looked cute in them. He wore the England shorts and momentarily looked like Michael Owen :p

Mr Ritter and Ed

Ed, Leo (the other German) and me

Leo being himself = a daft bugger who chases skirts and alcohol

Here's the pug from the hostel we stayed at. I think its cute but Ed thought it was just ugly.

Next stop was Pioneer Park, termed by Lonely Planet as "Fairbanks' guilty pleasure". Basically a really crappy place that would only amuse kids 5 and under. See bored faces for proof.

Looks promising!

...but its not.

University of Alaska, Fairbanks Museum of the North

This was the next stop. Just a modern-looking museum. I don't mind museums but am not the kind to read everything in detail.

Cool-looking art called Raven: In the Pink by James Schoppert

Ed, Mr Ritter and me with real stuffed bear. Imagine facing that thing in real life. Not fun.

Dedicated to Lynn Koh!

Denny's

Dinner was here and Ed stuffed his face. Not a pretty sight to watch. He called it the Denny's principle. PS. this Denny's is the Northernmost Denny's in the world.

Breakfast for dinner. Denny's serves breakfast all day long. It was good.

Stuffed Ed and me

Random shots

From road, just outside hostel

Baked blueberry muffins

Cute kid, forgot name

Second Fairbanks trip

Went to Fairbanks with Steve, Peiya and Ed again. Basically did nothing much, let Steve visit the bank, we went to Chena River and at Peiya's insistence we went to Pioneer Park. Never thought I'd set foot in that place again. I was wrong... haha.

Tree outside Wells Fargo in Fairbanks. When the flowers fell the white petals made it look like it was snowing.

Steve, me and Ed by Chena River. Stupid Steve grabbed me and pulled me to his side!

Chena River

Bored in Pioneer Park

Peiya with wooden sword

Mount Healy Hike

View from halfway up Mount Healy

Silly Pose

At the top!

Can you see me?

Alright, that's it for now. Hope the pictures were interesting!

Hello from Alaska

2007-05-21T04:37:00.000+08:00

Hi all!

I realise I haven't posted in the longest time. Many things have been happening in this period of time... Now I am sort of settled in. Working environment is very nice. Sunshine, mountains, snow, hail, rain, rabbits, squirrels, a gurgling creek and campfires are part of my life now. So different from SG life! Here we don't know what day/date it is, what's going on in the world (no TV)...

So let's see. I never talked much about that stalker, and for some reason all my friends in SG have been away and not on MSN too! Basically I met him at the hostel in Anchorage, and he kept bugging me and even wrote me a letter with some weird-sounding bits in it. Asked me to call him and said he'll come up to Denali to visit. Hope he doesn't show up!

My coworkers are Steve the Englishman and Dave the American. Steve's crazy and says he wants to marry me. Dave's really sweet but he's leaving cos he's just a stand-in. And Josh the druggie and Seth the drunkard from Peiya's side think I'm cute. But for the moment I am safe haha.

I'll try to get some pictures up soon. Miss everyone and most of all, the food... I'm getting three days off from tomorrow onwards. Will try to squeeze in some rafting and a trip to Fairbanks and hopefully the hot springs. Rafting will be with Steve and Dave while the trip to Fairbanks should be with an English guy who looks like Matthew Fox from Lost! and a German guy. I also saw an Australian who's the spitting image of David Beckham.

Hostellers are cute. Woohoo!

Update

2007-05-08T19:21:00.000+08:00

Hello all!

Yes, I'm safe in Alaska. Don't know for how long though (for details see later part of post). It is now 3.29AM.

Strangely enough, I felt pretty sad when I left Singapore this time. Think I'm becoming more sentimental. Miss my mama a lot! And thank you very much once again to all friends who showed up and gave well wishes and goodbye gifts.

Had a very good time in Taiwan because I was able to meet 姚蓉姐，陈冠臻 and their friend 小萱。 Thank you for taking me out!

Amazingly enough, I met an ex-colleague who was going to be taking the same flight as me to head for Alaska. That's Tess.

Especially for Shanyan, XQ and Joanne： view from just outside the lousy international terminal. When the customs officer asked if I had any food I said no. I know its wrong to lie but my food stash is too precious to me! Incidentally, I am feeling rather starved because I do not like fast food that much. No income yet so the Alaskan crab will have to wait. No corn fritters for me either cos the market isn't open till next weekend :(

So what have I been doing for the 2 days I've spent in Anchorage? Slept quite a bit, yes, visited my ex-coworkers which was very heartwarming but also heartbreaking (a lot of them look older, some have left, some have had deaths in the family, one got cancer). Very humbling to see them so old and yet still working to support their families and pay for their medical bills. Lucky peeps take note ok!

-important announcement: my jamaican stalker just came into the room! will continue post later after attempting to escape-

Packing

2007-05-04T11:40:00.000+08:00

Been really busy these few days! Exams seem like a long time ago. Had to move out of PGP and meet people and run errands and buy stuff. Hopefully most of the work is done though I'm not done with packing. I think I can open a secondhand store with the amount of junk I have -_-"

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their well wishes and gifts :)

Lynn, Carine and Voz for the travel journal. Very cool.

William for lending me his precious Canon Powershot S2 IS. Will try very hard to take good care of it! Had fun with the bunch of you + Zhao Yue and SQ at KTV :) Zhao Yue sings so sweetly...

Xiaorui for the very cute gloves

XQ, Joanne and SY for the mountains of food! I will enjoy Alaska for you all. Those Westmark days were 痛苦 but still fun.

My mama for a countless number of things worth a small fortune (haiz)
My papa for the mini Maglite and pouch

Greetings from Yumiko, Kyungee, FM, Shin -hug-

Sorry to those I had no time to meet! Like KK, Jiayi, Jia, Steph and the A-L gang. Feel free to request for souvenirs from Alaska, Japan, New York or Taiwan (if you are reading this, you qualify for application haha). And please give me your address if you'd like to receive postcards and letters! I might be very bored (no shopping there) so I should have plenty of time to write. I'm assuming they have a post office somewhere around :p

This time I'm wiser, most of my suitcase space is taken up by food and food-related items haha. Noodles la, pot la, cutlery, milo, curry paste, chicken rice mix... (this is not the complete list) I'm gonna eat away at it till I have lots of space for shopping! Apparently I have my own small stove and fridge in my camper so I can play masak masak ^^

Looking forward to meeting 瑶蓉姐姐 in Taiwan. Ok I've psyched myself up for the trip. Many good things to come :)

Rebonded Hair ^^

2007-04-16T14:49:00.000+08:00

Broke but Happy

2007-04-14T01:10:00.000+08:00

The adidas® adiSTAR® ClimaCool® Cap offers performance features for hard-core runners. ClimaCool® moisture management technology combines with mesh cross air channels to vent sweat and heat, keeping you dry and regulating your body temperature. The elastic loop rear closure with button clip provides a custom fit, and front and back reflective strips enhance your safety in low light conditions.

Features

100% polyester microfiber
ClimaCool® moisture management technology
Running-style low-crown trainer cap
Mesh cross air channel for ventilation
Elastic loop rear closure with button clip
Reflective strips on front and back
Heat transfer adidas® brandmark on crown
Imported

I know I'm no hard core runner but still...

Labbers Part II

2007-04-11T22:26:00.000+08:00

Xiaorui, me, Lili (my fellow late-nighter from Dr. Low's lab)

Dandan, Xiaorui, me, Shuzhen, Lihui

??, me, Pui Mun

me, Xiaorui and Jiayi ktv-ing~~~

Happy, happy, happy. Goodbye experiments, hello life!

:)

2007-04-11T21:48:00.000+08:00

Thesis submitted. No more eppendorf tubes, centrifuges, LB, E. coli, endothelial cells and the rest of it. New lease of life!

Xiaorui and Jiayi

Xingjun, Xiaorui, Weiling, me, Jiayi, Huapeng

Shuting, me, Xiaorui, Jiayi

Back row: Ke, Huapeng, Donglai, Farooq
Middle row: Lily, Boss, Sun Wei
Front row: Jinghui, me, Xiaorui

Travel Plans

2007-03-17T16:37:00.000+08:00

So... I will be leaving Singapore on Saturday, 5 May at 2.40pm, reaching Anchorage on the morning of the 6th, and will get to spend 2 days there before heading up to Denali on the 8th and starting work on the 9th.

Sometime in late June, I'll need to fly to Japan for my brother's wedding.

Stopping work around 20th Sept, travel around Alaska then New York, leaving NY on Oct 7 11.45pm to go Taiwan, then flying back to SG on the 23rd.

Whoopee!

Must not get too distracted.

Friends from Korea/Japan!

2007-03-07T00:43:00.000+08:00

Forgot-name, forgot-name, Kyungee, me, Yumiko :)

Disappearing Act

2007-03-03T23:12:00.000+08:00

So it's been a looong time since I've blogged. Wonder if people remember I exist. I was also informed by Lynn that that tourist picture of me is rather daft so I thought I should replace it as the topmost post :D

To make things simple, I've been stuck in lab. Trying to squeeze out every bit of time I can to get some results before my poster presentation and thesis submission. I'm sure everyone else is working very hard too but it seems to have become some kind of obsession for me. Hm... The strange thing is I know I definitely don't like this and I'll get out of it once I graduate.

Anyhow, I'm sure everyone knows but I'll be going back to Alaska this summer. The last time I was there there was hardly any time to do the things I wanted to do. Went with non-outdoorsey people la. And I was pretty much stuck in the city most of the time. This time I'll be going to work just outside Denali National Park, whose primary attraction is Denali, of course. The mountain is actually taller than Everest! From bottom to peak that is. Here's a picture of Denali with Wonder Lake in the foreground.

More amazing pictures of Denali and all the other US National Parks and lots of other places can be found at this website. This guy takes super nice photos~~~

Terra Galleria Photography

Denali Photos

In order to attempt to capture such scenes I want to get a new camera! Here are the options:

1. Canon S3 IS

2. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H2

3. Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1

The first two have 12x optical zoom but aren't compacts while the Panasonic is a compact with 10x optical zoom! Compare that to most compacts which have only 3x zoom. (My Ixus couldn't capture any of the wildlife at all... they looked like dots -_-") Quality-wise I'm sure the Canon would win but its so ugly :( Sony looks alright but I'm not used to the interface and don't want to invest in memory sticks which would otherwise be useless. Panasonic is of course very portable but reviews say that it produces very noisy images. Sigh~~~ Unfortunately the prices are in the same order with Canon being the most expensive. Thoughts, anyone?

Die la I'm getting carried away with thoughts of Alaska. Whole day thinking of stuff I wanna buy like hiking boots, a day pack, etc. Haha!

Anyway, wanna wish FM a belated happy birthday. Hope you had an enjoyable time with Jas! I'm sure you did... お誕生日おめでとうございます！

On a related note, I'll be working at the Denali Mountain Morning Hostel, a place I stayed at last summer.
Pictures I stole from the website:

The hostel is just beside Carlo Creek and is surrounded by pretty mountains. When I arrive in May I hope there's still snow! Will probably freeze to death. The winds in Alaska are cooooold. I'd say windproof wear is as important as warm stuff.

Everyone/anyone who has the chance, please visit because you will not regret it! (I know the chances of this happening are very remote but I thought I would extend the invitation anyway)

Part II - For Shin

This is what you are supposed to cut and paste if you decide to participate in the tagging game..
Each player of this game starts off by giving 6 weird things about themselves. People who get tagged need to write in a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. After you do that, leave them each a comment letting them know you tagged them and to read your blog.

I'm weird because...

1. ...I like to eat the seeds+jellyish stuff in the middle of chilled cucumbers.

2. ...I tend to sleep even later when I'm tired.

3. ...like Shin, I get itchy hands and clean up messy places. When I get really picky, I start bothering about details like whether stuff is arranged properly. That means parallel/at right angles. Hah!

4. ...even though I'm tired and rather burnt out, people around me keep saying I look damn happy and ask why I'm smiling so much. (This excludes my whining kakis)

5. ...I constantly waver between being a complete hermit, contentedly burying myself in anime,dramas and books and not seeing the Sun, and dying to get out there to go hiking/rafting/paragliding etc!

6. ...I like to wear nice clothes but always end up looking kinda grubby because I value comfort and convenience more. Ok that's not very weird but kind of a sad realisation. Haha.

I shall skip the tagging 6 people part cos I bet everyone is too busy. Sigh. One month left, 加油加油！

What A Tourist Looks Like

2007-01-11T02:40:00.000+08:00

Say It's Possible

2007-01-08T18:29:00.000+08:00

Taken from Youtube:

"People from around the world filmed themselves and sent their videos to me. I asked everyone to answer the question "what would you do/want if anything were possible?" in three words or less. THANK YOU to all of you. This project is a true reflection of what we can do together.

Directed by Jonathan Bird and produced by Sam Englebardt and Terra Naomi.

For more information on how this video was created please go here: www.terranaomi.com.

Peace and love to the world in 2007.

love
terra"

Almost There.

2007-01-08T17:56:00.000+08:00

Dear NUS and select UCSD peeps,

Its our last semester (last 2 quarters for UCSD)! Though it might be cold, sometimes lonely, or even utterly depressing at times, and we need to carry heavy loads,

Let's try to enjoy the journey as best as we can,

For the view at the top will be lovely (to me that means goodbye NUS!)

Remember,

Happy AY2006/2007 Sem 2!

How I wish I was one of those people in the pictures... :D Kilimanjaro anyone?

Happy Birthday Voz!

2006-12-29T21:54:00.000+08:00

A high intake of caffeine at once can cause caffeine-induced mental disorder. The symptoms include restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, stomach upset, muscle twitching, incoherent speech, heart palpitations and excessive alertness.

Does Voz care?

.
.
.
Obviously not! :D

Anyway, whether she's on coffee or not also still very hyper.

Happy birthday babe! -hugs-

Ipoh

2006-12-29T21:02:00.000+08:00

Nowadays no time to blog and no energy either. Let the pictures do the talking!

Food

Famous Ipoh Hor Fun... Very Q

Some fish thing

Ipoh version of ice kachang

Excellent food at Nonya restaurant

Caving

Unfortunately, there aren't any other pictures cos we didn't want our cameras to get wet. Anyway, it was quite fun and most of us got pretty wet while coming out via the underground river. Some old granny knocked her head on the cave rock and 头破血流！

Cameron Highlands

At Home
Mama Chew and her yummy cooking. Thanks KK for the good food, fun, hospitality and company!

Lab Outing

2006-12-28T20:28:00.000+08:00

I suck at bowling! Clockwise from top left: Soheila (from London but originally Iran), Junxiang (UROPS), Huapeng, Donglai, Jianhua, Ke, Lan Tian, Jinghui, Prof Ge, me, Xiaorui, Grace (UROPS). Everyone else is from China hehe.

来自台湾的爱心礼物 I

2006-12-28T20:08:00.001+08:00

St James Power Station

2006-12-17T01:30:00.000+08:00

I've gone to St. James Power Station! Just to look-see look-see...

Anyway, its just opposite from Vivocity as I'm sure you all know. When we first walked up to the building, we had no idea where anything was (there are 9 establishments there excluding the restaurants). Here's a short review on each of them:

Movida
Movida means 'party' in Cuban street slang, and its supposed to play world music. When we went there their band from Parauay was playing and singing, and though they were good it was deafening. Too loud. Heineken costs $9.

Bellini Room (2nd floor)
Like this the best because its a chill-out kinda place. Supposed to have performances too but there weren't any going on when we there. They serve really addictive tapioca chips and the Bellini ($20) tastes really good! Recommended.

Gallery Bar (2nd floor)
This can be accessed via Bellini Room or via its own entrance on the first floor (a bit hard to find). Anyway, its named as such because it provides a good view of Powerhouse, Movida and Dragonfly. Good for taking a look at what's going on down below. Friendly staff.

Dragonfly
This place gets super super crowded. Think squeezing through a crush of bodies, and people with leery eyes. Haha. Was very smoky. Couldn't see anything so we cleared out quick. But its draw is the live band and dancers who perform Chinese pop songs.

Powerhouse (1st floor)
Club with big dance floor. This place was really entertaining. The waiter at the Gallery Bar told us its for "youths" and "yuppies" but when we went there we found lots of old people. Think 30s to 40s (and above?)!!! Some of them were actually dancing on a raised platform. When I say dancing, I mean clapping and bad gyrating movements. There was also an old guy wearing sunglasses and dancing with an old lady. Not for the faint-hearted.

Mono
Not to be overly scientific, but doesn't this make you think of infectious mononucleosis aka kissing disease? Or, er, people singing in a monotone? Ok, the correct interpretation is that the place is designed to a monocromatic theme. Who would've known...This is on the 3rd floor and can be accessed by climbing a staircase inside Dragonfly or by taking the elevator from outside. Horrifying singing can be heard here (the main area is like one of those big karaoke areas, meaning you subject your ears to possible aural torture). There are private rooms also but I think this might not be the best place for karaoke :p Forgot to check out the prices. The singing kinda scared us away.

Peppermint Park
Doesn't look exciting, its an outdoor bar with swings and hammocks. But wear nice nice how to sit in hammock?

The Lobby
Saddest of all, there's no signboard and we could barely locate the place. Nobody there.

The Boiler Room
Not open yet but going to be open very soon!

If you're intending to go, remember to get a stamp on your hand at the first place you go to because it can be used to enter all the other 8 places, no matter what they are. Especially useful for Dragonfly because the queue gets really long... but of course it was a Saturday night which I'd assume means a bigger crowd.

Lastly, we had supper at the Station Kitchen. This comprises of a japanese Charcoal barbecue restaurant, What You Do Prata (not typo, dunno how they name one) and Din Tai Fung noodle bar. The charcoal place looked really pretty good and we were expecting prices to be sky high (think japanese style restaurant with the low tables and wagyu beef) but it was quite reasonable. Beef/Alaskan Crab was about/slightly over $10 each. They bring this pail with charcoal to your table and place it under your own smoke-sucking hob. Hehe. Beef was very good. Alaskan crab was good but of course it tastes better in Alaska!

Point to note: the staff in the restaurant can be quite sticky. Of course being a japanese resturant they shout "Irrashaimase!" and "Arigatou gozaimashita!" in a deafening chorus, but that's only the beginning. While we were there, there were quite few people so we had like 4 people milling around our super small 2 person table. And this other guy kept hanging around! Kept asking me to try beef tongue, and when I grudgingly agreed, I asked "are you gonna stand here and wait for me to eat?" So he moved like 5 steps away and flew right back once I had eaten the thing to ask how it was. When I asked where the toilet was he insisted on walking me there and asked "Should I wait for you here?" Haha I was so freaked out...

But all in all, the food is good and value for money. Try it out ok? And if anyone wants to go listen to some jazz and have a Berllini I want to go again! Haiyoh really heading for bankruptcy...

Readings

2006-12-13T00:01:00.000+08:00

Forgot to add,　I decided to subscribe to this cool magazine called Action Asia! Super cool holiday recommendations for those searching for that adrenaline rush. Just look at this month's cover! Designed to attract me. Already did Alaska, Antarctica is left. I think there's a lot less infrastructure though. Imagine going on an icebreaker cruise... -drool-

"Action Asia is dedicated to bringing you the very latest on the most unusual and interesting destinations from around the region, and the most exciting things to do when you are there. Whether it is scuba diving in the Maldives, trekking in Nepal or soaking up the culture in Laos Action Asia uses a vast network of world-renowned contributors to bring you the latest travel tips and practical information on how to make the most out of your next trip.

Alongside this practical travel information readers also enjoy a mix of lifestyle, cultural and environmental features that reflect and celebrate the rich diversity of Asia. Action Asia also provides readers with heart stopping-accounts of adventures and adventurers throughout the region, often providing a rare insight into what it is like to push personal, physical and natural limits.

Action Asia uses award winning photography and exciting design to bring the information alive, and ensure that each issue of Action Asia is as inspirational as it is aspirational."

I also bought Lonely Planet's "A Year of Adventures".

"A Year of Adventures is the inspirational planning tool to take you all around the world in pursuit of adventure. Discover a whole range of extraordinary experiences, including hiking in New Zealand, diving with sharks in South Africa, ballooning in Switzerland and storm watching in Alaska. Choose from over 100 activities in 130 countries, some to challenge you, some to enjoy at a leisurely pace, and catering to all fitness levels. After all, adventure does'nt need to mean hardship. Be inspired and plan a year to remember!

* Organised by month and week to allow you to plan the best adventure at the best time of year
* Country and Activity indexes provide easy access search by the destination of your next holiday, or by the adventure you want to experience
* Includes links for further information on adventure events throughout the book "

Die man. My mind is so not on studies anymore. Always waiting for the next adventure to happen. I should work for Lonely Planet!

Holiday~

2006-12-12T20:23:00.000+08:00

So yes, I have been a tourist for the past 5 days. Friday and Saturday saw me pretending to be one in Singapore and I hit some of the usual spots with my friend. I know, not very interesting but this is more for me to remember what I did.

Fri: Airport-home-Orchard-Vivocity-Chinatown (only for dessert, but that was closed so we walked around and went to the Rooftop Bar

Sat: Chongpang for breakfast-Asian Civilisations Museum-Fullerton-Merlion (haha)-Esplanade-Raffles City-Chijmes-City Space-Night Safari

Sun, Mon and Tues: Bintan!

Now for pictures :)

Cute snack at Taka Cold Storage!

Dinner at 黑社会，a newly opened restaurant at Vivocity. The view is not bad, interesting decor, complete with menus hidden in mahjong-table-like recesses. They give a free appetiser of fried dough sticks and cucumber/carrot strips. Haha. We had XO seafood fried rice, shimeji mushroom noodle and rose tea. Good! PS the teapot can be refilled with hot water. Also, the staff are habitual liars so if they say something comes in very small portions don't believe them!

By the way, the Asian Civilisations Museum is really not bad and you all can consider visiting if you need a cultural fix. Be sure to time your visit when there's a free tour going on to get the most out of it. Interestingly, most of the exhibits are not about Singapore (maybe that's why its not bad?)

Here are some cute cats by the Singapore River, our very own Merlion (smirk!) and the Esplanade, otherwise known as Durians or Housefly Eyes.

Dinner at Chijmes - Hog's Breath Cafe. Fries were very good... bet they were fried in animal fat :p Vegetable oil doesn't give that kind of taste.

After dinner drinks at City Space:

Peach Schnapps not nice. Singapore Sling is as usual, way too sweet and cough-mixture-like. If you have the chance, go on a Sat night at 9 to listen to the jazz singer. Love her voice! Puts me into dreamy mode (the alcohol helps)

Next up, the Night Safari. Hasn't changed much, and I still like the capybaras best. It was terribly crowded on a Saturday night. During the animal show, the compere was looking for volunteers and asked "Do we have anyone from India?" -loud uproar of patriotic voices-. She then asked "Do we have anyone from China?" -madly waving hands- Seems like a good indication of where our tourists come from. Haha. Took a picture of a very cute little girl - I think she's pretty enough to take part in those kid pageants.

----

Sun and onwards was spent at Bintan! Departed from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. Food scene/entertainment options there are dismal so you might really consider lunching somewhere else or bringing a book to read while waiting. Lots of construction going on too.

We got picked up and driven to our resort - Mayang Sari Beach Resort. Price-wise it was pretty similar to Bintan Lagoon but a lot more expensive than Nirwana Gardens, about $60 difference. The reception area was simple with some tacky Christmas decorations, but we were served some yummy pineapple juice while waiting to check in. We got the Seaturtle No. 1 chalet! Got the sea-facing chalet which, in my opinion, is worth the money if you are going to a beach resort. Better than I thought it would be...

Spent the afternoon lying in a hammock with a book, but I never got down to reading the book cos lying there and looking at the blue sky and listening to the waves was already intoxicating :) Some interesting sights on the beach:

Dinner was at the Kelong restaurant, which lies on stilts. We had Gong Gong (sea snails) and crispy sotong for dinner. After dinner drinks at the Calypso Bar. The bartender, named Jesse, was very nice. Had really sparkling white teeth too.

Next day, we had a massage at Pasar Oleh Oleh, some tourist town outside the resort area. Got picked up in a nice SUV (I love SUVs!) and were subjected to some fantastic contortionistic moves. They also did the spine and neck cracking thing which is super scary!!! Finished off with a nice hair wash. Shops were nothing to rave about though. All of them selling variations of each other with high prices to boot. Lots of them are owned by the same company too. BAD shopping.

Here are some pictures of Nirwana Gardens, the sister resort:

Verdict: Nice, with lots more facilities than Mayang Sari, but also lots more screaming kids. Mayang Sari has no pool so if you wanna swim in one you need to take the bus over here. Don't really see the need for a pool when you have the beach right in front though. The beach at Mayang Sari is way bigger and nicer.

Dinner was at Mana Mana Beach Club. This is the cheapest of the lot but I didn't get to see the actual cabanas which are not so near the beach, I think. Listed the prices for water sports in case any of you are interested. They did serve a yummy thin-crusted pizza which is made on the spot by their own chef. Recommended!

Wasn't long before it was time to pack up and go :( Got driven to the ferry terminal, and the hotel's service was really good cos they found out I left my camera charger behind and got someone to rush it over before the ferry left. The resort guy also told me to try out the Indra Maya villas next time, and I'd get a discount for being a repeat customer. The villas have their own private pool and come with the use of a buggy so you can drive around on your own. Shiok leh! He said it costs about $500+ a night, which, when divided among 4-5 people, is even cheaper than Mayang Sari. Next time must go! A-L gang interested or not??

Back to Singapore and then saw my friend off at the airport. 姚蓉姐姐要好好照顾自己,睁开眼睛看路! 相信阿玲会好好看着你的...嘻. 下次再来玩.谢谢你千里迢迢的飞来看我!

-----

The mundane life begins again. Bah!

Hello?

2006-11-23T10:52:00.000+08:00

Received a call from Alaska at 7.30 am this morning that made my day! Marc and Wilson called to chat and see how I was. I was over the moon man. Triggered thoughts of being away from home and how friends meant so much then.

Getting bitten by the travel bug again, and by the feeling that there's a lot waiting for me out there. Not good not good! Luckily some Taiwan friends are coming over and I'll get a small dose of "overseas-ness". Next up, Bintan in December and Japan next year!

How to fit Alaska in? Difficult -sigh- Heard its very cold there now, about 0 deg, and I guess it should be snowing. I bet the Northern Lights are out too. Wish I were there...

I really wanna get out of school and work, but I'm mortally afraid of having only 14-21 days of leave a year and having to clamour for weekends like all the working folk. But I'd willingly trade that for some cash and no more NUS :D

Snapshot

2006-11-14T22:51:00.000+08:00

Lucky

2006-11-08T19:43:00.000+08:00

My experiments aren't going well, my handphone got stolen recently, and I just lost my PGP transponder which costs $40 to replace....

But,

I am still happy cos I have my friends ：） Some of you are very strong and that gives me strength. Others are 很有心思的人。Please continue to be my friends even if I become some underachiever with a 3rd class honours degree!

For some laughs, please watch this video. We need some lecturers like that in NUS!

唱 K

2006-11-07T19:12:00.000+08:00

How come all the NUS people look so shagged?

Resolve

2006-11-01T11:36:00.000+08:00

发奋图强的时候到了。

My greatest enemies:
1. Bad (non-existent) time management
2. Procrastination
3. 逃避现实

People who know how to counteract these killers, please share your ideas with me. Time to wake up and face the music. Shin, thank you for the listening ear. You've probably saved my life a few times :) Good luck for your exams!

Must learn from my own mistakes, and learn from others.

I think maybe its a good thing that my prof scolded me. That would be the right attitude to have. 要吸取教训。

Those who need study partners, 请找我！

Less than a month to exams... 请大家加油！

Howl's Moving Castle

2006-10-30T21:11:00.000+08:00

Wanted to watch for so long and finally got the chance :) Lovely!

Kimutaku has a really nice voice!

Ewok

2006-10-20T01:23:00.000+08:00

To Ang Seok Ting - Happy birthday! Hope you had a good time at Blooie's and enjoyed your bloody steak. First you kill rats and now cows... tsk tsk. Congrats on getting into MOE :D

Beer butt chicken!

-Interruption: Blooie's Advertisement-
Since everytime I come here with people they ask me "How do they survive?" I shall do some free advertising for Blooie's and their special dish. The place is just outside PGP (Sylvia would say "in the forest"). This undignified looking fowl is a BBQ Beer Butt Chicken! Description from the website:

Want to try something different? How about ordering BLooiE’s famous Roadhouse Beer-Butt-Chicken.

We take a whole fresh chicken and rub ‘em down with our own special spices and seasonings. Then we chill the bird over night to allow the spices and seasonings to marinate into the meat.

Just before we cook the chicken we take an opened full can of beer, add a little of the spice and seasonings then gently insert the beer can up the chickens butt! The chicken is then set upright on the BBQ and grilled to a sensational juicy perfection. The beer steams the chicken inside while the BBQ cooks from the outside sealing in all the juicy goodness. In addition we make a dipping sauce from a bit of the beer that goes great with the chicken.

An unbelievable great new dining experience, why not give it a try by calling us a least a day in advance and ordering your Beer-Butt-Chicken for only $32.00+++ including corn-on-the-cob and our famous Cajun fries. A feast for 2 to 4 persons

----
Back to the pictures...

Fun with rhinos:

Daisy

2006-10-17T19:53:00.000+08:00

Just watched the Korean movie Daisy. Loved it! Made me cry and I really don't cry when watching movies... Maybe I've turned into an emotional weepy after being subjected to long-term stress. Anyway that's not the point. Its a very nice movie. No one has leukaemia so don't worry. Cynthia really does have good taste :D Thank you Cynthia! I have the DVD in case anyone wants to borrow. Super romantic (no cheesy lines like "you are the one" etc) Its directed by the same guy who did Infernal Affairs and I realise that one of the main actors (Jung Woo-sung) is the one who acted in Musa and I really liked him there. As usual, Jeon Ji-Hyun is a great actress.

Screenshots:

On another note, Jay's new album is quite nice. But Fei Yu Qing is a bit funny... After chionging like crazy to finish Neuro SDL and spending some time today sleeping and watching Daisy, its time to psych myself up again and face the ordeal we call school. Sigh.

Back to School

2006-10-16T17:55:00.000+08:00

Hello dear friends I have reappeared in school. Spent last week trying to pander to my kor's schedule to be around as much as possible. Meeting 未来大嫂 was ok la... I tried my best to be nice and I think I succeeded though I didn't really harbour a very very strong liking for her. Guess seeing her make my kor happy is the only necessary criteria she has to fulfill!

Also, not seeing all of you for a week has really taken its toll man. Stress levels building up to dangerous levels. When I see you all stressed also, I feel not so stressed. Hahaha.

Thanks Lynn for the honey stick! Thanks Voz for listening to me wail and wailing with me. Carine, I haven't been talking to you much so we need to catch up again...

Thanks QH for mint cookies and baking cookies for us! And its good to see the rest of the A-L group and observe the various weird behaviours you all exhibit. Haha. Our PBL efficiency is always something to be marvelled at.

PGP people, XO crab bee hoon and beer butt chicken! Bridge and beer is also good.

Of Handphones and Older Brothers

2006-10-04T16:48:00.000+08:00

Some of you may know that I just lost my handphone. Think I was so zonked out on Monday that I didn't even realise I had misplaced it till I got back to my room in PGP... Haha. Oh well. Was kind of in a bad mood so I decided to skip lab and go watch a movie with Jamie. (Thank you Jamie for the movie treat!) We had a good time tasting free mooncake samples and buying food. Had one of my beloved Ebi Mos burgers for dinner :) Watched Miami Vice because John Tucker Must Die was showing at a much later time. I know its a stupid movie but the whole point is to get my mind off things :p Anyway, Miami Vice turned out to be super intense. -_-" Came out from the theatre with a bit of a headache. Its not too bad but Gong Li's english was... less than spectacular.

Also, my kor kor is coming back to visit next week and he'll be bringing along his gf! So I can safely say next week will be exciting. Really looking forward to seeing him again. And then can practise my forgotten Japanese with the future 大嫂。

Lastly, Cynthia just asked me to go to Korea in December for a skiing holiday! I think the largest part of the cost will be the air ticket, not so much the land segment. Even so, this creates the problem of "where to get money?"

I need to buck up in lab! (A statement out of the blue, which is mainly addressed to myself.)

I am getting terribly random nowadays...

Happy, Shalala, It's So Nice to Be Happy...

2006-10-01T13:07:00.000+08:00

1. Happy Children's Day!

2. 中秋节快乐！

3. お兄ちゃんはもうすぐシンガポールに戻るから、すごく嬉しい！楽しみ＾＾

Currently listening to: Koda Kumi's Best: First Things album!

And congratulations to Fan Huapeng who just got married, though he'll never see this :) Here's wishing happiness/幸福/幸せ for everyone, even if we don't have enough money, time or whatever we want.

To all suffering lab prisoners/mouse murderers/cheem machine tinkerers/moth-pinners/muggers and mugger-wannabes, 加油！

Long overdue, from when Cynthia was here. I'm glad she came, and I'm looking forward to going to Korea one day... must be in winter so I can go skiing!

Current quandary: What to do after graduation? What job involves fun/money/Japanese/travel?

久しぶり

2006-09-19T15:41:00.000+08:00

今まで忙しくて忙しくて、だからここに何も書いていなかった。あたしの人生＝寝＋食＋研究＋授業。嫌なの。。。

研究室で何もできない。本当の馬鹿だな～　大失敗を感じている。。。そして、さっき教授に叱られちゃった。やっぱり大学が大嫌い。北海道へ行きたいんだ！どこかへ逃げたい。

＊日本語読めない人：ごめんな！

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

2006-09-11T09:22:00.000+08:00

Social Life at Hogwarts

Everyone, except the Slytherins, like you. You are friendly, nice, and a well-rounded person. Your studies aren't that important, but you pull of decent grades. You live your life with risks and don't think about the consequences. Friends mean a lot to you. Your friends love you because you are always the one who they can talk to.

Harry: He is in love with you. You're the one he wants to be with forever. He's tried to push you away, but you refused to leave him. Despite the danger that comes with being his girlfriend, he's too smitten with you to let you go and is glad you are willing to face the danger to be with him.

Ron: He loves you as a little sister. He admits to having a crush on you before, but has stronger feelings for Hermione. He acts as an older brother to you.

Hermione: She is one of your best gal pals. She always scolds you for not doing the best in your studies, but she is your friend just the same. She's very happy for you and Harry. She secretly has a crush on Ron, but she won't admit it. And neither will he. You're the one who's going to put them together.

Ginny: She secretly hates you. You stole Harry and one of her older brothers too. She knows she's overreacting, but she doesn't care. She hates you and shows it when no one is around. But when someone is around she acts like the sweetest little girl.

Neville: Thinks you are great and has a crush on you, but he's too shy to do anything. Plus, you're with Harry now.

Fred and George: They love you. As a friend though. You're one of the few priviledged people who get to help them with their pranks. They are glad you are with Harry, but sort of wish you ended up with Ron instead.

Oliver Wood: He knows you, but doesn't really talk to you. All he knows is that you are Harry's girlfriend.

Cedric Diggory: Him, like Oliver Wood, knows you, but doesn't talk to you. Or should I say he knew you. That is before he died.

Cho Chang: She is slightly jealous of your relationship with Harry. Cedric died and she was left alone, and her and Harry didn't work out either. She is nice to you, but doesn't really like or hate you.

Lavender Brown: She doesn't like you because she thinks Ron likes you more than a friend. She hates Hermione more than you though, if that helps?

Draco Malfoy: He doesn't like you at all. You seem like a goody-two-shoes to him. He dislikes you even more because you're Potter's girlfriend. All in all, he doesn't talk to you or have any contact with you whatsoever.

Pansy: Doesn't talk to you and hates you. Period.

Crabbe and Goyle: Don't know you.

Dumbledore: He likes you and thinks you are strong-willed and perfect for Harry.

McGonagall: She thinks your an average skilled witch, she doesn't really notice you that much.

Hagrid: He adores you and constantly invites you to help him with his creatures. He loves that you and Harry are together.

Snape: He hates you. Loathes you. Despises you. He thinks you are very poor skilled and dislikes you even more for being Harry's girlfriend. He loves taking points away from you.

Voldemort: You are on his list of people to kill. You make the top 5. Not exactly a good thing, but what'd you expect being Harry's girlfriend and all.

Reputation: Harry's Girlfriend.
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Got the link for this quiz from Weiting's blog. Absolute hogwash, but funny.

Scones

2006-08-27T15:24:00.000+08:00

Baked scones today! Used the chocolate chip scone mix I brought back from Alaska. It was bought from the Alaskan Wild Berry Store but upon closer examination, the mix was produced in California. What's new...

On another note, I'll be spending my first night in my room on campus tonight! Wonder if I'll be lonely, ha... Will post pictures once I've completed my personalising touches to the room.

快乐的回忆

2006-08-18T19:40:00.000+08:00

That's me taking off! I'm the one with the yellow parachute.

Coming in to land...

谢谢摄影师陈冠臻！谢谢瑶蓉姐姐把光碟寄过来 :)

Taiwan Part II

2006-08-11T23:09:00.000+08:00

*very long post!

So I shall get down to writing about Taiwan. Had a very enjoyable time because I was well taken care of by friends. Unfortunately for my burgeoning fat deposits, they insisted that Taiwanese hospitality is such that they feel they have been failures as hosts if their guests leave skinnier than when they arrived. But the food was excellent!

Here's what I did for the 4 or 5 days I was there:

Day 1 - Thursday Aug 3

Arrived around 9am in the morning and left one of my humongous suitcases at the airport. No way was I gonna lug 2 huge suitcases around. After that I took the shuttle into Taipei. Met my friend 瑶蓉 and she brought me to her 表姐's apartment. Very cool! Flat screen tv, guest rooms and a japanese-styled room with tatami mats. Had a room to myself :)

State of disarray.

Day 2 - Fri Aug 4

Spent the whole day out! First thing we did was to have breakfast. I like the food. So interesting. Akin to what we have but with variations. I present...

Clockwise from left: 水煎包，咸豆浆*，蛋饼，饭团，豆浆。
*咸豆浆 is made from the normal sweet 豆浆 by adding 虾皮，榨菜 and 白醋。The result is a clear solution that tastes like soup and nothing like 豆浆。
I like 蛋饼！

The Taiwanese version of 饭团 is very different from the Japanese version (onigiri おにぎり). Its made of 油条, 萝卜干 and 肉松 which is surrounded by a tightly squeezed layer of 糯米。Yummy!

After breakfast we went over to 7-11 to check out the local convenience store offerings. There were a lot of cutely packaged items but I couldn't buy them all. There was also strawberry and mango-flavoured Calpis. 懐かしいな～

Do we have such flavours in Singapore?

We walked over to a famous temple called 行天宫。Had a brief look see.

瑶蓉 and I went to meet 阿玲，her colleague who was going to take me around for the day. We had lunch in a small shop and I had some yummy 珍珠奶茶。Lunch was 卤味 with vegetables and assorted stuff but I didn't eat much because I was still full from breakfast.

Let me introduce this strange fruit called 百香果. 表姐 said I could help myself to the fruits in the fridge but when I opened it I saw a bunch of shrivelled prune-mangosteen-lookalike things. So when she asked me whether I ate any fruits I politely inquired: Have your fruits been kept there for very long? Both 瑶蓉 and 表姐 burst out laughing. Apparently the fruit is supposed to look like that! And when its broken open its mostly hollow and you eat the liquid contents, which are very sour.

瑶蓉 left to go to work so 阿玲 and I prepared to go to 莺歌，a town which is famous for its pottery. Got a shock when I realised 阿玲 rode a scooter and I'd have to sit on it! I put on the helmet she gave me and we were off. Was pretty scared at first because traffic in Taiwan is crazy. She wove in and out of the cars and lanes and I clung on for dear life. But after a while I learnt to enjoy the ride :) Only problem is that the air was quite polluted - most motorcyclists in Taiwan wear cloth masks to counter that problem. We parked near the train station and walked over.

台北车站。

Interior of the train station.

莺歌车站。

At Yingge, we walked around some pottery shops before deciding to have some 甜品。
黑豆花 and 豆花。I had the 黑豆花 with 爱玉 and 薏仁。黑豆花 isn't really black, it just looks a little darker than the normal one. Taste-wise its quite similar too. 爱玉 is something uniquely found in Taiwan. It is a jelly that is made from seeds and is therefore completely of plant origin unlike the usual jelly that we eat, which is of bovine origin (cows). 薏仁 is supposedly good for girls but I'm not sure exactly how.

Yingge is a very quaint place that I think deserves a visit. Its architecture is kinda European but I'm not sure where that comes from. Here, you can visit numerous pottery shops which sell beautiful ceramics. You can also buy tea, teapots, household ornaments, and you can even make your own pottery! I was too lazy to do it though. At ~SGD5 its not expensive at all.

Here's where you can make your own pottery。

Ornamental chimney which lets off steam every hour.

Just outside 莺歌。

It was back to the city where we went to visit another very famous temple - 龙山寺。Then we walked around the market（华西街夜市）that was in the surrounding area. Had more dessert to cool off from walking in the hot weather. 柠檬爱玉 is my favourite! It is so delicious and refreshing.

Inside 龙山寺。

Part of 华西街夜市。

Stall selling 柠檬爱玉. Its called 怀念爱玉冰 or as they have written in English, Memory Ah Yuh Ice. Apparently its been in business for decades, and when they started, each bowl cost TWD$0.50. Now each bowl costs TWD$30! (~SGD$1.50)

Took the MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) to Taipei City Hall station, which has all the high-end shopping malls, including Taipei 101. Just found its currently the tallest building in the world. TAIPEI 101 is actually an acronym for Technology, Art, Innovation, People, Environment, and Identity. Didn't get a chance to go in. Our main destination was the mega-bookstore called Estrelitte or 诚品。I love bookstores because I am a geek :) Bought 蜡笔小新，面包人 and other comics. 20% discount and free can of Coke with International Student ID!

MRT.

Travel section inside Eslite.

Malls outside Estrelitte.

We were all pooped so it was time to head home.

Day 3 - Sat Aug 5

The best day of all! 瑶蓉 got her younger brother to drive us around. 好幸福哦~ We went out to buy breakfast at the neighbourhood shop and 7-11. Taiwan has such a dazzling array of colourful juice cartons and bottles. A lot of emphasis is placed on packaging and it is kind of like a Chinese version of Japan sometimes. US influences can also be seen here eg. in the road system where drivers' seats are on the left of the car and they drive on the left side of the road.

Source of morning nourishment.

Endless variety of drinks.

Instant noodles.

Part of my breakfast - Yoplait strawberry yoghurt with whole strawberries and a jelly called しらたき shirataki in japanese or ju3 ruo4 in chinese. Endorsed by 杨丞琳！

凤梨酥 - crumbly and flaky with pineapple jam inside.

The Honda SUV arrived and we piled in to go to 金山。It was a pleasant drive and when we drove along the coastal road I realised how nice Taiwan was. Didn't realise they had such nice stretches of water. 金山 was a very interesting and bustling place with small shopholdings lining the narrow walkway. There were food and drink samples everywhere and most of them were really delicious.

Time for lunch! 金山 has famous duck and a special eatery where you have to carry your own plates of food to the seating area because the area where the main kitchen is is too small to accomodate the people who come in droves. Quite funny to see the stream of people walking through the street laden with dishes.

阿玲

Lunch = Clockwise from top left: 金山鸭肉，小卷（内有黑汁），沙拉芦笋，海瓜子 + 炒面 (not in picture) We also had 麦茶 from a carton. Love the taste.

People commonly bring their kids to catch little fishes.

Side street.

This drink is called 石花冻 and the little frog egg-like things inside are called 山粉圆。很好喝！

Drove to 翡翠湾 to have a look at the paragliders at my request. It was a super steep road leading up to the top of the mountain. But it was super exciting to watch the paragliders. And the ride was only TWD800/SGD40 a pop! Super cheap so we all decided to have a go. Very cool experience. My dream was actually to go hang-gliding but there wasn't any here so I had to go with paragliding. After all the straps were in place, my instructor 飞鹰 and I simply ran off the cliff and soared up in the air. Amazing experience. You wouldn't know what the phrase "bird's eye view" means until you've paraglided! Its rather different from being in a plane. Another thing, I was wearing slippers, which would easily have fallen off and been impossible to recover, so I went barefoot. Hahaha. This was of great amusement to the instructors and my friends. (When they were trying to locate me in the air, they looked for the "barefoot person")

瑶蓉 gearing up.

With 飞鹰, the owner of the company. He's supposedly part of some national level organisation which does stunts. Been paragliding for 16 years.

Aerial views of the bay:

偷拍！

Amusing shot of me in mid-air, coming in to land.

Drove further along the northern coast of Taiwan and stopped at one of those beach-side cafes for a drink. Atmosphere was very good but it was a little hot. Lots of youngsters out enjoying the school holidays.

Giant yam statue along the road.

Cafe was called Bossa Nova.

喂喂？

童真

阿玲请问你在干嘛？：）

我要买！

Originally intended to drive to 淡水 to see the sunset but the traffic jam was horrible so we went to the other side, 八里。There was a huge 孙悟空 statue that changed colour. There are a lot of nice restaurants along the stretch of road and bike/trishaw rentals.

Next stop: the very famous Shihlin Night Market/士林夜市。This is the biggest night market of all and the crowds on a Saturday night can kill. But it was very rich in atmosphere. Not very different from our pasar malams, with lots of food, toys and clothes on sale, and games to play. Had some food and shopped around before returning home for a much needed bath. Stinky!

Day 4 - Sun Aug 6

Last day of being overseas! Sob. 瑶蓉 + 表姐 took me to a restaurant 边田庄 near their house. Reservations were made in my name because I had an uncommon last name (尹) and they said I was from Singapore. So when we arrived there was a Singapore flag to mark our table! Very funny.

Lunch is served.

纸锅豆腐

炒山蘇。 I remember the translation is Bird's Nest Fern. Cannot help but wonder whether its the same one we see around. Tastes good though, with those fried peanuts. Yum.

汤包 with shrimp inside.

豆酥鳕鱼。But where is the 鳕鱼？

Buried underneath of course! The 豆酥 was very nice.

Lunch was rounded off by some of the mango pudding you see in the glass case. The picture was taken before lunch, but by the time lunch was over, the case was empty!

Took the bus and MRT to Ximending, that famous and popular youngsters' hangout. Found , to my disappointment, that nothing was that cheap or nice, and kind of felt too old for the place sometimes. Hah! The things sold there are like the things you see in Far East. On the whole, Ximending reminded me of Shenzhen and even Tokyo.

Went to the local hypermart to see what shopping is like. Similar to Singapore's but of course with a Taiwanese twist. (Huge trays of stewing innards on sale!) Saw some cute toiletries:

Gives new meaning to the phrase "milk bath".

Spent quite a few hours packing at home. Woke up early to catch my flight and it was a near-death experience trying to handle 2 huge suitcases, 1 small suitcase, 1 backpack, 1 laptop bag and 1 shoulder bag. Thank goodness 瑶蓉 + 表姐 were there to help me get the stuff to the airport shuttle. But at the airport I was on my own... ended up having to pay for excess baggage. I think this is a sign that I should curb my shopping. I keep coming back with more suitcases than I left home with.

Aerial shots of Taiwan:

Windmills by the sea!

And planes are getting more and more well-equipped: A year ago I don't recall having a mirror with closeable flap, coat hanger and cellphone holder on top of the usuals like a tv screen. I've decided that I like Airbus more than Boeing from now on :) The foot rest is even made of massaging rollers now!

I think I am acting swakoo.

Anyway, 我想跟瑶蓉姐姐，表姐，阿玲 + 陈冠臻说声谢谢！我能够很肯定地说我玩得那么开心全都是因为你们。非常想念你们哦！好想回台湾继续玩个痛快。如果有时间就来新加坡一趟吧，我会尽全力把你们喂到白白胖胖的。：）

Taiwan

2006-08-03T15:28:00.000+08:00

Finally here in Taiwan. Its been an arduous journey! My flight was at 0435 so I was hanging around in the hotel to wait for the airport shuttle. Made friends with the night shift bellman, James. I conclude that all the bellmen are the same pattern...cheeky fellas! It was fun talking to him. I was trying to convince the other girls that the US is not like what they see in Alaska and they shouldn't judge it based on that. James agreed with me. He even offered to give me a ride to the airport cos the airport shuttle was one hour late and since it was the last one we thought it was never coming.

At the airport I also met some SIA pilots. Wah I was so happy to see them! Felt a tinge of pride but also sad cos SIA doesn't have passenger flights to Anchorage. The pilots asked me to hang out with them for a couple of days! Man if I'd known that would happen I would have started hanging out at the airport earlier hahaha. They were staying in the Hilton some more.

Well, my Alaskan summer is over! Back to hot, humid and smoggy Asia. What I like about the US is that they have so much open space and respect for the environment. In the US National Parks, the authorities would rather deny tourists some activities in order to protect the wildlife, but in Asia it seems like money-making is the priority. Also too many people in too small a space. Maybe I'm biased, but the grass is always greener on the other side :p

Some last pictures with the people at Westmark:

Carlos, my "爱人" (not)

Nita, married to an American.

Marc in the Captain Cook uniform - so smart!

Wilson in the Captain Cook uniform too.

Pavel the Russian. His girlfriend had just broken up with him cos she found a new guy but he didn't seem very upset :p

Michelle the laundry lady - she's cool! She's also the only one who likes the hotel lunches :p

Shopping Sunday

2006-07-31T10:51:00.000+08:00

More pictures with co-workers!

Esther, Edwin, Patty (my boss)

Jane

Kamelya - very sweet girl.

Petra. She doesn't speak English and just chuckles when we talk to her.

Ursula, who strangely enough, can sometimes be very mean, and sometimes be very nice.

Victoria is very cute, and she was sweet enough to go buy me a bag as a goodbye present.

Shanyan, me, Wilson, XQ

XQ, Shanyan, me, Amor, Joanne. I didn't let him come near me today :p

Emigdio gave us a ride on the luggage trolley! Joanne tried to capture the moment.

Leisurely Saturday

2006-07-30T17:33:00.000+08:00

Spent Saturday morning packing and then I headed downtown to say hi to my friends at the hotel and do some shopping. It was nice, sometimes there was a bit of sun. Anytime we see the Sun here we're like yay!

Bought presents for people back home and some clothes for myself. Went to the bank, Abercrombie and JC Penney. Kaching kaching! Goodbye money, hello material goods. After that it was over to the weekend market for some corn fritters and honey butter. When I first came here, I read in my Lonely Planet guide to Alaska that people come here for a holiday, eat the king crab and then just never leave. Now I can totally relate to that! Alaskan food is actually really quite good. The seafood is to-die-for. Whether deep fried, in chowders, in pasta, its all good. And corn fritters... I will miss them so much! In commemoration of Alaska and its food, which I am leaving in 3 days time -

Favourite fish: Halibut
Favourite crab: King Crab
Favourite shellfish: Scallops (BIG ones)
Favourite cured meat: Black Forest ham
Favourite unhealthy food: Corn fritters with honey butter
Favourite pasta: Seafood pasta at a restaurant called La Scala. Best I've ever had.
Favourite breakfast spot: Snow City
Favourite chicken wings: Wings n Things

...and I do hope I haven't left anything out. Just now I was talking to my mom on Skype and I said I had some King Crab. She replied that yah, Sri Lanka crab is smaller. I kindly enlightened her that the sizes of those 2 crabs were on a totally different scale - the single King Crab leg that I bought from the grocery store is the length of my arm! (A little longer, actually) Tee hee hee. Imagine the actual crab. Must be some kind of monster.

Pictures of my other bellmen friends at the hotel:

Wilson, who reminds us of a raccoon. He's a 老色鬼 who forgets he has a wife anytime he sees a hot babe :D

So next I wanted to take a photo with Amor. Without warning the fella picks me up off the ground and Wilson had gleefully taken a shot. People inside and out of the hotel were all staring! Wah I was so embarassed I ran off. Haha. Cannot show my shocked and unglam expression so I replaced it with a suitable illustration.

I always thought I wanted a smart husband, but maybe a strong one will be good enough.

Joking!

Alaska Wildberry Park and Sourdough Mining Company

2006-07-30T15:26:00.000+08:00

Xiaoqian and I went to the Alaska Wild Berry Park and Sourdough Restaurant! We walked there. On the map, it looked like a really short distance, but in practice it wasn't because a lot of the roads didn't connect so we had to walk around highways and stuff. Legs got a workout. While walking there we crossed a couple of bridges over the creek, and I saw salmon spawning! Exciting to see nature in action.

Crooked... never have my tripod when I need it.

白熊王子.

The famous chocolate waterfall. The description says its 20 feet tall but I was quite disappointed when I saw it. I thought there would be a literal 20 foot drop but its not like that as you can see.

Help!

Help me too!

Is this one of those poisonous Amanita mushrooms?

Read the sign...

...here's the proof!

There was an admission fee to see the reindeer so XQ and I didn't go in. Can you imagine they make sausage out of that animal? Also, Alaskans sign up to get roadkill (eg. moose), which is supposed to be very nutritious. Unlike reindeer, moose is not domesticated so you don't get to eat it much. Its illegal to sell moose meat, hence the roadkill thing.

After we were done at the Wild Berry Park, we went over to the Sourdough Mine Restaurant to have dinner. I was just waiting for this! The interior is supposed to remind you of a historic goldmine and it sort of did. First, they served us 2 sourdough rolls. I don't really like sourdough but the bread was soft and nice-smelling and drool worthy. The food was also terribly yummy. And I don't even usually like burgers!

Our food.

My Avalanche Burger set. Included the burger, sweet corn, and corn fritters, plus a free flow of soft icecream (not a fan of it). The burger was soooo goooood. The beef patty was seared to perfection and was juicy, not oily. The bacon was super fragrant too. The sweetcorn was sweet! And as for the corn fritters...

...they are simply a gift to our tastebuds. Together with honey butter, it is the best thing I've had here. (Besides halibut and king crab!)

XQ's Alaskan chowder. I was debating really hard with myself whether to have this or the burger, so she ordered it instead. It was super good. I know I'm sounding repetitive, but it was.

Not-so-wild Berry Swirl, the drink XQ and I shared. Strawberries, vodka, icecream and dunno what else is inside. Actually, vodka was all we could taste.

Here's the burger, which was bigger than my stretched-open mouth. Could only finish half of it.

After dinner, we went over to watch Dusty Sourdough's performance. Its supposed to be about the old gold-mining days. Started off pretty boring but I really enjoyed it when he started singing. Really a sweet old man. He taught the audience how to pan for gold! Talked about the laws of physics and all. Haha. He also asked for tips and he said he uses them to go to schools and encourages kids to read. Made me want to donate!

That marked the end of the day for us. An enjoyable one it was.

Lydia's House

2006-07-30T15:20:00.000+08:00

On Wednesday Lydia brought me to her house because she wanted to give me a suitcase. So generous! Her family wanted to let me have 2, in fact. Even though they have 7 children and I'm sure they could use the suitcases. Her son (Edward) and daughter-in-law (Tina) have 5 biological children and they adopted another 2 kids. Must really love kids. The house was so full of love :)

L to R: Edward, Alejandro, Tina, Antonio, Miguel, Lydia, Tullina and (dunno what's his name)

Alejandro with stinky Playdoh!

Tullina is very pretty.

Alejandro is Mommy's boy.

Antonio is handsome!

Antonio loves grandma and grandma loves Antonio :)

Alaska Native Heritage Center

2006-07-28T13:44:00.000+08:00

We went to the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Tuesday! Walked down the road to take bus 75.

The Heritage Center was in some ulu place, had to go through a single road through forested areas. A Native dance was going on when we got there. Quite interesting! The lead singer (well, he was actually doing a series of yells and howls) was quite cute. His name is Maddox.

After that we went to walk inside the exhibit area and look at the Native crafts on sale. Some of them were really really pretty but they were all so expensive :( We decided to take pictures again.

Tourists can never take proper pictures

After the screening of a show on whales in the theaterette, we decided to have a walk outside. Boy it was cold! They had a lake, surrounded by various houses belonging to different Eskimo tribes.

Outside the Heritage Center

We took the bus downtown to have dinner. Stopped by the hotel where we worked on the way, and I took a picture with Marc. He’s the one who helped us move house and he has a big-ass truck.

Snow Goose restaurant for dinner! Their seafood is crazily good. The fish and chips was the best we’d all ever eaten. The halibut chunks were fresh and sweet. The fries were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

XQ had the fish and chips, Shanyan had the Chicken Cordon Bleu, I had the Italian Cioppino (clams, king crab and shrimp in a special sauce). Happy happy!

Flattop Mountain

2006-07-16T14:45:00.000+08:00

A friend (Celeste) introduced us to her friend, Juanita, and brought Shanyan and I for dinner at an Italian restaurant. Met their families there and it was fun! Juanita's sister Lydia is so pretty - she looks like Eva Longoria! Dinner was so goooood. Seafood fettucini in a cream sauce. Crab, scallops and shrimp. Ahhh~~

After that she drove us to the trailhead leading to Flattop Mountain. Boy it was windy and cold! She's gonna bring me back another time so we can hike up together. Yay :D 5 days to freedom!

Me, Juanita and Shanyan.

When we dropped Juanita off we got a chance to see her Boston terrier Maggie. Neurotic dog if ever I saw one. If you think about the chipmunk in Ice Age who was always chasing after a hazelnut, you've got the right picture. The only difference being that Juanita makes her dog chase after the red dot from her laser pen! She points in on the carpet and the poor dog tries to pounce on it, sniff it, paw at it but it just can't. It crashes into doors and the couch in the process. Hahaha. Super funny. Apparently its been doing this for 2 years. Juanita says its not the brightest dog :D

Here's the dog. Its not very appealing appearance-wise but its antics will leave you in bouts of laughter. Look at the picture... its flapping its wings (ears)!

Pickle Parteeeee

2006-07-15T11:30:00.000+08:00

We had our second Pickle Party today! What is a Pickle Party, you ask? Its basically a chance for the hotel staff to get together and they give out prizes in a raffle and display the good comments that we get from guests. The last Pickle Party was bad cos I got scolded by a nasty guy and that ruined my day. But today's was fun because it was picture taking time! Tra la la~

Food-wise, there were chicken wings in some weird spicy sauce, meatballs in another strange sauce, pot stickers (not very Asian), fruits, soda, fruit punch and brownies with ice-cream :D I heard someone say "these potstickers are good!" and I was thinking wait till they eat the real thing, like 韭菜水饺 or 小笼包 from Crystal Jade. -drool-

Fruits were good though. They had huge Rainier cherries. Heaven.

Here are some of the people I work with:

From L to R (back row): Kamelya (Bulgaria), Xiaoqian (Singapore), Donna (Hawaii), Debbie (US), Tess (Phillipines), Joanne (Singapore), Felicia (Dominican Republic), Victoria (Mexico), Michelle (US)

Front row: Shanyan (Singapore), me!

In this picture, only Kamelya and us 4 girls from Singapore are summer hire. The rest are living here in Alaska. Debbie Higbee is the general manager. Quite a nice person.

While waiting for the arrival of the food.

Me, Donna and Tess. I actually wanted to take a picture with Donna only but Tess wormed her way in despite Donna's elbowing :p Donna is a very, very nice person.

This here is my dearest, dearest trainer Lydia. She's so nice to me! Gives me hugs :) My surrogate mama in the absence of my own. She asked me not to go home and said she'll miss me -sniff- I'll always remember drinking Chinese tea with her. A Mexican and a Singaporean, who met in Alaska and were drinking Chinese tea, of all things. Bizarre but true!

The girls who chose to spend their summer away from home :)

Shanyan and me in the jacket I won. That's two of us in one jacket!

Conjoined twins!

Singaporeans unite! My housemates: Joanne, me, XQ, Shanyan

With Victoria. She looks so comical with her hair down. She also makes fresh orange/lime juice everyday and brings it to work. Yummy!

Yay! ... Although seriously, cleaning rooms isn't the most glamorous job. But I guess you all knew that already!

With Amor and Marc. I love the bellmen! Amor helped me get a hotel rate on a rental car when I went for my trip. Marc helped us move house in his huge and super snazzy truck and treats us to chicken wings from time to time. Seeing him brightens up my day :) We have another good friend Wilson, but he wasn't working today. Photos with him another time, as well as with our friends from the maintenance department. Stay tuned!

Alaska Botanical Gardens

2006-07-13T11:44:00.000+08:00

Today Shanyan and I went to the ABG. I wanted to see the flowers blooming! So we left the house at 1 pm and took the bus there. Started out quite nicely, but by the end we were running for our lives from all the mosquitoes and houseflies and bees which kept buzzing around our ears and trying to suck our blood (the mosquitoes). Quite a traumatising experience :p

Welcome to the Alaska Botanical Gardens~

A daisy for you, sir?

"I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day..."

An ancient glacier deposited this large boulder in the gardem.

Humulus lupulus

Flower girls~~

Time passes way too fast. Back to work!

Seagull Attack

2006-07-05T12:02:00.000+08:00

Just came back from a 2 hour walk around the area. First Campbell Creek, then I walked to University Lake which was quite tranquil. A family of ducks was swimming around - 2 parents in front and ducklings in tow. There was also a very cute grey furball-looking like baby bird. I couldn't tell whether it was a seagull (there were some around) or a duck cos it was all alone. So I started to follow it... and then the other seagulls starting squawking really loudly and flying furiously overhead. Ok mystery solved, its a baby seagull. Seriously I was more afraid of being pooped on (it has happened before) than of being attacked. Luckily the seagull let loose over a tree. Phew!

Inventory

2006-07-05T06:29:00.000+08:00

Contents of Mummy Care Package (TM) from Home:

3 packets dried bean curd
1 packet abalone-flavoured instant rice porridge
1 packet chicken-flavoured instant rice porridge
1 packet chicken curry powder
2.5 packets A1 curry mix (used half of one packet)
2 packets cereal prawn instant mix
3 packets emperor crispy chicken flour
1 packet prawn-flavoured powder for frying chicken
2 packets sauce for sweet and sour pork/spare ribs
1 packet sayur lodeh mix
2 packets agar agar powder
1 packet black pepper sauce
2 packets kangkung goreng belacan
1 packet migaki goma (sesame seeds)
1 packet tom yam cubes

1 bottle lemongrass and chilli powder
1 bottle 五香粉

9 packets maggi curry noodles (ate 1)
1 packet nong shim kimchi noodles (ate 1)
5 packets 出前一丁 chicken noodles
4 packets 出前一丁 prawn noodles (ate 1)
5 packets 出前一丁 mee goreng
5 packets myojo chicken abalone noodles

3 packets coconut cream

1 bottle 太极药精 for my injured leg

Thank you mummy! Love you :)

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What KK brought me from CA:

1 packet dried mushrooms
1 packet 白木耳
1 packet 黑木耳
1 packet 清补凉
1 packet 腐竹
2 boxes strawberry pocky
1 can 白果
8 虾饺 (太好吃了！）
1 肉粽

Big thank you to you too!

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What's left of what I brought from Singapore plus what I got here:

Food:
2 stalks of lemongrass, some honey nut cheerios, cornflakes, 1 box of hainan chicken rice mix, 9 packets of chewing gum, 1 packet of chendol vermicelli (the green noodle-like thing), 2 pieces of pork ribs, 1 package of minced pork, chicken drumsticks, chicken drumlets, 1 whole chicken, 1 can of sea asparagus, some bread, 1 bag of onions, 1 bag of potatoes, garlic, ikan bilis cubes, chicken cubes, 1 packet of red beans, half a bottle of coconut milk, 1 can of longans, 1 can of peas, 1 packet of almond jelly powder, pretzel sticks, 3 cups of yoghurt, 5 eggs, cabbage, broccoli and 2 peaches.

Beverage:
1 bottle merlot wine from australia, 1 bottle merlot wine from california, 3 bottles guiness stout (found these in the hotel but i don't drink!), apple juice, 1 jar of milo, 4 sachets of hot chocolate, 7 blackcurrant tea bags, 4 orange tea bags, 5 sachets of white coffee.

Assorted:
Salt, soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, honey butter, strawberry jam, cream cheese, mayonnaise.

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Die lar. How to finish all this food before I go home. Think I overcompensated for the earlier days when I didn't have enough to eat :p The stuff from my kor hasn't arrived yet some more!