Hebitch in the US of A

Back to my life.

2008-09-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

So we flew from New York to Anchorage that night. But before that, the flight was postponed till 4-freaking-am, 4 hours after the supposed departure time... WDF.

So we were sleeping in the JFK airport, on the floor and all that..

And in Anchorage, we had a quick stopover (no pictures there... boring...). Funny how our trip to the States ended with us in Alaska again.

Same gloomy weather that we were acclimatised to for 3 months... same mountainous scenery... and same cool fresh air.

And after we bid farewell to Alaska, we flew in to Taipei for a stopover in the airport. We were supposed to have rooms in the airport's hotel but seeing how short our stay there was (cause of the 4 hours delay) we bargained to stay in the Business Class lounge...

How luxurious... Free food, luxurious bathrooms and WIFI.

And then we flew back. Back home.

How wonderful it feels to step into Changi airport. And see people of my kind (Seriously, seeing other fellow Singaporeans really had an impact on me).
Seeing the familiarity of the airport...
Being welcomed back (literally) at the passport check-in terminal...

And finally seeing my family again. I could not stop smiling the nano-second I caught a glimpse of my Dad behind the glass wall beside the baggage-collection belt.

I was smiling so wide, you could say it was almost involuntary.

The relief to see my Mum again. The joy of carrying my niece again.
And the anticipation to feel the humidity on the skin...

I cannot put all those emotions into words...
Or maybe I just did.

I am so glad to be home.

Really... :)

Note: This blogger will be back to blogging at his regular blog: Hebitch.

New York, New York.

2008-08-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

I was unhappy about the previous day's rainy visit to Liberty Island so I made another visit to Liberty Island alone (the guys followed Ching Hei's uncle to his New Jersey's office and then shopped again at Century 21).

The queue was so long, it was snaking around the park! Twice!:
Entertainment to lighten up the mood and intense heat!:
Old jetty (under some renovation):
I finally got on the ferry.

Manhattan:
New Jersey:
Ellis Island:

There she is... in all the sun's glory:
Though initially cloudy, it soon became scorching hot. HOT.

Why is the Statue Green? Ans: Oxidation.
The three liberty's symbols include the 7-pointed crown (symbolising the 7 seas and continents), the broken chains on her feet (freedom) and the roman numerals on the book she carries (fourth of July):

THE Lady Liberty.

I wasn't posing or anything. I was squinting...:
The people there (other tourists) were really nice. They offered to take pictures for me after seeing me take snapshots of myself with my twistable-viewfinder-camera (a.k.a. cam-whore). Some even went to the extent of lying down on the ground to take the shots of me from below!

Pictures of the statue from almost every angle:

Tickets to get into the monument (just entry to the pedestal permitted... the crown and torch have been closed since 911) were completely sold out by the time I got there (and I thought I was early...)
Then it was time to go to Ellis Island, but I chose to bypass it and instead head back to meet up with the boys.

Bye Lady Liberty:
Wait... what in the world?:
Downtown Manhattan:

Brooklyn Bridge:
Met up with the boys and then we went high-end shopping at the boutiques in SoHo!!!:
And when I say shopping... We really went shopping...

And when I say high-end, I really mean high-end:
After boutique-hopping in SoHo we went to more boutiques up in Fifth Avenue! Like seriously! Anymore pampering from the sales-people and we wouldn't need to wipe our own asses...Now I know how Carrie Bradshaw feels when she shops...

So luxurious...

Money does make you happier... at least makes people want to please you more and that makes you extremely pampered which in turns makes you more happy and... and... (you get the picture...)

Never have I indulged so much in one day (we all kinda maxed out our daily spending limits on our VISA credit cards and I had to use my Mastercard to pay for everything else in the end...).

The Big Apple...

2008-08-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

The next morning (or should I say afternoon) we finally got our asses down to MoMA.

MoMA was extremely crowded.Featured artist was Salvador Dali: his paintings and film.

Dali is one of Zic's favourite artist, you can imagine how excited he was:

Photography was not allowed in the exhibition but this is one of his most famous paintings which I saw upclose! "The Persistence of Memory"... it is only 24cm by 33cm! It is so much smaller than I thought it was!!!:Other exhibitions allowed photography.

This was by... *drumrolls*.... Pablo Picasso; "Girl before a mirror":
Frida Kahlo; "Self Potrait":Rene Margritte; "The Menanced Assasin":
Picasso again; "Seated Bather":
Piet Mondrian; "Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red":
Piet Mondrian; "Composition 10":
Piet Mondrian; "Broadway Boogie-Woogie":
Claude Monet; "Water Lilies":
Pablo Picasso; "Three Musicians":
Giorgio de Chirico; "The Song of Love": Giorgio de Chirico; "Great Metaphysical Interior":

Giorgio de Chirico; "Gare Montparnasse":

Picasso's "Three women at the Spring":

Marcel Duchamp:
Marcel Duchamp; "Bicycle Wheel" and "In advance of the broken arm":

Henri Matisse; "The Piano Lesson": Henri Matisse; "Goldfish and Scuplture":
Henri Matisse, "Still Life after Jan Davidsz de Heem's Dessert":
Henri Matisse, "Sculptures":

Wassily Kandinsky, "Picture with an Archer":
Who doesn't know this one? Its Vincent van Gogh; "Postman - Potrait of Joseph Roulin":
Van Gogh again with "The Olive Trees":
I could not find my favourite van Gogh painting, "The Starry Night"... its supposed to be in MoMA!!!

Umberto Boccioni; "States of Mind I: The Farewells":
Umberto Boccioni; "Dynamism of a Soccer Player":
Umberto Boccioni; "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space":
Pablo Picasso; "Green Still-Life":

I think it will take forever for me to annotate all this... Picasso's:
One of his more famous paintings; "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon":

Picasso; "Ma Jolie":
Picasso, "The Architect's table":
George Braque; "Man with a guitar":
Juan Gris; "Grapes":

Juan Gris; "Guitar and Glasses":

Paul Cezanne, "The Bather":

Pierre Suerat; "Port-en-Bessin: Entrance to the Harbor":Paul Signac; "Setting Sun: Sardine Fishing":
Henri Rousseau; "The Dream":
Andy Warhol, "Campbell's Soup Cans":

"OOF" by Edward Ruscha and "Girl with Ball" by Roy Lichtenstein:
Andy Warhol:
Andy Warhol, "Gold Marilyn Monroe":
Jasper Johns; "Flag":
Jackson Pollock; "One Number 31":
Picasso's sculptures:

"Helicopter":
Another exhibition:
Showcasing furniture and architecture:

"Metropol Parasol", a redevelopment project by J. Mayer H. in Seville Spain:

Moshe Safdie's:

Toyo Ito's "Berkeley Art Museum":
Paul Rudolph's:
Daniel Libeskind's "Jewish Museum Berlin":
"Moebius Building" by Peter Eisenman:

And finally Zaha Hadid's doodlings:
Sculpture Garden:
Then we rushed downtown to take a ferry down to Liberty Island. But we missed the ferry that docks on the island by half an hour, instead we got a ship that took us around Hudson River around Manhattan:
Weather wasn't looking too good:
This is probably where you would be able to see the Twin Towers if they were still around:
Tallest building in New Jersey (also where Ching Hei's uncle works): It was raining cats and dogs by the time we got beside Liberty Island, you can't even see the statue!:

Brooklyn Bridge...:
Washington Bridge:
Under the Brooklyn Bridge... Feeling miserable!:
Just as we were about to dock back in the ferry terminal, the sun came out again...:
See the rainbow on the right?:
What a bitch, right?:
Now we could see it...:

I have a series of "pissed-off-at-other-tourist" shots... and this is one of them. Maybe I should dedicate one entry to all these shots:
Castle Clinton:

The damaged "Globe Sculpture" found in Ground Zero by Fritz Koenig marks the memorial ground for the World Trade Centre:

Downtown Manhattan is where places like Ground Zero and Wall Street are.
Zic the Superman?:

The famous bull that everyone had to queue up to take pictures with...:
Bullshit...:
The church at Wall Street:
Wall Street!!:New York Stock Exchange:

Worship me, you money-grabbing slaves:

They filmed the finale of Heroes here FYI:
This is Ground Zero:
Train Station under the former World Trade Center:

We ended that night with shopping at Century 21. Its this shopping mall beside Ground Zero. It is the BEST place to shop in Manhattan. Designer proucts for less than half the price!!! Seriously! You can get anything from Versace to CK to Hugo Boss to Armani! The best kept secret in all Manhattan! I so wanna go there again when I am in New York!

Die die must visit!

The Big Apple..

2008-08-26T07:08:00.001-07:00

Our plan to wake up early the next day failed. Miserably.

By the time we were in Manhattan, it was almost time for lunch. Lunch break at Seagram Building anyone?:
Seagram was designed by another famous architect Mies van der Rohe (Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and he are the three fathers of architecture; and I got to see all three's finest works!!):
The unique thing about that building is its huge open space in front of the building:
Which draws the lunch-ing people to it like bees to honey. This is what its original intention was to begin with, redefining the Manhattan streetscape.
Totally unintentional picture (which turns out to be nice): And this has Mies's signature all over: I-beams:Finally, we got to go to Guggenheim again:We couldn't take any pictures up the spiral and the exhibition spaces; picture taking was confined to only the first floor:
The famous roof and spiral:
The featured artist in the Museum was Louise Bourgeois. And this is her spider:

Interesting museum. My tutor once told me how unsettling it was to be in it and I did not understand. But now that I stood at the top of the spiral and looked down, at all the people walking under you, it was extremely dizzying...

Next visit was to the Empire State Building:Don't get me started with the queue... Any longer and we would have to camp overnight there.

But the 360 view was so worth it...

East side:
North-east side:
North side (can you see Central Park in the middle and Times Square to the left?):King Kong?:

More of Uptown Manhattan: The top of the Empire State:
The west side:

I think that is New Jersey:
Fear of heights?:
Downtown Manhattan, south side:
Liberty Island in the distance (top right):
Brooklyn Bridge in the top left corner:

Flatiron building (another iconic building apart from Empire State and Chrysler Building) in the centre:
I love this picture:
Zombie-fied:
New Art Museum by SANAA in SoHo:
The Washington Square Arch (fenced up for some construction work...):
Some random art installation:
Cooper Union:
Our future school?:
Grand Central Station!:
This was where Cyclops made a hole through the roof in X-Men:

From the outside:
Beside it was the Chrysler Building:
And our last building for the night was the UN Building, it was designed by Wallace Harrison, Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer to name a few:

Tune in for more NYC pictures...

The Big Apple.

2008-08-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

So I arrived New York City at night and was supposed to meet up with the boys at Penn Station in Madison Square Garden. But I received a text from them on instructions to get myself on the subway and make my way to Queens. Once there I was to call them and they would pick me up from the bus station above the subway stop.

Well, firstly my bus from DC arrived earlier than scheduled. And the phone I was using (Ching Hei and I switched phones... long story...) was dying on me. And no matter how many times I called those boys, the call could not get through (apparently AT&T sucks... big time). So there I was in Queens close to midnight on the side of a really deserted road, alone. Obviously, after reading my previous entry, you probably know how I was feeling.

So I will spare you the details on how paranoid and anxious I was feeling and jump straight into the conclusion. I found a 24-hr Dunkin Donuts where I had my supper and devised a plan to contact the guys. Firstly, I tried to reserve the phone's battery by switching the phone off. Secondly, I made friends with the guy behind the register (to borrow his phone). Thirdly, I called Zic's number over and over again. When all that failed, I tried to randomly call the numbers in Ching Hei's phone in search of his uncle (whose house we were bunking in for the next few nights). My efforts paid off and I got through to the uncle (with Ching Hei beside him) and told them where I was. And then the phone died (not before I wrote down the uncle's number on a paper napkin). After over an hour of overreacting and waiting, they finally picked me up.

So that was how my second night in New York went. Quite 'uneventful'.

The next morning we woke up early to follow Ching Hei's uncle to the bus stop and then subway stop. He was heading off to work in New Jersey and he was showing us how to take the bus and subway train and all that. We bought our very own Metro Cards which we could use freely for the entire week.

Our first stop on that Tuesday morning was Museum of Modern Art a.k.a. MoMA.
Manhattan city scene:
Trump tower (in the centre) along Avenue 5:
Hmmm... I wanna go with some important church:

MoMA:
And... it had to be closed on Tuesdays:
This is Rockerfeller Centre:
This is so Superman...:

Now, this is St. Patrick's Cathedral:
Once again, scenes down Avenue 5. THE shopping belt:
LV anyone?: Beginning of Central Park (along 5th Avenue) on the Grand Army Plaza:
Towering skyline around Central Parl:
Horse-drawn carriages like in the movies:

Artists working on every inch of the side of the road (coincident or not, all the artists we saw, were Asians...):
Somewhere in Central Park:Here we have the Central Zoo. Seals!!!:
Penguin enclosure:
Polar bear... which we think is mechanical. Cause it keeps swimming back and forth:

Its a small zoo. Very small. Don't expect much cause its only 8 bucks to get in. No lions nor zebras (like in Madagascar the movie)... A bit disappointed with that.
Tropical rainforest habitat enclosure was really impressive:
And there were other smaller creatures too:
Fun place to bring your kids, but it is not really for the adults. Unless what you are hunting are (not animals but) MILFs.

THE fountain in Central Park:
Yes, this is the fountain that has been featured on so many movies... Recently, the song-and-dance sequence in Enchanted:
While we were in Central Park, we noticed (not one, not two) but four independant film crew; two of which were probably filming scenes for either a movie or show, one for a commercial, and one for some modelling reality show...
Under the bridge connecting the mall:
Perfect day:

Zic reliving his childhood:
Just us three:
I nearly fell:
And yes, this is THE pond (that you see in all the movies shot in New York):
And this is THE bridge. Everything HAS to happen on this bridge:

Ehem... filming a commercial?: This was where Little Nicky (Adam Sandler) was sleeping in the movie of the same name. The same exact boulder:
This was where many heroes went to 'emo' in many movies:
And this is called the Great Lawn:
Can you see why it is so 'great'?:
And this obelisk is the Cleopatra's Needle. One of three (other two can be found in London and Paris) it was built in 1600BC and was a gift to the United States in the late 19th century by the Khedive of Egypt:
Examples of residential architecture found at the peripheral of Central Park:

More artists and painters:
This is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Otherwise known as the Met:
It is really HUGE:
It has everything from antiquities from the Roman empire to Van Gogh paintings!:

Everything is so ancient (and priceless)!:
From Greek and Roman, we move to the Egyptian empire:
Yes, that is an actual temple:

Medieval paintings:

And furniture:
And armour...:From every corner of the world:

From Chinese paintings to African masks, this museum has everything. Everything.

Modern contemporary art:
One of Picasso's many paintings:

View of Central Park and Manhattan from the sky garden:

The roof garden has more exhibition space:
It was impossible to finish looking at the things in the museum in one day! I could only manage to see half the things there!

From one museum we move on to another. The Guggenheim Museum.
It was designed by a REALLY famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Unfortunately, it was closing for the day (we were there at 5-ish).
So we decided that we would go there again the next morning.

This is the Empire State building obviously:

That was when we decided to go see a Broadway show. But first, we stumbled into this:We unknowningly stumbled into Times Square:

It was (I know this sounds cliche) so surreal. The hustle and bustle; the traffic and crowds; the lights and sounds...

Of course I had to do this (re-enactment from Heroes; the one with Hiro):
YATTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ('I made it' in Japanese)

Zic and his 'beng' shot:
My infamous jumping shot:
This was posed:

Models?:
I love this shot:
After an hour or so of cam-whoring in the middle of the road, in the middle of Times Square, we finally made it to the theater: Which Broadway show did we watch?:

Well, it has to be, 'Chicago'... and all that Jazz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:
It was the probably one of the most expensive seats I ever paid for (subsequently the best view I ever got in any show) and the show was probably one of the best performance I have ever seen in my 23 years of life!

More of Times Square at night:
Overwhelming for a small 'country-bumpkin' like me. Too many things to take in...

Tune in for more NYC.

DC.

2008-08-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

So I left the boys in Boston to go down to Washington DC alone. I was nervous travelling by myself especially when I found out have to transit in New York first. And that I would arrive in DC at 3 in the morning.

I am paranoid, I know that. I was more worried about travelling into a bustling city by myself than climbing a mountain solo. People are unpredictable, more than nature herself. Ever since the robbery in Malaysia, it never hurts to be safe... extra safe. Especially in a country where owning a gun is legal.

So there I was on a greyhound bus from Boston (left at 4.30pm) to New York. And I will never forget my first glimpse of the Manhattan skyline from New Jersey 5 hours later. I was spellbound. The glimpse of the red lights atop the Empire State, the bustle at Madison Square gardens and the blue shimmer of the Chrysler crown dazzled me.

I looked in awe at the sight, slightly regretting that I had tucked my camera all the way to the bottom of my backpack.

New York, New York. Now I know why they call it twice. (Cause its New York City, State of New York).

So anyway, the bus passed by quite a few blocks of shady neighbourhoods in New Jersey. And again my imagination was running wild. So the bus stopped at the bus terminal and I had to change buses. I almost missed the bus cause I was waiting at the wrong stand. Something was definitely wrong when I realised I was the only one queueing in that stand...

So I left New York around 10.30pm and made my way to Baltimore then to Washington DC. Got there at 3am and again the bus passed by a few shady neighbourhoods. (According to Leo, the terminal my bus stopped at was in a quite notorious neighbourhood...)

Thank you Leo for picking me up, buddy! Sorry about the ungodly hour. And thanks again for letting me bunk in your place.

So this is Leo a.k.a Gong Li-ou. My secondary school buddy. He is working in DC as a consultant and he lives in Virginia:
His nice neighbourhood:
This is somewhere near his neighbourhood, the Airforce War Memorial.
And this my friend, is not a picture of just any carpark. Its THE carpark of THE Pentagon. See it? I know its hardly noticeable; even Leo who has been driving past the building never realised it was the Pentagon until that day.
Dunno how to pose infront of the Pentagon... Awkward...:
We took a subway from the Pentagon to where Washington DC is Washington DC. We decided to venture to the east side of the Washington Monument first and the first stop was the U.S. Capitol Building:

Washington Monument and the entire stretch of green fields you see is called the Mall (Singapore has a soccer field too.. we call it the Padang). So all the important buildings are directly perpendicular to the Washington Monument. Like how the State Capitol is directly east.
YAY!:
It was a hot sunny day:
My tour guide Leo is an exceptionally good guide. When asked what building this or anything for that matter was, he would say, "Some important building."

So this is... some important building:

And another important building:
And this is the east elevation of the Capitol Building:
Pretty, no?:
And this is the Thomas Jefferson Building a.k.a. Library of Congress; it is just opposite from the Capitol Building: The interior of the south wing:
Trying to look dignified... trying...:
Interior of the main lobby:
The ceiling of the main hall:
Simply gorgeous:
This is the dome of the Library itself, snucked a shot...:
What was actually painted on the dome:

Beside the library was the U.S. Supreme Court:
Silent protestors standing outside:
Its like everywhere I go, they had some kind of contruction going on... the Capitol Building, Supreme Court, Lincoln memorial, Empire State building in NYC to name a few...
Interior:

Leo and I with the bust of some important guy:
Leo with a potrait of an alumni of his school, Dartmouth:
Then we walked west towards the Washington Monument. According to Leo, my tour guide, this was some important monument:
And so was this: Ahh... this was some important building:

Another monument:
And this was some important building too... If you can see the words beneath the pediment, it says 'National Archives':
View from the Navy Memorial:

Why do I even bother trying to anotate this...:
I know this building!!! Its the FBI building!:
I thought this was a church but I think I am mistaken. Lets just call it some important building:
Views of Washington DC (looks a lot like Boston's brick architecture):
Don't ask...:
No clue...:
Some important building exactly north of the Washington Monument...:
Duh... Its the White House!:

I wonder if Bush was looking at us from the inside:
I think this is the Eisenhower Executive Office building:
This is to the east of the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial:
Popsicle?:
Behind the Memorial (further west of the Washington Monument) is the reflecting pool and there you see at the end is the Lincoln Memorial:
Before visiting the Lincoln Memorial, I visited the Vietnam War Memorial.

The Three Servicemen:

The Vietnam War Memorial was designed by Maya Lin:
So the pathway sinks into the ground as you walk from either ends of the V-shaped landscape. And the names of those who perished are engraved onto the reflective black marble wall:

It felt so haunting... touching... and sad: And once again, like other buildings in the proximity, has a relation to the monument:
The Washington Monument:

The monument as seen from the Lincoln Memorial:
Can you see me?:
Lincoln Memorial:
THE Man himself. Ab Lincoln:

To the southwest of the Washington Monument is the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial:
Me waiting to get tickets to go in:
I think this is the statue of Roosevelt:
This 'lake' is called the Tidal basin and after that day it was renamed the Leo Memorial basin:

And this, to the south of the Washington Monument, is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial:
Kinda resembles the Panthenon:
THE Thomas Jefferson:
So this marked the end of my Washington highlights. Thanks once again to Leo for being a great friend.

And next entry, it would be on being back on the Big Apple, New York City.

Boston: Part 2

2008-08-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

Harvard!!!
Harvard University:

My future alma mater's founder, John Harvard:
They say touching his shoe would make your dream of becoming a student there a reality. Obviously, we were so desperate:
Memorial Church at Harvard Square:

Harvard Square:
Sever Hall:
And THE Carpenter Centre by THE Le Corbusier:
ARGH!!! My first Corbu building... Its the one and only building in America which he designed (UN Building was technically not entire his...). Its also one of his latest works.
The ramp leads you into and through the building (west elevation shown here):

Brisque windows, ramps and pilotis:
You can see into the studios from the platform/ramp:
East elevation: I still can't believe it:
More buildings around Harvard:
I think this is the Memorial Hall:
And this is Harvard Graduate School of Design in Gund Hall:

The school has an interesting design; the studios are in a series of steps. That means those in the upper years (or studios above) can look down into the lower studios. Now that is what I call vertical studio.

My future school:
This is Widener Library:
So after the visits to the schools, we went to the CO-OP, where we bought books and... I bought a Harvard sweatshirt...

Poseur!

But I do have to buy school uniform, don't I?

Ehem...

Special thanks to Ching Hei's relatives and friends of relatives for being hospitable hosts showing us around Boston.

While Ching Hei and Zic spent the night there in Boston, I took a bus to New York and then to Washington that night... alone. I was nervous as hell. (More on that later)

Boston: Part 1

2008-08-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

Boston from the air:
Home of Boston Red Sox: Beautiful brick architecture of Boston:
Seriously, its brick architecture everywhere...:
But I still like it:
More 'atas' neighbourhood:
So our first visit was Massachusetts Technological Institute (MIT):
MIT:
Carolina was our tour guide. She is a friend of Ching Hei's second cousin, Anna.
MIT future student?:
Under the dome of the main hall:

Day-dreaming that it could be my school:
I look like I am so at home, no?:
Oh, we found this little gem by accident:
Our first thought was, "This is so Frank Gehry."
"Looks like his 'dancing buildings'..."

"Metal cladding reflecting glare and intolerable heat..."
"Funny angles..."
"Oh... wait... This is Frank Gehry's work!"
Carolina in the centre:
Interestingly, he uses brick too:

Along with more metal and glass claddings:
More of MIT campus:
From left; Anna, Ching Hei, Zic and Carolina:

Sleepless in Seattle again: Part 2

2008-08-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

Views of downtown Seattle: SAM, no, not Singapore Art Museum but Seattle Art Museum:
Interior:
Pike Market, famous for the fresh produce and fish:
The most famous fish stall in the entire market:The fishmongers throw the fish to the packer like baseball. Good gimmick. The audience love that:
Coming out of Alaska, I am sick of seafood!
One of the fishmonger:
The rest of the market and street scene:
Fried oysters and shrimp:

The market is huge!:
Well, technically it should not be called a market:
Zic and the world's tallest man... Zic has just the right height:
Another famous Seattle attraction just next door: Seattle Aquarium:

And the Seattle docks:
SAM again, this time the Olympic Sculpture Park:

A view of the Space Needle:
More of the park:
Interesting monstrous sculptures:
And another visit to the Space Needle (we went up the last time we came; see here for pictures):
Then it was time to bid farewell to Seattle.

And hello Boston.

Sleepless in Seattle again: Part 1

2008-08-19T18:43:00.001-07:00

From Juneau, we flew to Seattle (for our first trip to Seattle, see here).

Sights in Seattle. Safeco Field, Seattle Mariners' baseball field: King Street Station:
Seattle City Hall:

And the reason why we were so excited coming back to Seattle, the Seattle Public Library (designed by Rem Koolhaas) and this time it was open!
Check out the angles...:
Sexy...:
So is the interior:

It was close to overwhelming:
Not too glaring and not too dark, it was perfect:
This is the third floor by the way (called the 'Living Room'). There are two entrances, from either Fifth (goes to the third floor) or Fourth Avenue (first floor). The second floor is not accessible to public.
The fourth floor is called the 'Red Hall'. This is where all the meeting rooms are. Everything was so red and organic:
Fifth floor, the mixed media room: The sixth to ninth storey is where the 'spiral' is:

You walk up this series of ramps which houses bookshelves and reading stations.

Till you reach the top floor:
Cam-whoring in the middle of a busy library:
...:
And this was the children's section (all the way down in first floor):

Generally, beautiful library but it does not have well-maintained toilets. The toilets look beyond 'hawker-centre' dirty with all the grafitti and questionable characters lurking inside. Simply parasitic on an otherwise monumental library.

Goodbye Skagway.

2008-08-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

All packed and ready to go.

Thanks to those who sent us off (both in the Atco and jetty).

The ferry that took us to Juneau:
The boys sleeping... (I was beyond 'sleepy' too):

Goodbye Skagway. Thanks for the memories...
And hello Juneau, we meet once again. And once again you are rainy... :(

The people I have come to love.

2008-08-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Goodbye.

Thanks for everything.

I cannot put into words how grateful and honored I am to have known you all. I love you and will always miss you all.

Keep in touch.

2008-08-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

"I came here to discover myself, heck, I didn't realise that I am an American."

So goes my quote in the newsletter for Skagway Westmark Hotel (which Chilkoot restaurant is a part of). The newsletter was part of a bi-weekly publication given to all the employees. It so happened they were featuring the staff of Chilkoot Restaurant that week. And everyone (not just myself) had to write a little bit about themselves. I just thought of the quote and went along with it.

I'm not being a traitor to Singapore, oh no no (I am a born and bred Singaporean and I am damn proud of it), its just that when I first came here, I felt so miserable leaving my family and friends behind. I miss Singapore. Everything about Singapore: the food, the heat and the 'big' city life. Compared to Skagway, Singapore seems like a mega-metropolis.

But most of all, I miss my family. A lot. Especially my niece (I can't wait to carry her again).
So weeks past, and I began my 'countdown', first it was how many days I have been here, then it turned to weeks and then months, and then it began to be in reverse, how many months I have left here, then weeks and then days, and now hours...

Initially, when the days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, I was really longing to go back home. I was missing the only family I know.But then as it began to be the reverse, when months left turned to weeks left and then to days left, I know I'm beginning to dread going back home. Cos I know I will be missing the family I made here. Family I would not get to see, maybe for a year or maybe even forever.

This is my American family.

I wouldn't have guessed in a million years how in just three months I could have made so many close friends, friends whom I want to stay in touch with for the rest of my lives; friends whom I have came to love so much, friends whom I feel are like family.

I have my Mama and Big Daddy, Rosalinda and Artie. My sisters (Jasmin, Tsvetalina, Ralitza, Mariya, Yoana and Tsveta) and 'sista' (Jacob). My bros (Greg, Chris, Bryan, Kevin and Justin, and even Alfredo).

Thank you for making being here alone and away from my family easy. Thank you for making me feel so welcomed. Thank you for making me feel loved and at home.

Thanks for being my family.

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same."

My last hike: AB Mountain.

2008-08-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

My last and final hike, before I completed all the hikes in Skagway. And who better than to do it with then my best friend, Bryan:A view of Skagway somewhere up AB Mountain:
Higher up we go: Dyea Plains on the right:
Till we reached the clouds:
And couldn't see anything: Some snow still left near the summit:
It was cold...:
My unglam shot eating bread and jelly:
Another unglam shot of me peeing on the summit (PS: that is my belt).

So we headed back down and the clouds were starting to disperse and the sun came out:
What a beautiful day:
Thanks Bryan, now everything is complete.
AB Mountain...

Sturgill's Landing.

2008-08-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

My mission to finish all the hike trails in Skagway led me to Sturgill's Landing the very next day after Denver Glacier.

You have to climb up to Lower Dewey before heading to the trail to Sturgill's. Views of Lower Dewey Lake:
Sturgill's Landing was actually an easier hike compared to what I have done.
This is what you see in Sturgill's:
A nice rapid near Sturgill's:
Then I headed back to Lower Dewey and said my final goodbyes before going back...
Goodbye Lower Dewey... We have had many good times.

Denver Glacier.

2008-08-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to head down to Denver Glacier on my last weekend in Skagway. My last camping trip. And my last hike before I retire (or so I thought).

And the girls decided to join in as well. Tsveta, Ralitza, Mariya, Yoana and Tsvetelina (Jasmin, not in the picture):
The boys too; my favourite boys. Bryan, Chris and Kevin:

The cabin cum caboose:
The rail tracks were just beside the cabin:
Off hiking we go:
I am one lucky man, :) :

12 is a pretty large group; from left: Tsveta, Chris, Kim (behind), Ralitza, Kevin (behind), Jasmin, Tsvetelina, Lauren (behind), Yoana, Mariya, Bryan (behind) and me:
Yoana, Ralitza and Tsveta:
Hiking halfway throught the trail was hell... The vegetation was overgrown and path almost invisible.

Then we reached a point (far away from the glacier) where there was a clearing. Denver Glacier from far:

I was clearly disappointed. Cause unlike Laughton Glacier when we could actually walked on the glacier and ice, we could only see Denver Glacier from far. Or we could have bashed through another hour or more of vegetation...

But we headed back to camp instead.

We found GOLD. No kidding, gold flakes in a tiny little stream:

When we got back, what else but a campfire? Bryan and his marshmallow stick or should I say sticks...
While the girls went back, we decided to stay on to camp overnight. There was a bridge where we were and the train tracks run over it. So this was us, over the river, in the middle of the bridge, thinking there wasn't going to be any trains...
What do you think we did? Of course, we each took a turn crying wolf. In this case it was 'crying train'.

Until Bryan actually saw a train (it was actually two small service trains) from afar.

We ran as fast as we could, actually it was hard to run on the tracks, we had to take small steps at a time... It was really scary... lol.

Us, safe on 'land':

So this was what we saw:
It was really funny as hell.

And the rest of the night was a night to remember... Wolf-crying into the night on the bridge, skits, marshmallow-roasting, laughing and talking...

Thanks guys, it was unforgetable. One of the best nights I ever had.

Dyea... The lost city.

2008-08-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Dyea used to be a bustling town in the early 19th century. Now what is left is just the Dyea Plains.
Craig took us in his car there. The other three are fishing enthusiasts; I was just there to bear- and eagle-watch.
The huge Dyea Plains:

I wasn't disappointed. I saw bald eagles, four to be exact. Can you see this one flying (somewhere in the centre of picture):
This one is perched on a tree:
Zic fishing:
And me just tanning under the sun:
Till next time.

Full circle.

2008-07-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Probably this would be one of the last few updates before I leave Skagway to travel around the east side of the States next week.

Yup, one more week.
One more week of Skagway and I would be done.

I'm feeling all kinds of mixed emotions: glad to finally be traveling, happy to go back home but the strongest feeling I have right now is sadness. Yes, sadness. I feel so sad that I would be leaving this place. This place that has been home to me for the past 3 months. Of course, its not a place worth missing if not for the people.

Yes, I know you are probably reading this. I will miss you guys so much I cannot put it into words (I will try, but not now).

I was so ready to come back next year, but after hearing that some of you guys are changing plans about coming back, then I'm not so sure anymore. Like I said, Skagway would not be worth coming back to, if the people are not around...

Kenneth is the first few to leave (so are the Vietnamese girls). In fact, he is leaving now to go to the airport. Just looking at his empty bed reminded me that I would be gone too in a week. Its a terrible feeling I think, leaving all this behind- Skagway and the people you have come to love. All that you leave behind is an empty room but you take so much with you. All the memories, the experience and the sights you have taken in. I have learnt so much.

Argh... I can't bear to leave.

So much has happened since my last bitching entry. Linda has done a complete 360 on her behaviour (well, almost). She was actually fired from her job at the laundrymat in Westmark. She has a couple of other jobs to fall back on. She is still hall monitor, which is a good thing cause she is now actually being a darn good hall monitor. She cleans and picks up after us without any fuss. That means no pots and pans out on the sand pit. Just the other day, I found my laundry done (dried, even folded and pressed) in the laundry room after leaving it in the washer overnight. She is back to being her chatty self again... (err.. she is probably too chatty now).

Sandy was fired too, because she was taking tables when she was repeatedly told not to. I mean she gets assistant manager's pay so taking away our tips is still unfair. I feel kinda sorry for her, she's been working here for 3 years or so. But then again, she has a second job to fall back on.

Then guess who has to stand in for her as the assistant manager?

*drumrolls*

Moi!

Not a big deal though. Not getting a pay rise. Just getting more responsibility behind the cash register and doing the hosting all that. Still serving tables once in a while (I still want my tips!).

I was actually supposed to be just the manager for breakfasts but last night was my first as a night one. Even had to be the bartender behind the bar (made my first drink!... "Err... how do I make Bacardi and Coke?" *faints*)

Who would have imagined 3 months ago, while I was still learning how to wait on tables... that I would now be sitting people, handling the register and 'bank', and making drinks (of course, being a manager is more than doing that)?

But yeah, I have learnt so much.

And that is a pity cause I only have a few more days left.

Everything has almost come to a complete circle, even the weather. The days are getting colder (just like on the first few weeks that I was here). Hopefully I can see the northern lights before I leave...

...

I am already feeling so miserable right now at this very moment. I cannot imagine how I would be like next week.

Roadtrip! Haines.

2008-07-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Took a ferry down to the nearby town of Haines; there were me, Grace, Mariya, Ralitza, Tsveta and Tyler (not in picture):
Saw two humpbacks on the way there (I took a video, not pictures), really awesome!!! Finally saw bears and whales! My Alaskan experience is complete!
Really nice weather when we left Skagway; I was wearing my berms:

We saw seals too, lazing on the stones:
The three beautiful girls; Ralitza, Mariya and Tsveta:
More seals:
Welcome to Haines:
A less tourist-y area than Skagway, minus all the fake looking buildings... Haines is beautiful in its own way:

Reliving our childhood:
The main reason why we went to Haines:
State Fair!:
Is this going to be just a miniature Skagway?:

There were booths and stages:
And rides:

And food stands!!!:
Lots and lots of foodstands:
The gang had steak sandwich:
Turkey leg:

Waffles with hot cocoa:
Burritos:

There was even bubble tea and popiah (ok, they call it springroll). 5 bucks for the bubble tea?

And there was a hawk that came to 'visit':

Young and old were loving the atmosphere:

There were mechanical bull rides:
The three girls enjoying ice blended juice:
Axe throwing competition:
Winner (in blue):

Rides:
Tyler trying that hammer thing. He broke the record for the number of consecutive hits for this year's fair:
A barn:
More cool stuff inside:

Crazy mirror:
Petting zoo!:Aww...:
A cute baby goat!:
It was head-butting itself in the mirror! How adorable is that?:

Fortune telling:
Sumo wrestling anyone?:
Booths selling clothes:
How can it be a fair without clowns?:
Puppet show:
State fair posters for the past 40 years:
This is what a state fair is all about:
First place photography:
Artworks:

Vegetables?:

Boat?:
Quilt and needlework:
Flowers:

Even had an army fair, showing off their chopper:
Flew over us and made mud flew everywhere just before it took off:
It was actually freezing cold... poor boy:
Glass maker making beads:
Vote 'Yes' to abolishing mining in Alaska:

Vote 'No':
Dalton city... nah... its just a fake town:
So we left the fair to travel around the other parts of Haines: And walked all the way to the state ferry, all 4 miles... NOT. We hitched a ride halfway there:
The girls stopping at every second to take pictures: Finally got to the state ferry terminal where there was stuffed animals. Been wanting to see a moose... sigh... At least a stuff calf would do... for now:

Stuffed bald eagle:
Taking the state ferry back:
The ferry was cool, had a movie theater and a cafeteria, even had a bar!
Till next time!

Gee's 21st.

2008-07-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Becca and Gee at Gee's 21st party. They had a sixties pimp and prostitute theme:Gee singing her heart out: The whole gang on the bed:
Cake:
Bryan and Justin:

Chris and me:
21 spanks for the 21-year-old:
So it was a ight of spanking and horrible singing:

Till next time!

What a drag... show.

2008-07-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

The night that everbody has been anticipating for: 'Drag Night 08'. Held at Red Onion Bar, the show was really an eye-opener for me. Almost everyone was in drag that night, man or woman!

Plus it was for a real good cause; one of the locals got injured badly when a boulder crushed his pelvis, so it was also a fund-raising event to pay for his medical fees (there were entry charges, an auction during the intermission and donation bags).

And of course, Jacob a.k.a. Madonna had to be there to perform in the lip-synching contest.

This is Jacob (he couldn't find a blonde wig to come as Madonna, so this is him as Cher):
Hawt!!!:
The hosts... or should I say hostesses:
I think this is the bar manager. The wet patch you see on his 'nipple' is because of the cherry underneath:
The diverse crowd:

So wrong...:
The resident drag queen started off with a number from Barbara Streisand. He was so good:
I can't remember who they were:
'She' was really... disturbing:
Very disturbing...:

This is Cher:
And Sunny:
This is Tom, the Maintenance Manager (with Rosalinda)... He even shaved off his goatee for this. That's what I call commitment:
Jacob was supposed to perform next but the batteries in my camera died. And there was also something wrong with his music, or CD. So they had to skip his performance and they had an intermission. Which was a good thing cause I had time to run back to change my batteries.

But Jacob never got to perform his routine that night cause he got upset that they couldn't play his music, plus they made him wait so long for his turn to perform. Errmm... He played Cher extremely well; even got the role of a diva down pat. Hahah...

Another performance by the resident drag queen:

Then there was the Backstreet 'Boys' one which was really good. But my batteries had to die on me earlier on.

Of course there were the not-so-good ones... The guy was so 'shiok sendiri'...:

And the really ugly-ones, the genies in a bottle. What bottle? Try beer bottle.. that's why they are probably too drunk:
I like this one; this is Marc Anthony:
And his Jeniffer Lopez... Check out the ass on 'her':
Another one of my favourite:
The 'girl' actually looked not bad...: See that bulge on the 'guy'?:
Very disturbing.. and funny:
Another 'hottie'... 'She' won the best performance award..:
At the end of the night, the awards were given out to best dressed performer and non-performers: Winner for best dressed non-performer (with one of the Backstreet 'Boys'):

Another winner...:

The judges cum VIPs (family members of the injured local, the mum in the black jacket):
Final performance to close the show:

They were hilarious!!! At first I thought they were dancing to a very innocent song, until it went to the chorus, "... do you take it in the ass...":

The entire night was really an eye-opener for me. It won't be the last drag show I wanna go to! Hahah!!!

Devil's Punchbowl.

2008-07-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

So it was about time I climb up to old Upper Dewey Lake again. See the older post here (and compare the pictures).

This time with Chris, Justin and the two brothers (pictured below) Bryan and Kevin:
Been a couple of months since my first climb up there and as you can see there is hardly any snow left:
Bryan looks cool; I look like I'm in pain:
The river has completely melted:
The bridge used to be completely under a blanket of snow:
Doesn't it make you want to dance around and sing, "The hills are alive, with the sound of music..."? I did precisely just that:

"With songs they have sung for a thousand years...":
"The hills fill my heart with the sound of music...":
I got the same angle shot. No cropping done. See the difference six weeks can make?:
Yup, all the ice and snow is gone:
The nice cabin we stayed in (and paid for):

The old free cabin:
It used to be covered with snow (cept for the door and chimney):
Bridge:
Cam-whore:

Inside the uber cool cabin:
Nice windows framing the gorgeous view of the lake:
And aside from the 4 double bunk beds, there is a loft at the top (you can probably fit 6 people up there!):
Met Tsvetalina and Yoana up there (they left a few hours earlier):
Me attempting to go to the rock in the middle of the lake:
The broken bridge:
Chris, with Bryan in picture below, finally made it (we hiked up in waves, first Justin went up, then it was Kevin, Bryan and I, then Chris went up on his own):
With Chris looking after the things in the cabin, the other four of us went up to Devil's Punchbowl. We couldn't go up there the last time because of all the snow so now with all the snow gone, we could:
Sun rays over Skagway:
Up we go:
The view of the entire lake:
Sun was out:
You can see Skagway clearly now: Finally reached Devil's Punchbowl:

It wasn't as far away from Upper Dewey Lake as I expected:
Opps!:
The two brothers:

Justin:
The four of us:
Then the three went down while I took my time up there alone.

I conquered Alaska! (I have one similar photo, 'I conquered Tekong' in Friendster):
I took my time up there, lay down on a huge boulder and just listened... to the silence, to the stillness... to the peace.
After a 'zen' alone moment, I went down to the cabin.

The lake became so still you could see the perfect reflection of the entire mountain:
I tried to take a decent picture of the cabin but the boys, being boys...:
The fire, strong and really hot:
Bryan, Justin and I decided to take a stroll around the lake at night:

Night shot:
It was almost freezing cold but it was nice to come back to a strong fire to warm up to:
Me and the boys just chillin' (or should I say 'warming'):
My boys: Bryan, Kevin and Chris (Justin, not in the picture):

It was really awesome guys.

Thanks for all the male-bonding. Haha...

No, seriously, thanks for all the good times we shared (hope there would be many more to come).

And you don't have to kidnap me to stay in the States. I can't bear to leave my brothers too.

Roadtrip! Kluane: Part 1

2008-07-27T17:23:00.001-07:00

So I went to Canada last week and its about time I uploaded the pictures.

Jasmin's grandfather has a property there, somewhere in the Yukon territory, on the border of a huge nature reserve park called the Kluane.

The fun people who went for the roadtrip!
Frank (behind), Jasmin and Greg:
Sage, Greg's 'human'-dog:
The car we went in:
Somewhere past the Canadian-American border:
The sky was nice, so bear with me as I show all these sky-shots (I have more, trust me, just uploaded the nicer ones):
Northern lights? No, just nice clouds:
Pit-stop, Lake Bennet:
Beach? Nope, its a lake:
Lots of prairie dogs:
Emerald Lake! I have seen it a million times but I will never get sick of it:
Group-shot!:
So we reached Whitehorse (been there thrice now):
Nice cafe, nice weather:Tourist!:
So we left Whitehorse after shopping for food in Wal-Mart and The Canadian Superstore, and headed south to Haines Junction.
More sky-shots:

Long long road south:
Haines Junction:
So we picked up her grandpa at his girlfriend's house in Haines Junction and went down to his property:
After a good 20 minutes from the highway, on the beaten track, we reached his estate, Whispering Willow Estates:

The man himself:
His main cabin's kitchen:
Showing us around his property:
A windmill that draws the water from the nearby creek...:
... to the phallic thing on the left, where he gets the water. The water is also drawn directly into the cabin:

But lately he has been having beaver-problems. He has to kill the beavers there cause they were building dams on the creek, flooding it. He tried relocating them to the nearby lake but they kept coming back. So he got himself a license to shoot them. He shot two but he still has one more somewhere in the creek. One of the beavers:
Showing us around the cool cabin:
The kitchen:
Sage, after a day staying in the car while we went shopping in Whitehorse:

The next morning, Frank and I went around the property to look at his other cabins:
The cabin we stayed at:
Whispering Willows Estate:
The main cabin, see how low the cabin is:
The many vintage stuff he has. He has things dating back before the first war:
A really good furnace:
Huge clock dating before the first war:
More antiques, everything has a story:
Made a new friend:

Oh, did I forget to mention he builds his own cabins? Alone? He even has one cabin relocated and he moved that one across a frozen lake back in 1976. Its the same cabin we were sleeping in. He is 73-years-old now and he is still building cabins!

This one is for his son. A really famous musician in Taiwan (Matthew Lien). This is just the basement:
There is a knoll behind the incomplete cabin. We hiked up and this is what we saw, all of his property:
The creek you see is called the Flying Squirrel Creek. He named it:
This is where he gets potable spring water:

The lake beside his property, Dezadeash Lake. Its so huge it looks like the ocean (even has tiny 'islands').
Opa ('Grandpa' in Austrian) and Jasmin:
Sage loving the water:

All together now, Awww....:

Roadtrip! Kluane: Part 2

2008-07-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Next morning we went off to check out the rest of Kluane. Its really HUGE. Its home to the tallest peaks in the whole Yukon.

On the way back to Haines Junction, Dezadeash lake:

We went to the Kluane Visitor Centre:
Seeing the model of the reserve park:
Moutain sheep's horns:
Animal tracks, the yellowish one in the picture belongs to the Grizzly, top right belongs to the moose, bottom centre belongs to the Black Bear:
A bear skull:

At the nearby bakery:
A really nice log church:
On the bumper of her grandpa's car:
Then we went to Pine Lake:
To float!:
I look like I'm jumping off:
Jasmin, Frank and I:
Her grandpa's girlfriend's raft:
Frank and I:

Then on our back, we stopped at several stops along the Kluane border.

Frank and I, our 'engagement' photo:

Crazy shot:
'Hero'-shot: At Quill Creek:
The water is white:
Then we went to Lake Kathy:
Man and his best friend: Still no sign of a bear... though its supposed to be 'Bear Country'. Sigh... A bear trap would do:
Then we drove off to Klukshu Village, a native American village (or they call them First Nations in Canada).

But we got lost. Which was a good thing; cause we saw this...:

OH MY GOD!!! It was my first bear, and it was a f**king Grizzly!!! I caught it on video too! Its huge!!!:
Eating off berries:
What are you looking at?:
Stop following me!: I'm warning you!:
See if there are cars coming:
I'm coming to get you:
Buzz off!:
Yes, the bear charged at us! Check out those claws! We sped away of course! I have everything on video. We were so f**king excited!!!

Then a few minutes later, we saw our second bear. A black bear this time:

The bear ran off after a few seconds. Then a minute later when we drove away, we saw a porcupine! Didn't manage to get a shot though.

Then we found Klukshu Village which we had past previously when we saw the bear (we were probably too excited):
When we got back Frank and I were fooling around with Jasmin's grandpa's rifle:
A farm should always have tractors! He grows hay on his property:
And of course, you should always have a 'haunted' abandoned cabin:
With mysterious paintings inside:

And not forgetting, a 'porno' park too! Yes, those are what they are (he has 5 of those things!):
A fun shot with all the props from around his house:
Eating smores; roasted marshmallows, crackers and chocolate:
The next day, I did more snooping around the main cabin. Can you guess what it looks like when I turn this around?:

More fun:
Inside the cabin we stayed in:
I slept on the lower bunk:
Didn't notice this until the next morning, just outside my room's window; bear claw and bite marks:

Cabin we stayed in:
So we bidded farewell to the cabin and Jasmin's grandpa, but not without taking a 'family' shot:
Next up, we drove northwards to Kluane Lake:
There was a dust cloud from the nearby blastings (to widen the roads):

But its still beautiful, the water is as blue as a swimming pool's:
My favourite shot:

Pole dancing?: We headed down to Silver City, a city abandoned since 18-something, during the Gold Rush:
Frank hid in one of the rooms and scared the living daylights out of Jasmin and I. This was the aftermath, after all the shouting:
See the old-fashioned car?:

View from a nearby knoll:
More abandoned cabins:
Saint Elias peaks, I think Mount Logan (the highest peak in Canada and the second highest in the North America after Mt Mckinley) is somewhere inside:

An 1800s bridge:
On our way back to Whitehorse, we saw our third bear:

Digging for grubs or mushrooms:
Aww... so cute:

We saw our fourth bear, a beautiful blonde and chubby one, a Grizzly, but none of us could take a picture cause it ran before anyone of us could take out our cameras.

We were rushing for time cause we were worried they might close the American-Canadian borders cause it would get too dark to drive (but its not true, certain customs do close, but not the one from Skagway to Whitehorse).

Emerald lake at night, still a beauty:

We got back before midnight and the road was pitch black. Plus it was raining. Greg, being a responsible driver that he is, drove slowly and we all got back safely.

Special thanks to Jasmin's Grandpa for being so generous and allowing us to stay in his cabin. A really warm and friendly man, he is. And thanks to Frank, Greg and Jasmin (not forgetting Sage) for making my first roadtrip so memorable!

That's all folks!

Living on adrenaline.

2008-07-21T16:46:00.001-07:00

I amaze myself.

I have never thought of myself as the extremely adventurous type but having gone on all these hikes (rafting, climbing etc.), I can't help but to think how much I have pushed myself, not just physically but mentally as well.

All the hikes I have been on are tough, no doubt about it. The pictures you see are deceiving. That's the thing about pictures, I look back at these pictures and everything in them look so small, so 'normal'; but they definitely aren't. No words can describe how beautiful everything I saw was nor can any of the pictures vividly capture them. I have been left speechless a number of times, gasping at the beauty of what I have seen.

Who would have thought I would actually climb on top of a glacier? Not once but countless of times. Who would have thought I would scale a mountain? Not once but countless of times...

And that's the amazing part. I almost didn't come here (because I only got my VISA approved two days before my flight date) and I would have missed out on all these. Who would have thought that I could come here and be so happy and contented (and be scared shit sometimes)?

Almost all the hikes have been scary, sure, I could have died a number of times; but was it all worth it? Hell yeah. Bryan once said, "If my mum knew what I have been doing, she would have killed me herself." And I completely agree with him. Its not that we don't care about how dangerous the things we do are, its that part of you that wants to push yourself, get over your phobias (I have a fear of height actually) and just do it.

Like the other time in Laughton Glacier, people were saying how crazy we were for going all the way without using ropes and icepicks. We did it wihout any of that 'cept for the clothes on our backs and even an umbrella (for Justin)!

And then there was the seemingly innocent hike to Upper Reid. We had gotten a tad overexcited and wanted to try hiking down to Lower Reid Falls; but we hiked back from the way we came, only after we came to cliffs and deadends.

Not forgetting all my lone hikes up to Upper Dewey and anywhere else, I could have injured myself or got attacked by bears...

And then there was the wrong trail in my Chilkoot hike, the one where we had to scale a freakishly steep climb. All I could think of during all those times were, "I hope I don't die." Honestly... I'm not going to deny that I felt that way. And that kept me going. The thought of never seeing my family again or not waking up the next day, or if I had gotten badly injured, never to stand on my own two feet again, makes me more careful and alert. I have to take care of myself in all the incredible trips I had had.

To reach the destination is one thing but to go through the trip is another. No matter how scary or dangerous the journey has been, the destination never fails to take my breath away. And it has been one journey after the other, week after week. One breathtaking moment after another. And one "I-hope-I-dont'-die-today" thoughts after the other.

I have come to discover that you are only as fearless as you think you are. And fearing for your life doesn't make you any fearless.

It makes sense.

Mother of all hikes: The Chillkoot trail, Part 2

2008-07-16T02:16:00.000-07:00

The next morning was beautiful. Very beautiful... The sun was out and the sky was so blue:
Where I was brushing my teeth. Nice view, eh?

Sun, I missed you!
So it was bye bye to Happy Camp:
And hello more beautiful scenery:
I'm jus going to let these pictures speak for themselves:

This is Long lake:
Still 'Long Lake':

Bryan and I broke off from the group again...

And then we reached this:
Deep Lake.
It was so beautiful, words cannot describe it. The water was every shade of blue you could think of... I was lost for words...:

Arhhh.......:
Deep Lake campsite, I fell asleep on that exact bench waiting for the rest:
So all five of us left Deep Lake to go to the next campsite:

Can't get enough of Deep Lake:
The rapids along the way:
And then we reched Linderman City, were supposed to stay overnight there but we decided to press on and stay at the net campsite, Bare Loon Lake.
Linderman Lake:
Linderman City:
Linderman Lake is a huge-ass lake:
Some nameless lake:
And then, finally, we reached Bare Loon Lake:

The warming shelter wasn't that warm... See why?:

And so we stayed overnight there and the next day got up to go to our final destination, Camp Bennet:
So another squirrel, this time eating what its supposed to, a nut:

Bryan went ahead so it was left with me and the other three:
Came across a cabin for Snow White and the seven dwarves:
On our way to Bennet, there was sand:
Which was harder to walk on than snow: And then finally, after 3 days and 3 nights... Lake Bennet:

Linderman Creek:
Saw this tribute plaque... 21 years old... damn...
I finally did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole team:Old church at Bennet:

We did it!
Bennet train stop:
We reached at noon, two hours before our train leaves for Skagway.

So we decided to walk around the 'town'.

Bryan lost part of his filter coming down the wrong trail before Cillkoot Pass, at least the pump part of it. This was how he drank water:

Native store selling overpriced stuff:
And I didn't realise I got this from the Paterson's trail:
Yup, so there ends the biggest adventure in my life.

I would never have regretted doing it.

Chillkoot Trail, hell yeah!!!