Skyline Drive

|| East Grace Street

2011-12-25T04:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was here. It usually is the time for me to write lots of season's greetings, but there was none this year, lots of small things to do and felt was catching up all the time. In the morning, I talked to Wei and Hailing. They seem to be safe and sound and everything. Sent a number of text messages to my cousins, friends and classmates, and received replies.

Catherine hosted a dinner party, food was amazing and love the time we sat on the 3rd floor and chatted. Coming out at around 1015pm, I decided to follow Whit to her church, the Centenary United Methodist Church at the east grace street. The midnight downtown was divine, cold was in the air, but the streets all seem to be ready for a holy reception. We parked in a lot, then walked the small lanes through the backdoor (would never be able to do that myself), making several turns inside, and we got to the congregation. The service was peaceful with candle lighting in the end. Just after midnight (1216pm) we walked out to embrace the melancholy church bells in the air and on streets. It was a peaceful night from my heart.

|| Sat Afternoon in the Country

2011-10-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

It is the kinda weekend afternoon that all mankind can dream of, in the fall, when plants and fruits come into harvest, and peasants (or workers) sit down and enjoy some music, grill, donuts and apple ciders. The road up the hill was bad, packed with people and cars, almost 30 minutes to settle down, but what was around was joyful. Apple trees look handsome, all surrounding the land, York, Winesap, Golden Delicious and Fuji ...

Grabbed half a dozen apple cider donuts from the country store. It was warm when I was holding it, a wonderful feel after some hard labor work in the past several weeks ..

|| Serene: James River State Park

2011-08-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Drove 1.5 hours towards west on highway 60 and we reached the Buckingham county. Route 605 was hard to find for the impatient visitors but it was right there when I was about to turn around. After the right turn, there was a 7 miles rusty and narrow road that led to the newest of the Virginia state parks, the upper stream of the James river.

However, the river wasn't ready to be seen until we found it behind layers and layers of trees. Much like what we'd seen at the downstream, the water was extremely shallow, and the river bank was very wide. Visitor Center, Dixon Landing, Taylor Pond ... simple places, unsophisticated, people are having some easy fun times. My favorite place was the picnic area close to the river side, gravel driveway, right pass the leisure equipment rental office, driving the car up close to the picnic table, parked right under the big tree. We had a healthy lunch, sitting there, listening to the passing train, the water was serene, quiet, healing, summer time is good ...

|| Pochahontas State Park

2011-08-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

|| Survival Theory

2011-07-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

A few more hours and I'm officially one year older. It's dreadful to think about age and aging, but life leaves no time to be depressed, so let me celebrate my surviving this past year of good life, and wish that I could be here celebrating another soon enough.

It's a Saturday, scorching heat outside, 105F. It has been better concentrating, a lot of reading, some conspiring, a little pondering for the birthday and for the weekend. My concentration problem has always been with people, they distract me and I'm sure the distraction isn't reciprocal. I'm interested in knowing people but these days everyone is cryptic, so decoding and imagining. The imagining part is what I disliked myself for 'cause I'd like to think people whoever come to my way are perfections of their species, but they are not. They have various professions, techniques, styles and faults. I tend to be that selfish creature but have retreated to a dangerous place that I don't ask for what I want but instead imagine that I'm getting what I want. It's distracting and morose (picked up this word from our CFO, after his all-hands on phone about pressure). But I also see what could get myself back again, that is, work and wisdom. Indeed that's the best medicine for the concentration problem.

Introductory Statistics, Econometrics, Probability, BASEL, parabolic, polynomial, univariate, multivariate, capital adequacy, supervisory review and market transparency ... it's somewhat easier when pressure is around, and I am concentrating. 2/3 of the distractions are disappearing, but I am doing badly and wanting to salvage the 1/3 disappeared. No, let's not do that, I'm saying that to myself ... on 7/23/2011.

|| Retrogression

2011-07-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

It is insane. The chaos has been helping a bit because it commanded my attention. It never works out the perfect way, isn't it? I am thinking about it, who wouldn't? Everything is honest except for one, not the 1-2-3 though.

1. A black scaled snake got into the WC2 rotating door and staged a coiling scene of fear (for people like me) and wonder (for people who like all animals). This happened in the busy morning time and can't imagine somebody beeped it into the building

2. A good friend is coming back to Capital One to work because her team is busy. Amazing professionalism and dedication

3. We are losing some valuable finance scoring officers

|| Peach Bountiful But ...

2011-07-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

I can't concentrate.

Blue and high sky, but I was thinking of Alaska. It's almost like asking whether I like a plain and simply character or a moody and dark one. The answer is that the one that creates its own weather is innately more attractive to me. I'm dying on this, one day.

Clouds and mountain, but I was thinking of somebody 152+60 miles away. I was deceived and defeated because it was cruel, growing up and growing aged. I couldn't mention the name or the specifics (therefore wondering if I could ever remember what this was after some days, for myself). Selfish, it's not exactly that kid rushing out to get his cookie first, but who doesn't think of others, seems that need to add one more, who can't accept ethical differences. Talking about diversity, it's hard. We all have principles, we don't lie about some things and don't expect others to lie about them. But they do, and what shall we react, I should really put it down (by writing down via archaic language) and let it go.

Beautiful mountain scenes, fresh air. For a moment, I was sitting alone on the deck and looking out. I wish I could concentrate, but I couldn't.
7/16 - one day, lots of time searching blindly on internet of anything I can find ... all wonderful things otherwise except for one fundamental deceit
7/17 am - silence helps me and let it be, so silly and doomed
7/17 pm - broke silence, too bad; please, work get me focus again
7/17 evening - deleted all contacts from yahoo, is there any use of this, bless
7/18 - retrogression
7/19 - somewhat better, thinking about the long-term investment etc.
7/20 - temptation and resistance
7/21 - flat conversation, maybe that's the best thing; so back to myself
7/26 - it's the end, yes it is
7/31 - taciturn, but hope to break it when I do have something to say
8/9 - 16 - sadly, the chapter is forever closed

|| Along the Richardson Highway

2011-07-06T16:42:00.001-07:00

A marathon day.

We ate some instant noodles with 3 poached eggs from the kitchen, took our time to pack up things and signed the guests' book. Leaving the Blessing house was not as hard as what I thought it would be. The weather totally changed and brightened up, giving me the opportunity to understand the beauty of Valdez and it certainly didn't disappoint. The town was wrapped up in untouched pretty things, more organized, less spread out, none of the industrial build in sight (they were regulated in another angle of the bay). There was a serene feeling when putting yourself inside the peaceful little place.

The only highway out of town was through the Richardson highway where hidden treasures were behind many side-ways.

|| Valdez Columnbia Glacier

2011-07-05T17:45:00.001-07:00

Valdez is the most beautiful town in the US. I will agree for now, the variations of the geology are probably rare to find in this world. The peacefulness of a place like this can probably replicated in other places though. I did love this, two days in Valdez, 1.5 was rainy and messy while 0.5 was bright and sunny. I was lucky enough to see what the town was in changing weathers.

I followed many tour blogs from the 2005-2006 and many of them mentioned the once-in-a-life experience of Columbia glacier kayaking. I struggled, this would be strenuous but I was willing to take the risk and that of others because I live one-in-my-lifetime. The day was rough and surpassing my expectations on the physicals.

Let's start from the B&B place we stayed in. It was nice, no complaint but I didn't like it. It was the lacking taste if I could explain but I couldn't. A light breakfast and we drove in rain to our company Pangae Adventures. The first thing we did was to rubber up - wearing rain coat, rain pants, the apron, the floating safety cover ... felt like a penguin, even went to the rest room with this outfit. Then we got training, which was not that easy as described of welcoming beginners. We got everything trying out the boat, walked to the dock and got ourselves onto the water taxi. Two hours, it was that far, the Columbia glacier.

|| Not An Alaskan

2011-07-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Alaska was my place because people were all wearing rustic and expensive clothes. I totally didn't bring the right set of clothes so ended up wearing the heavy jacket (my one and only) for most of days and the wind pro fleece which I had owned for many years. Everyone else was the same, wind jacket and fleece, love it.

There were a couple chances to chat with the real Alaskans. They were honest and they were curious. Here was one instance and there was a point to making it to the writings -

The first day into Valdez, be ferry, it was all haze and rain. I walked into the visitor center and wanted some advice. The lady was asking me what I wanted to do, so I used these words like optimize and maximize, not exactly your Alaskan vocabulary. She explained a lot of things, recommended several unexpected places such as earthquake memorial, cemetery and gold miners route ... not your typical trip planner would tell you. She constantly referred to as worldly famous, people from around the world (guess I was too), 1897 ... She had a stare when I questioned her rationale, so I understood and I played along. I pretended and I took notes. Of course, her directions were accurate but her recommended places had the least interests for me. They were not the least impressive in whatever way. I guess I could understand why their former governor's pride had come from, it was Alaska where nature bestowed the land for its fortune and means of living. The problem is that they hardly stepped out of this land and seen other lands where the offerings could be equally gravel just in a different possible way. There are may wise sayings about these situations so I wouldn't repeat.

Not an Alaskan doesn't mean that this syndrome is none existence, though.

|| Exit Glacier / Salmon Bake

2011-07-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

Salmon Bake cabins were sitting at the entrance of the exit glacier road, which leads to the ultimatum a gigantic glacier and travelers can walk close to. It was the first sizable glacier for the trip that came near, amid the blue sky and good weather, a scene to be seen. The icy blue color broke through the surface and made you understand the purity of its make. There was some pretty verse at the visitor stand. Close your eyes, and you'll hear, smell and feel the gravity, immensity and the mightiness of the force in nature.

That evening, we finally got into the Salmon Bake restaurant, heard so much about it and certainly didn't disappoint. We had both salmon (in a sandwich) and halibut (in a full course meal). There was an interesting note about getting your pickle from the barrel on the menu so I ventured, it was a huge barrel by the fireplace and the pickle (cucumber) was so so huge like 5 times that of a hot dog meat. Large may it be, so fresh it tastes, not like the bottled one with excessive vinegar or spices, but simple and refreshing. Also ordered one pint of freshly brewed glacier icy beer from the tap, delicious and cheered me up!

The cabin and the restaurant were the best places for the Alaskan trip. There was something about the place, and I attributed it to the taste of the owner, rarely seen in tourism. Put it into a description of something, it was subtle and inclusive, modern with country and country with modern.

|| Seward Harbor

2011-07-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

Again at early morning time, we went back to the road. It was extremely cloudy and depressed. The mountains were mostly in the shadows, in the icy fogs or simply under the sky. I've always noticed that the world looks even better under moody weathers, and here in Alaska, it was very much the same. Breathtaking it was to see the weather changes on mountains from far then to closer views. There was chill in the air and moisture, but no one else on the road. We constantly stopped at places to take pictures, no words would be enough to describe the beauty of the land, the canyon, the trees, the plateaus ....

I was hoping to get a refund from K2 but was full of joy after hearing that we were actually going to fly. It was a 10 people small plane and we were mostly sitting at the tail end of the plane. The view was amazing, not that subtle or slow developing as what I typically felt when on road, most of this was fast and the landscape changed left to right and up and down. I seemed to understand why the climbers wanted this even risking their lives. Flying was also a handsome thing to do, very cool and very intelligent, there were constantly radio transactions on the plane, and I could hear clearly a female voice, a wonderful soothing one. She was saying, good luck, have a safe flight ... it was extraordinary.

A long way coming off of the flight, was getting closer to Anchorage again. We came back to the center of the town and had a wonderful lunch at a Japanese restaurant DAMI. I ordered the teriyaki halibut bento box and the tempura udon. After two days of trailer made chinese fast food, this meal was very well welcomed. The next leg of the journey was unexpected, it was probably the most beautiful drive for the trip, also for my driving history.

When I researched Anchorage, most of the reviews were about the homogenous compared to the lower 48 states. That was my imagination but certainly not doing any justice to what I saw after turning onto the Seward drive. The ugly urbanity started sparse out and finally all I had was a winding road of creek-river-swamp, mountains with moraines in the close and mountains with glaciers in the background, while on the other side, national forest and country lodges here and there. It was so pretty and so impressive, plus the depressing clouds and light rain ... was perfect and was delightful. A good 30-60 miles, the scenes were all like this, maybe knowing that I wouldn't turn around for a second chance so I was grateful for the extension.

The creek-river-swamp disappeared and we arrived at the entrance of the Kenai peninsular. I didn't choose to stop here overnight, a mistake. It was a totally different scene and feel, not that high ground, blowing wind with that hopes of getting to the platinum top, this was hopeful because of the green vegetation amid the spotty glaciers, so strong and so abundant, they covered the entire land, left and right, top and bottom. There was more moisture in the air, like a late spring season, making you just want to live in it.

Having some trouble finding the Salmon Bake cabin by GPS, I called the office and embarrassed myself because I was actually right there. I was living in cabin #4, a charming little place with bunk bed, lots of details and small touches, reflecting the designer's taste as well as infrastructure. Loved the place so much!

Not so impressive was the Seward harbor, very commercialized and tourist-y. But walked on the deck and off the deck, went into gift shops and purchased a can of smoked salmon. Suddenly saw a crowd at a place, checked it out, one of the favorite sightings, the fishing tournament. A chartered boat was coming on shore and brought back very handsome looking halibut. I was hoping to be able to take pictures with them but they belonged to the rich people/family who went on the fishing tours. They were selfish by my definition but more proper description was that they were not generous. But I was happy seeing the fish and did snatch a few pictures for them.

|| No Wonders at Wonder Lake

2011-07-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

I was counting on hours so that we could start on road for the flight tour. It was probably five hours of bed rest, expensive but much needed. We were back on track with time, loaded our trunk with water and food, started our drive towards Talkeetna.

Looking outside the car window, the immediate vicinity was much like any city in the states, strip malls, houses, hotels, traffic lights and etc. But when we put our heads up, we saw in that remoteness the outlines of mountains and small streams of icy glaciers. The air was fresh and fresh was probably too plain a word to describe how it was. I was still under the influence of the many drugs I took and the terrible air time experiences. I wasn't looking forward to another flight tour. The drive was slightly better than expected, roads were fine and constantly needed to contemplate passing the slower RVs, that was when I noticed there was an insurmountable RVs in Alaska. The weather was unpredictable, it was cloudy, it was sunny, it was drizzling. By the time we got to the K2 house, it was blue sky with a few rain drops.

Has everyone heard about the weather condition? What happened? The mountains were all in clouds so the planes couldn't take us there, instead they offered to fly to Kenai but everyone wanted to see Mount McKinley. I didn't think hard at all, it was easy. I couldn't wait forever here and I didn't look forward to another flight (tour) from the bottom of my heart. I rescheduled.

After a short rest, I drove on another 2.5 hours and reached Denali. Got the wonderlake tickets and checked out the Savage river trail and the day ended with a dog sled show. I chatted with the girl in the Wilderness Access Center, and learned there are actually Chinese and Thai food around the 1 mile service area. I looked for it, and surprisingly found them in trailers, couldn't get myself used to eating food prepared from a trailer but I quickly learned that the other options are much less desirable. The Chinese express food from the trailer was full of soy source, not too impressive but not too disappointing. Remember that ...

After some help from a boy on the golf cart, I found the Denali Bluff Hotel, cabins but well organized and connected. Very pleasant place, and my physicality was on the rebound, somewhat a flat hope for the next day wonderlake, never heard too many people say that they are amazed ... so let us see.

|| More Than Pretty Things

2011-07-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

I booked the 5:15pm wonderlake bus. We were the first to arrive at the Wilderness Access Center. The coach bus was cozy, somewhat school bus like, but really comfortable. It passed the Savage river entry where almost all other motor vehicles were disallowed. Lots of animal lovers, and we constantly stopped by, herds of white goats on really high mountains, the air must have been thin up there. Beavers, caribous, eagles, bears and finally a photogenic lynx.

The delight to me was to finally understand the grandeur of Mount McKinley (this was before I took the flight tour). The clouds cleared a little bit on top and we were lucky enough to capture the platinum of the wonder. The snow reflected with the sun light was glowing like that from heaven, talk about there is the creation of the world, he must have created everything from there :-) we later saw a few times of the same, the view offered was so open and wide that I could feel the darkness and the brightness all in one blink of the eye. It was amazing and would've been stupid to give up McKinley for Kenai (thought of that at the time). High land, low sky, raw beauty.

We got closer after a few hours, and eventually arrived at the wonderlake. It was called wonder because it was supposed to have a total reflection of the Mount McKinley in the lake at some days. Our driver said he had not seen it himself. There was some wonders of the lake, which was covered with blueberry trees (guess not those that we eat) and therefore had fierce mosquitoes all over space. I wore a mosquito net on top of my hat, still they clanged on and attacked in the least possible areas. Our bus picked up some campers but they got off fast.

The way back was the same winding and rolling, windy and chilly. Was wearing the heavy black snow jacket, felt the need for more. The coldness in the air cured my sickness from Richmond and that from the airports though. I recovered fast and was able to eat and sleep well for the first time in many days since Vermont. I asked the girl and the cook at Chinese Express to take out the soy source, and the food started to taste delicious .... things brightened up soon enough :-)

|| Riding with K2 @ Talkeetna

2011-07-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

Coming back from Vermont (seems like a long time ago), I became sick then very sick. I wasn't able to speak and had burning sore throat. That was when I found good usage of the medicine bottles stored in the closet. I consumed quite some quantities and eventually stepped into our town center clinic then tested for strep. Negative. I felt relieved, the system would eventually go away, I was saying that to myself when we started off on 6/25/2011 Saturday at 9:15am.

Prof. B took us to the airport and we arrived in Charlotte on time and in spirit. But things went downhill after this. Sitting on the flight from Charlotte to Phoenix, grew more and more impatient because we were only getting spotty updates regarding a maintenance problem which got everybody leaving the seats and the plane for another incoming one. I had a feeling that we might have to stay overnight in phoenix because there seemed no hopes of connecting to the flight into Anchorage with time running out. I texted Prof. B and got him to help me on researching and texting the latest in Phoenix. We went on a new plane, and that was 4.5 hours on edge, running many scenarios and my good friend motion sickness caught up gradually.

When I landed, I opened up my phone and got a text like - run to the next gate, it's still at gate and not closed. The flight attendant asked people to stay tight and let those who needed to connect to go through first. But almost everyone stood up. So I rushed off the Charlotte to Phoenix plane and I made the turn and there was the new gate. There was triumph on my face when the assistant took my boarding pass but wait a second, why was she frowning and what was she saying - are you sure you want to board right now, it's pretty hot and you should probably get a water and some food, freshen up .... what is really going on? I got on anyway, but soon understood why the plane wasn't full and why the recommendation was to stay in the lounge at gate and not inside a plane without air conditioning in a city like Phoenix. So we were told to come off because it was unhealthily hot, but leaving our luggage in cabin. Coming out of the plane, I was exhausted, so imagine when we were asked to go back and take out the luggage because this plane was having a mechanical problem. There was not much of a chaos and people just dealt with their emotions and physicals. The airport is a dangerous place to start a fire. Then we were directed to a new gate and there was a plane parked there. The final blow came out when the announcement came out that the first officer of our flight had an emergency. They summoned a new first officer and we needed to wait for another two hours. All this was too much to bear, the flight was about 4 hours late and landed in Anchorage right around midnight (that was 4am in the east coast). I threw up on flight, heart arrhythmia, motion sickness and exhaustion ... I started hating myself for wanting to do this, it was so difficult boarding six times in a day.

As if walking on moon, I got the rental car (a white Toyota Corolla Sports) and arrived at the hotel. Again threw up, the medicine was too little too late. I was drained and I was mad. To be continued ....

|| Woodstock Trip, VT

2011-06-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

|| Seasonablly Blossoming

2011-05-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

I carried my lightweight rain jacket in one bag and an umbrella in another. The weather cast said it'd rain after 10am till 7pm, but not a single rain dropped on this Sat of the memorial day long weekend. This was a rather gorgeous summer kick-off, seeing most tourists wearing tanks and shorts and bonny hats. The streets along the national streets were the same serene and untouched, but sometimes I think the space was dwarfing any human activity that could make a permanent disturbance of any sort. Yet there were many people coming out to visit this nation's capital, lots and lots of euro accents, chinese languages and most adorably, the student travelers who were dressed up in tanned light blue shirts.

Spent some time in the Freer and Sackler collections by the Smithsonian castle. Both of them were passionate about asian arts. One new exhibit was the tomb raiders' find of the stoned statues of the small fusion gods. They all had a peaceful smile on their face. As we moved along the side walks, we came up to the American Indian museum. There was a short film on the indigenous tribe's culture, life and pursue. The film was projected on three screens, top dome, mid TV screen and the bottom stone platform. It was profound and impressive, reminding me of the all the disputes remaining in the world having some indisputable histories and processes that only the people that belonged there understood.

The air and space museum was full of people, kids, older people and science loving geeks (like me). There was a tent right there serving McDonald. We were wise enough to eat full and eat well or else we wouldn't be able to carry on the afternoon journey.

The final destination was the National Botanical Garden. Here is my favorite, followed by other favorites ... Summer is starting!

|| Gardening @ Maymont

2011-05-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

My first neighbor in the Gables always carried a book when I saw him checking in and out of his living pad. By his account, Maymont was his favorite place to spend a Sunday afternoon, reading and overlooking the mass grassy lands where old trees stayed on top. I may not have understood him entirely, I was somehow more mobile back then, eager to hop around to new places. I used to enter the park from the nature and exhibit center, determined that the park was too enormous to explore in a single trip therefore had always been modest and wanting nothing other than one area of the land at a time.

After 2008, the Hampton Street became my choice of parking, since then Japanese Garden, Italian Garden and the Mansion became my favorites. Again, the land is massive, and I've never attempted to get back to where I started, 'cause it was impossible to walk to the other end of the world, especially in the summer weather, and it did wear me out a couple times. So this year I am coming in the late May month when the daylight isn't as harsh. Finally this has offered me the opportunity of seeing how big the land is, it is really not as unconquerable as what I thought of. Amazing landscape, gardens, exhibits of the birds, goat, sheep, pig, chicken, fox ... it was my mind who couldn't put them together, but they do come together beautifully.

|| Berry Picking @ Gallmayer Farm

2011-05-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

|| Finding Facts

2011-04-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Within a week, the trees have grown out of their wretched condition from the fall/winter. The warmth, the rain, the month of April, quickly entrenched stems of plants and spreaded all around the grassy grounds. After this week, it's all going to be leafy greens, a more matured greenish green and people stop paying attention to them. This seems to be rule of the nature.

A friend's friend was recently rejected after coming on-site for interviews, because the hiring manager said no. Being a really really curious creature which I had almost forgot of myself, I tried to find out all facts about this "cruel" person. Fact finding has become a lot easier these days. Two ubiquitous social websites, linkedin and facebook, can tell stories for people who care about making themselves known to the world. So I discovered many facts, and there are means to do even more research for more facts. In this particular case, I was upset because I recently talked to this person and couldn't find any merit or excitement after that conversation. All seems to be confirmed by a lackluster resume, a patchy step functions each of which merely lasted for 9 months. But this is the new and shiny rising star, a perfect candidate for a white boy's club. Why shall I feel injustice, it is everywhere, isn't it. No, I don't mind tyranny or suppression, but I needed this rule of the nature book that told me these things ten years ago, but none was there. I felt beaten down, recently life hasn't been cheerful and there is little I can do to change. It's harder to smile, to heal, or to have a listener.

I forgot fact finding is painful, many times, not knowing is happier.

|| Planning is Tiresome

2011-04-04T18:36:00.001-07:00

General website and Schedules –

http://www.alaskaone.com/
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php (sun rise and sun set timetables)
http://www.valdezalaska.org/activities/toursAttractions.html

Day 1 (sat 6/25): arrive at Anchorage, stay at Microtel Inn at airport: https://www.microtelinn.com/MicrotelInn/control/Booking/receipt2

Day 2 (sun 6/26)

K2 air taxi 10:30am: http://www.flyk2.com/flights-flyer.html
Denali Bluff Hotel: http://www.denalialaska.com/denali-bluffs-hotel/the-hotel/
Visit Wilderness Access Center (maybe pick up bus tickets?)
Sled dog demo:http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/sled-dog-demonstrations.htm (10am, 2pm, 4pm)
Savage River Loop Trail: 1mile couple hours; http://alaska.org/denali/hiking.htm
Eat at Salmon Bake: http://denaliparksalmonbake.com/documents/Salmon-Bake-Menu-2010.pdf

Day 3 (mon 6/27):

Wonderlake 5:15am: http://www.reservedenali.com/shuttles.aspx
Denali Bluff Hotel: http://www.denalialaska.com/denali-bluffs-hotel/the-hotel/
Day 4 (tue 6/28):
Salmon Bake Cabin: http://www.sewardalaskacabins.com/Accomo.html
Millers landing: http://www.millerslandingak.com/ (10 miles south of Seward)
Eat at Roy’s waterfront: http://rayswaterfrontak.com/Menu/Dinner.aspx or Crab Pot

Day 5 (wed 6/29):

Sealife (9am-6:30pm): http://www.alaskasealife.org/New/visitors/index.php?page=firstpage.php
Exit glacier (Kenai Fjords National Park is located just outside the town of Seward in South-central Alaska, 126 miles south of Anchorage): http://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/upload/revised%20EG%20trail%20map%20July%2008.pdf
Hardings Icefieldhttp://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/upload/HItrail.pdf; http://www.nps.gov/kefj/planyourvisit/harding_icefield_trail.htm;
Salmon Bake Cabin: http://www.sewardalaskacabins.com/Accomo.html

Day 6 (thur 6/30):

Portage glacier: http://www.alaska.net/~design/scenes/portage/portage.html
Traveling on the M/V Chenega from Whittier to Valdez, Travel Time: approx. 2 hour(s): DEP June 30, 2011 12:45 PM -> ARV June 30, 2011 03:30 PM (be at tunnel 10:30am)
Ferry: http://www.akmhs.com/tripplanner/index.cfm
Blessing house: http://www.blessinghouse.com/blessinghouse/
Eat at Alaska Halibut House or Mike’s place or福宫

Day 7 (fri 7/1):

Columbia Glacier tour: http://www.stanstephenscruises.com/columbia-glacier-cruise.htm
Kayak tour: http://www.anadyradventures.com/
Blessing house: http://www.blessinghouse.com/blessinghouse/
Day 8 (sat 7/2): drive to anchorage, anchorage
Worthington Glacier
Day 9 (sun 7/3): am flight, pm home

Denali:

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/wildlife-viewing.htm
http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/dayhiking.htm
http://www.reservedenali.com/play/shuttle-buses/wonder-lake.aspx
Bus schedules are from 5:15 to 10:45am every morning. 11 hours of journey.

Wonder Lake Shuttle Bus

86 Miles One Way - 11 hours Round Trip
Created by retreating glaciers, Wonder Lake offers visitors stunning views of Mount McKinley and the Alaska Range as weather permits. Along the road, alder and willow carpeted hills are dotted with kettle ponds often frequented by waterfowl and other wildlife. Please note that to access Reflection Pond, an amazing photo stop in a clear day, you will need to utilize the Kantishna Shuttle Bus or hike 2.5 miles from the Wonder Lake turnaround stop.

Outside the park

Most park visitors stay somewhere outside of the park. The nearest communities are Healy, located about 11 miles north of the park entrance, and Cantwell, located about 30 miles south of the park entrance. Many hotels, motels, B&Bs, etc., exist in those communities and along the highway between them.
Many businesses list their address as a specific "mile post" along the highway. To help make sense of that, the park entrance is milepost 237. Mileposts higher in number are north (i.e., towards Healy), and mileposts lower in number are south (i.e., towards Cantwell). So, if a hotel lists their address as milepost 239, they are two miles north of the park entrance.
A valuable resource for finding a place to stay is the Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of Commerce.

Columbia Glacier Cruise

http://www.alaskatravel.com/valdez/columbia-glacier-cruise.html

Major Marine Tours

Kenai Fjords Wildlife and Glacier Cruise
Sealife center http://www.alaskasealife.org/

|| The Senior Book Club

2011-03-20T10:57:00.001-07:00

It's going to be officially spring time this evening around 7:21pm. People have waited too long for this, coming out at lunch breaks and sitting outside a little bit. This seems to be growing on me, such small things that make me feel touching. It's been about 80 days into 2011, as much as what I wanted to plan well and do well, there was a lot more of reacting than acting in many places, desperately wanting to function better for the the better. But when have I lowered my standards merely hopeful of a better functionality and not a better placement after all ...

Books and music have been my companions since last year. I'm finding most of the non-fiction books do not have good writing in them. Some of them were written by famous people, and were especially bad. The selling points were words directly from some other important people, the problem is that everything else was superficial and disorganized. This was somewhat disappointing but made me realize that I had been fed with good prose writing in the early years, there is actually a lot more very ordinary liberal art productions throughout the history of the human beings. So far, the literature relating to religion and myth is probably the most compelling and calling for the readers, including me. One of the books I read recently is the biblical literature by theme, which I liked very much, the imagination and the legacy that has been passed on to generations is fascinating. This weekend I watched a movie called Munich, and I wonder aren't we just acting out what was in the "book" from thousands of years ago? I'm also listening to a lot of Rachmaninoff, beautiful pieces with the just the right amount of outburst in the seemingly tranquil moments.

|| 2011 Wishes

2010-12-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

1. Move - At least try a quick walk round the block, but I really should go to the gym
2. Eat Right - What I need is fruit, vegetable, grain and lean protein
3. Drink Water - This is hard on me
4. Laugh - When work is making me nuts and I just can't get along with this cold weather anymore, a sense of humor probably will keep me sane, so much as for the virtual insanity
5. Breathe - 20min reading, 20 seconds of looking 20 feet further out for my eyes; stand up and put my shoulders back, breathe deeply that changes how I feel

May we live a happy and healthy life in 2011 :-)

I took a few days off from work during this last week of 2010. Finally I was able to accomplish a few very modest things a) triple the number of linked-in connections 2) finished a book Crash of the Titans, it was intense narrations of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, giving me some access of understanding board rooms and the different functions within the senior management teams 3) watched a movie Black Swan, loved the music and the choreography, I'm not sure if it's necessary to depict the ballerina work as dark as what it showed in film, but I can understand the inner demons that we all have had at different situations 4) watched my favorite star trek movies and criminal intent series 5) not so proudly but rather painfully, I crashed in 6 doctor's appointment in about three days, and a lot more have already been scheduled in the new year 6) JBL creature III has become my new mini stereo system ... music is the food of life.

Haven't been writing much this year, but I was thinking about many things, too bad that they can't be spelled out explicitly. There's only one thing that needs to be remembered for the past year, it's that I've kept myself sane. I did meet some challengers and at times I felt vulnerable but I gained back the confidence in my own closet. I'm grateful for the people who had coached me because many conversations enlightened me - a) what we should care about and fight for for our national identity b) how we should fight back pre-conceived notions of cultural differences c) what mentors gain from people development d) happiness is an individual and a social outcome ...
There have been somewhat broken relationships and others got strengthened.

It's quite delightful to have a peaceful state of mind at this time of year.

|| Road Trip: Virginia Byway Rt 6

2010-10-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is a sunny and beautiful Saturday in late October. We spend the day in Carter Mountain orchid, apple picking, and on our way back, we drive the back road via Rt 20 - Rt 15 - Rt 6, pass the quiet town of Scottsville and Rt 6 takes us home all the way.

This is a second trip to the orchid after 2003, and back then it was a very modest apple barn with few people (and cars) on the road. The driveway to the mountain top was very steep and bumpy, but they certainly improve the roads over the years, and very soon I see that it is a necessity as the public traffic has exploded and the business has grown into a massive tourism operations. Cars everywhere, people everywhere, and staff everywhere. However, the place is a lot of fun, and we end up with two big bags of Fuji apples, half gallon apple cider, two hot apple cider donuts, and four pack apple caramel cookies. Quite impressive, isn't it?

Scottsville's James River

Fall Foliage, pumpkin patch, and top of the mountain

|| Surf'n OBX

2010-10-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

People talked about staying OBX for a week for vacation, and I always wondered what could be done in one work. For years, I avoided OBX, or shall I say, OBX avoided me. I had visited Chincoteague (twice), Virginia Beach, Bar Harbor, and Myrtle Beach (that was even earlier) after I migrated to the state of Virgina, and finally decided to jump onto the wagon and drive to OBX in North Carolina.

The reservation was made from two months ago. I picked up a motel place Blue Heron solely based on tripadvisor reviews. This turned out to be a perfect place for us, situated in Nags Head, has an uninterrupted view of the ocean from the bedroom also a view of the bay from the kitchen. The set-up is unbeatable and such a treat when the sun comes out, and it came on the third day of this trip.

The first stop on the way south on that day was Bodi Island Lighthouse. We found the lighthouse in full cover of scaffolding (took three weeks to put them up), that is, the building is taking a year off of public viewing pleasure for recovery. There was, however, a short gravel road that we followed and it took us to some amazing views of a sound. Few men were fishing there, they fished and released fish (saw them taking out the hook and got it back to water). There were a number beaches stationed with SUVs, while the pictures were adventurous, they do not belong there. It's worth noting we accidentally stopped by a burger/pizza place near Buxton, we were starving ... and big burgers were perfectly cooked and deliciously prepared for day trippers.

As we went back to roads, we found several stops with brave surfers enjoying kite surfing. I admire the courage, the strengths, the innovations, they were beautiful to watch.

The bridge to enter or exit the inlet was crossing very wide water, gorgeous and simply gorgeous.

I love my blue sweater ...

|| Wright Brothers

2010-10-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

|| Twilight and Twilight

2010-10-03T15:45:00.001-07:00

|| Virginia Dare @ Elizabethan Garden

2010-10-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

|| Stormy OBX

2010-10-03T14:10:00.001-07:00

|| Pretty Waters

2010-09-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

|| 夏行のNYC

2010-09-04T08:57:00.001-07:00

I stopped counting the number of times I had stayed in this extraordinary city, NYC. This place has so many things to offer. I tried to do different things at different times, and in the most recent trips, the Lincoln center became one of my favorites. This year, the season had ended but I was able to catch some glimpses of the great operas from the summer HD festival. Two performances were all we could afford with our times, one of Jacques Offenbach's Les Contes D'Hoffmann, the other of Puccini's La Boheme. There were about 3000 seats in the center open platform, and people's had their paws out fighting for good seats. I'd seen all kinds of people, nationalities, who came and enjoyed the HD quality performances and Hi-Fi of powerful voices. The operas were in Italian, but there were subtitles and I immensely enjoyed both the stories and the singing. Along with the pre-installed xm's classic pop radio on our rental car in Bangor, I had to suspect that I myself had been converted into the classic music fans. People sitting around us were excited and they talked about their understandings of the singers and the productions. They were mostly senior citizens, but sure many young folks joined late in the performances, and they sat on the floor. La Boheme was fantastic, the characters of the complicated types but reflective of the lives of human being. Joys, sadness, that's how life goes ...

The hotel choice was far from being satisfactory. I couldn't resist the temptations of the food from the china town, at the same time, wanting to stay on manhattan so that I could have more time watching the performances. Sun bright hotel was like a hostel. The owner tried very hard to maintain the cleanliness, but not all people play along. There were several other shabby looking hotels, the world hotel, the pacific hotel, but I'd be seriously considering better conditioned ones because, now that I am back, I started to see the kind of fatigue I'd endured and the lack of good sleep ... I was very exhausted. However, china town was good, we were able to eat very well in a number of places.

I'm also coming back to the central park after last year's quick walk around the 72nd street. We entered from the 81st street, then walked south, passing the swedish cottage, shakespeare's garden, the belvedere castle, turtle pond then the ramble, all of a sudden the fountain dropped into our view, we had walked 9 street blocks. As expected, lots and lots of walking to the 59th entrance right on the 5th ave. The weather was hot, and the city was busy, but certainly the central park gives a moment of tranquility in the middle of the hustle and bustle.

I was wearing my favorite blue blouse. Strangely it was only the first time on picture, although I purchased this from two years ago. There are a number of blues that I liked, the royal blue, jewelry toned blue, sea blue, sea foam blue, navy blue ... this one, now more of a royal blue after some washes, looks great on camera, isn't it?

Can't help but noticed that Chase had been investing a lot on branches, while HSBC, BOC and Citibank retreated in the most recent credit crisis. Capital One is catching up, but still not quite the level of investment. In china town, Chase occupied the most important street corner locations while Capital One was only leasing smaller places. However, I was extremely pleased to see that it landed on the wall street with an ATM shop, hoping that this could be the start of something bigger and bigger in the future.

West Side Story has become my first broadway show. Most of my memories were around the intensity of the music heard from the ice rings. We were fortunate to have bought balcony box tickets and were later allowed to join the second floor at a much closer viewing place to the stage. The production was lively, and the story was riveting. Loved every bit of the dances and the singing, compared to the Phantom at LV, this was more modest production and younger cast in general ...

Here comes the 2010 big apple ...

42nd Grand Central, such a grandiose place, the chandeliers, the colored marbles ... we found the grand central market place, bought our lunches and fruits there, lovely little place that ordinary people can enjoy being at the grand ....

This year marks the 10th anniversary that I'd first came visiting the city. I once was on top of the WTC, and climbed to the crown of the liberty statue. We decided that it was time to pay a second visit, for me.

|| The Harbors

2010-09-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

|| New England Life

2010-09-04T06:31:00.001-07:00

|| Lobster Fest by Trenton Bridge

2010-09-04T06:07:00.001-07:00

If the place opens everyday, we would've eaten all our dinner meals in Trenton Bridge Lobster. It is just off of the Trenton bridge, a very busy place, actually on the two days we ate there, we could only park our car by the highway 3 road. You walk in the small place, the lead salesperson stared at you in your eye, "lobsta?", sure it was. On the first day, we shopped for 2 of the 1 1/4 pounders, with a corn on the cob, and a slice of the blueberry pie, it cost us $28 (no need for tips). On the second day, it was 1 2 pounder, a serve of the steamed clams and a corn on the cob, totaled $34. No word can do justice how delicious these foods were, and the experience would be for a lifetime.

We also liked the other kind of lobsters - we ate at Chinese Joy for a more traditionally prepared lobster dish with scallions and gingers. The ice cream was great. Each of us got a bowl of the blueberry flavored ice cream. There we sat by the benches along the street, looking on to the people, the travelers, the shops, we didn't have to think back who we are, what we do, where we come from .... it was like that water didn't move from the overlooks on the Cadillac mountain.

|| 夏行のAcadia National Park

2010-09-04T05:22:00.001-07:00

A late summer trip to New England's beautiful sea coast, this has been a wish come true for a long long time. The week before the Labor Day weekend, we took off from Richmond airport and went north bound towards Bangor Maine. The minute we landed and breathed the air, we noticed that it was so pure like this was transparent. The place was full of charm (and somewhat lacking the fast technology development like the rest of the world :-)), nothing of those heavily marketed places of interests, remaining small and local. We enjoyed the drive to Bar Harbor, though it was after a transition flight from LGA. The roads were very fine, being worked on for widening. When it got closer to Trenton, I was not disappointed and saw the lovely Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound like mentioned in the other travel journals.

Cranberry Island (Isles Island) - These are floating objects above the water tied to the lobster cages. Every floating object represents a different ship, and you are not supposed to pick up other ships' lobsters ...

There were many cute little artist's shops along the docks of the shipyard. I walked in one jewelry store, and was greeted by a lovely girl. She wore an apron, was working on something pottery, I guess. The other guest asked her what were her works on the shelf (obviously that was a very smart question, not all merchandises are made from the island). She pointed to the center of the shopping boards, those were her pieces, very girly looking necklaces and bracelets. She was wearing hers at the time, and certainly brightened things up.

Occasionally we saw sailing boats, not the tourism motor kinds, but they were more private and adventurous. You wonder who they are, that sails the single canvas boat all alone in the middle of the sea, we saw some of them when our own Sea Princess boat went back to shore. There were only three or four people there, one or two of them obviously seasoned sailors (look at their skin colors), and they were very carefree and easy, they waved their hands at us ... I wish that I was waving my hands for the curious eyes ...)

The trip to the Bass Harbor Light House was the last day of the Acadia excursions. It was too early for the woman who was walking her dog. I didn't care, still we walked to the front and back of the house. This is the most classic pictures of Acadia. The lighthouse wasn't the most impressive, compared to what we saw last year at Virginia beach, but obviously the greenish blueish water, the sea foam, the pinetrees were enough to compliment the entire scene and made it the most famous shot of the area.

Everyday at dawn, we drove up to the Cadillac mountain. Up in the air, it was haze (the park seems to suggest that it was sign of degrading air quality due to pollutions). However, the view was pretty, more than pretty. We saw the coast line, the little town Bar Harbor, the Bar Island where you can only access at low tides, and many many unvisited little islands, floating in the big water. More amazing was the water itself, we've seen how tides and waves hit the stones, but up there, the water was absolutely not moving. They were stopped by something, I was trying to think what could've stopped it, but Mom explained that it was the relative position geographically. She is usually more scientific than I do ...

We dined at Jordan Pond House, right in the front of the north and south Bubbles. Popovers were as good of a taste as what the journals told us. The restaurant was set elegantly to match the tranquility and elegance of the area.

Twice we saw deers. Here were three of them, after taking their morning strolls, they went back to the woods of the Bar Island.

This, of course, was the famous Thunder Hole. We accidentally dropped ourselves into this place (my research hadn't highlighted this as the most famous step-out of the shore), and we were struck by the heavy and deep howls after the sounds of the water.

|| James river continues

2010-08-08T13:26:00.001-07:00

|| 夏行のBelle Isle

2010-07-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

This year's summer has been hot, 24 days of above 90 degrees, and 7 days above 100. The heat is wearing me out, however, there is always a pleasant side of being in the summer season. Berries are in big harvest this year, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. There are just cute and adorable, have become somewhat abundant in the grocery store. One work day, I went picking up the fruit basket for my manager who went to outer bank for a week. She participated in the AgriBerry farm co-op, and is getting a supply of the fresh fruits weekly for around 20-30 weeks. The pick-up place was at the parking lot of the shopping plaza at the Gayton road. The basket contained four small containers of the berries (retail $5.50 each) and then wholesome plums and white peaches. They were so delicious ... I could eat the berries all day, and let my hands and mouth soak in the red juice and enjoy the taste of summer that the season brings. The other happy find is avocado. I was finally able to make some decent avocado salad, all with fresh and natural ingredients from my own fridge~~ this is a great success and reward after my numerous attempt

The newest addition for home improvement is the new Chinese forever green plant.

Revisiting Belle Isle in the 2010 year this morning, and we found out what was in the other side of the pedestrian bridge, the old dominion iron and steel company ... all these went through boom and bust and decimate within one hundred and ten years of history. I particularly liked the remaining bridge base in the middle of the water, they were like lonely castles that once were so important to the survivals of people, now retired to being onlookers of the new generations. I wonder why they didn't take them out, but the scene wouldn't be the same without them.

|| Meat Lover Classic

2010-05-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

So far I was not able to come to appreciate the urban living of the downtown Richmond. Young people seem to like it, mainly college students (VCU campus is right there), young professionals (eg. our company's rotation program) and a few seemingly artistic individuals hang out in the small shops and café places. These downtown places in Richmond are not contemporarily decorated at all, but more of an earthy toned wood and brick construction, and the signature that of exposed industrial pipelines for air-conditioning and electricity on the ceiling.

This was a Monday, and the morning started at 10:30am. We hovered around the Urban Farmhouse at the corner of Cary and 13th (http://theurbanfarmhouse.net/). I admit that the guests seemed to be more interesting people than those you see in the Barnes and Nobles at west end. There were singles who carry Apple laptops, and all of them did. There were couples who held their hands and shared drinks and food. There were girl friends, blond and nicely dressed, talking sweetly in small volumes. There were also people stopping by to get a hot drink (sorta windy and cool day it was), and I envy the easiness from their walks, who could've afforded this kind of slowness on a Monday morning? Maybe I've stayed in the countryside for too long, maybe it does have its charm just in a different way, this Richmond downtown.

The main event of the day was the Iron Chef challenge at Mise En Place, Richmond's premier cooking school and culinary team building company, located in historic Shockoe Slip (http://www.miseenplaceshockoe.com/). I thought all cooking classes should be bright and spacious, so somewhat disappointed when after walking down the staircase, finding myself standing in the basement of a rather congested and dark looking place. But my worries were very unnecessary, we had a blast. Good food and good wine and good cooking advice from professional chefs are the best thing in life. I always believed that people can't cook don't deserve good life. Cooking can be such a diversion of the busy work, the variety, the flavor, the styles, bring such joy and freshness to one's life. Here's the recipe from our team, the American Meat Lover Classic.

Preparation -

Meat: 2 pounds of flat iron beef steak, cut into 4 pieces, marinate with salt and pepper for 3 iterations, sprinkle xxx (Todd?) and slowly massage the meat
Onion, Garlic: chop into small pieces
Dry Mushroom: add water and re-hydrate for 30min and do not throw away the water
Chicken stock

Cooking -

Meat -

High heat empty pan for 3min, add olive oil (enough to coat pan), high heat pan again for 1min
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Place beef into the pan, brown each side for 2min on high heat until the surface becomes almost burned black
Move browned meat into an oven pan, and put into oven; Thin pieces: 5-6min; Thick pieces: 8-10min
Touch the center of meat to feel if the meat becomes soft and juicy
Remove oven pan outside, and let meat cool down for about as long as it cooked (10-15 mins)

Mushroom sauce -

Re-use the pan after browning the beef (no need to wash the pan), add chicken stock and water from the dry mushroom hydration to a boil
While that is boiling, use a small and clean pan, medium heat and add olive oil
Throw in chopped garlic, and little bit later add the chopped onion; add salt, and cook until the onion is translucent and soft (about 5 min)
Add rehydrated mushroom, and stir fry for 5min
Move things from small pan to chicken stock and cook for 10min
If preferred, add cream to chicken stock in the end and cook for another 5min until the liquid thickens

We came out of the Mise En Place around 2:30pm. The streets were quiet. We turned into the third visit of the day, Sine Irish Pub (http://www.sineirishpub.com/cms_richmond/). We sat outside, cold drink, didn't have to talk ... so pleasant.

|| Wayfarer awaits sunny skies

2010-03-22T18:04:00.001-07:00

After a long and stormy winter season, March came with lots of rain and green. I could wear short sleeve cotton sweater and tanned leather sandal this past weekend, and walked around the malls to try out my new looks for the spring time.

One of them was inspired by the many street photo snaps of Kstew, a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarer. The 901 frame is dark, sultry and effortless. As usual, I am sticking to the muted colour palette but this time also wanting to wear somewhat of a Goth type glamour. It's classic, structured, varied, and always an unexpected accoutrement for all wears. I admire the name of Ray Ban because of its universally respected luxury status, and at affordable cost. It is a safe and timeless choice, somewhat edgy, and ever-chic. This is a sense of freedom that Wayfarers understand.

|| Personal Shopper at Salvation Army

2009-12-24T06:01:00.000-08:00

Is this the last post of 2009 and of a passing decade? Have to leave it a few days before I can say so, but first of all, I had the opportunity to do the Salvation Army volunteer day yesterday on the 23rd. There is a new site this year, 30min drive from Innsbrooke thru 288 at the Chesterfield town center. Most of the time I was walking around the mall being a personal shopper for the needed people.

The shopping routine was coat, toy, shoes, clothing, family and finally holiday stuff. The rule by the captain was pretty much 2 pieces per kid. So I was excited to see my first customer, and her name is Melissa with three girl kids. Pretty soon I realized that my explanations on the rules had no effect whatsoever on Melissa, and she just grabbed everything if she deemed fit for any of the girls. A full cart of things ended up going out for checkout, and as I was struggling strapping up the bag for everything she picked up, she took it over from my two hands, and pulled the bag on her shoulder and off she went out of the door with a Merry Christmas behind her. Later I saw that most of the people are like her, no rules no boundaries, they got whatever they needed, extras, extras and more extras. This shouldn't be new discovery, that there are no poor people in the US, they are taken care of if they'd like to be. I'm sure that they are richer than I am who is not exactly poor. The kids have toys for one year's Christmas than those for my entire life. All I can do is to remind them that they should pick up some books for the girls, and they always agreed.

I wrote 33 e-greetings this year (yesterday afternoon), bigger than the last. However, there was hardly any excitement, actually I was much better off reading people's replies, full of accomplishments, made me feel blue? Meditation, that's what I'm doing now.

I read books this year, went to new places, ate better, and experienced the not so ultimate highs and the not so ultimate lows. It's not a year that has the significance, merely following the threads from other years before. If using one word to summarize, it would've been flat, and by the way, I hate being flat. What do I think of the decade, it's fast, but it's slow. The holidays from ten years ago were long time ago, and was so dark and painful, I could still feel the chill, which set the tone for this passing decade. But for sure I had forgotten it already, yet I made other mistakes, lethal in one way or another, those which I'm living with everyday today, and will probably live up to its consequence for the next decade. I've done all to correct the course, to rejuvenate, but I wish there could be new orientations, but there is none so far.

Moving on, I saw three snow falls this year, all of them memorable. One in March (early spring surprises), June (in the awesome Yellowstone) and December (last weekend). This December snow was the heaviest, so thick and so dense. I couldn't deal with snow at all, but managed to still drive around. Like what the snow brought out of me, I felt I was doing many things to the best of my abilities, but I knew there should be more. I normally do not make a list of these things, but here's a change for the new decade, in no particular order -

#1 money matters (read professional books, make investments, be smart)
#2 life matters (buy buy buy, enjoy life and live happy)
#3 people matter (keep up with everyone in a positive way, be warm)
#4 career matters (what I want to do, do it, be bold and be ready)
#5 health matters (eat more healthy, but how?!, and exercise and exercise, be well)
#6 emotion matters (toughen up, and be strong)

So at least, the beginning of the next decade is so much more peaceful, so I'm moving and moving on .... may new and good things come to me, may all loved ones always be with me~~

|| Damaged

2009-11-29T13:51:00.000-08:00

My Dell laptop finally broke down, though I had anticipated this day for almost two years, I was caught up like a damaged person because I did not have a full backup and recovery is virtually impossible since I didn't have the Windows startup CD. I had lots and lots and years and years of pictures, and I thought I should pay for the mistake, so decided to use the very expensive paid service calls from Dell solution center.

The other day I was held up on highways for something like two hours for the sake of getting deals on a couple sweaters and other miscellaneous stuff, silly me. I thought of turning back, but just couldn't and persuaded myself that for one day in the entire year just let me be that silly person. The night was rainy and cold and windy, but I was able to find a few things that I like, for the season.

Other whereabouts, obviously the summer season is long gone and I was like grounded in this treacherous place. But I was busy, not for the good kind, literally running non-stop between work and hospital, checking on blood, thyroid, different kinds of vaccine .... I actually feel very normal, but admit that the recent and new damaging facts are stressful, and I don't like that.

Outside of me, two people seem to be determined to disappear from my social network, and I am fine with them and with their decisions. I don't think of them too much anyway, that is, I wouldn't want them too much anyway.

Finally, this is my favorite song from the New Moon OST, called Rosyln by Bon Iver & St. Vincent:

Up with your turret
Aren't we just terrified?
Shale, screen your worry from what you won't ever find

Don't let it fool you
Don't let it fool you...down
Down's sitting round, folds in the gown

Sea and the rock below
Cocked to the undertow
Bones blood and teeth erode, with every crashing node

Wings wouldn't help you
Wings wouldn't help you...down
Down fills the ground, gravity's proud

You barely are blinking
Wagging your face around
When'd this just become a mortal home?

Won't, won't, won't, won't

Won't let you talk me
Won't let you talk me…down
Will pull it taut, nothing let out

|| 24 Hrs in Virginia Beach

2009-09-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

Summer's final craziness is here in Virginia at the beach, 2 hrs drive from Richmond from 9:30am Thursday morning. Obviously it's a weekday, and we were right off the morning peak hours. After Williamsburg, I-64 became slow and busy all the way to the very end. I had no problem changing to I-264, but decided that I would call Rudee to see if any of the tours were opening 'cause the sky was dark and cloudy and gloomy as if a storm was about to hit town. My instinct was not too wrong when the girl told me on the phone that all tours were cancelled that day. I had no choice but to call the hotel (Newcastle Motel) if they could open up an empty room for me because I would be early. And nicely, when I got to my destination hotel, a room was already ready. We went to the room, and took an instant liking of the balcony view, ocean front, and fifth floor (505) is facing a big empty grassy land right in front of the 3-mile broadway walk. There were people walking around, very many of them on this weekday, surprisingly.

Since there were no tours, we had to drive around to the lighthouse. It was supposed to be ... it was very painful getting into the military zone because I wasn't expecting it at all. Securities were strip searching the car, opening the hood (personally), the truck, throwing the keys on the dashboard, opening the compartment in front of the passenger seat ... well, we got through and climbed up the old lighthouse. It's a traditionally built with solid bricks with black whirled staircase to get to the top. At times the steps were narrow and the air was somewhat thin, but the top was fascinating. It overlooks the cape corner and offers the panaramic view of the sea, sand, military buildings and a few historical sites. This was very windy day, kinda gloomy, but cleared a little bit compared to the dark hanging cloudiness we saw earlier.

Outside the lighthouse, there were two bridgewalks out to the sandy beach. We decided to extend our lighthouse tour to the outer bank. It was more than pretty view, if the hotel district is nothing but organized crime, this is the real random but natural act. Hardly anyone, any time should be noted to interrupt the quite enjoyment.

We were already at the northern end of the Atlantic Ave., then we went west to the Shore drive, impulsive, all I had was a few crappy maps printed off the tourism sites. However, we happened to find a beautiful and unique place, the First Landing State Park. It was very secluded, we only saw 4-5 people around, 3 cars. Determined, we decided to try the easiest and closest trail, the Bald Cypress trail (red). At first, I didn't quite understand that bald cypress and spanish moss, but after walking through several of the overlooks, I finally was able to appreciate the plantations here, and what a wonderful it had been given, the bald cypress. The buds popped up the water like a dry and boring balding head of the humans. The moss was all over the trees, bottom to head, water to land. These were some of the most exciting pictures I had taken for the trip. Since I am having quite a fantasy to the Phantom and Twilight, I was immediately drafting out a plan, obviously there could be no staging director for the Phantom scene, everything was natually born and set, the meandering waterways, the order-less trees and plants were ready to be commanded for their chief actor.

That was quite a spin in one afternoon, we retired comfortably, took a walk to the south end of the broadwalk of course. The second day, we took a gamble for the Rudee Rocket tour. Thank goodness, the weather was supporting, and we had 15 people, enough to sail the boat out to the sea. The Rocket tour is the 2000 watt high speed touring boat, but obviously when I developed my thoughts of this boat, I didn't think of the ups and downs on the sea and the impacts to how my heart would feel. But even if I had known the risks and discomfort, I would still go. It was the speed boat I had dreamed of, fast, high and flamboyant. The crew played loud and I did mean loud music, old time party favorites (both the youngsters and the older couple were singing and dancing their steps together) while blasting the water leaving a huge trail of water marks. Life is on the fast lane here ...

These last two pictuers were taken at the twilight in the morning, and they were refreshingly pretty and cute.

Lastly, the final hours, we were looking for the Bill Forest seafood market. Had been there once about six years ago, still wanted to stop by for fresh crabs. The roads were difficult, but memories came back a little bit after seeing the trinity church building, what a relief, getting lost was not a good idea.

Bill Forrest Seafood

287 Messick Rd, Poquoson, Virginia. 23262
Tel : (+1)757-868-9322

|| Lake Anna

2009-09-13T09:38:00.003-07:00

It's a natural legacy of outdoor activities and water programs that the state of Virginia offers its residents and visitors in all these state parks. Today's visit is Lake Anna, located 3miles off of HW208 between W64-N95. We passed N522, and I'm declaring that it's the most beautiful drive this summer. The roads are very clean and bright, most of them are covered in the woods and there are two places where the trees completely covered the sky and become secluded from the outside. I drove very fast however the roads meander a lot, but what's the fun of driving some plain interstate highways anyway~~ I reminded my mother that the scenes from the movies and such about beautiful cars driving in wooded single lane roads are just like what we were doing. I hope she understands.

Lake Anna is beautiful, and huge. The water has been very well protected. The build-out around the visitor area wants to promote a strong conservation ethic. We walked the Rail Road Fork trail, and often times went off track to the water front. The blue sky and clouds of a day like this are enhancing the beauty of the site. Boat owners and riders were busy docking or undocking their boats with heavy Ford trucks, mostly middle-aged couple with several young kids.

On the way back, we stopped by one of the marinas. There were some people hovering around their boats, restocking and refueling. It must be a joy ride.

The summer is coming to an end. I am participating in this leadership workshop and one of the prep question is to describe a recent moment that I feel good for myself. I thought for a bit, decided that I have been committed to going outdoors and discovering new things all summer long, quite a change for the past several years. I should be proud.

|| From Lincoln Memorial to Library of Congress

2009-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this in blur. Too many places were going on yesterday and I felt sick, not sick sick, but lost appetite and felt so thirsty at end of day, and it was a long day.

I had not been to the DC museum district for a long long time, so brought my mom there on Sep 5th, the Labor Day weekend. We parked the car at Dunn Loring Merrifield metro station by Gallows, took the orange train and dropped ourselves at the Smithsonian station, the heart of the national treasure sites. Coming up from the metro underground, I immediately saw the amazing Washington memorial. It was so upright and sharp and clean looking, as if imprinted to the beautiful skyline by computer aids. But it was not. We decided we wanted to see it and the Lincoln memorial behind it. It was miles, but I had already anticipated it, so it wasn't excruiating pain, however, the heat finally took me unnoticed.

It is 8 years since the last time I came this far to the west end of the national mall. The land is gorgeous, obviously, couldn't tell if anything has changed after all. Spacious, green, peaceful, cultural, everything you'd wish a nation's capital should have, it's right here. I also like the long and panaramic view with the unstopped building blocks of European stlyle houses, full of details, almost too extravegent and miniscure. Some of them have red roof tops, and they were elegently situated.

The Lincoln memorial is artfully built. Big pieces of marble and the thrine was sacred and informadible. There is not much to be seen, but simplicity is more than a thousand words here. We then started to walk back, first stop is the National History museum. It amuses me to see many familiar faces (or shall I call skins) of the animals we saw in our two trips to the west. I like them and I thought I never liked to see animals in the cage. Had a quick lunch bite at the cafe of the National History muesum there. I had chicken tender and fries and bottled pomograde white tea, mom had a veggie pizza. We ate the whole things as we were hungry and needed the energy and water to walk to the Library.

(See that little plane on the top? It departed from Reagan, you wonder why they hadn't shut down the airport if they were really worry about national security?)

We accidentally saw people lining up to get into the National Archievs building. I had not been there one, so decided to get in. Security was tight, seems like they opened up the ground floor and had some sort of a gallery with old pictures. The real treasure lies in the middle of the rotunda. The declaration of independence and Bill of Rights were displayed there. Lighting was very week to protect the paper and the ink. I saw several of the states on the east coast had representatives signing the treaty at the very end. There was this film National Treasure which had scenes of stealing the declaration of independence for hidden messages at the back. This place was exactly the same as what was filmed. I'm glad that I came here. The next step was the familar National Art Gallery, however by then the heat really got into me, I felt nausea, short of breaths and nizzy, but kept on walking.

Glad that I set my eye on the Library of Congress. I thought of it being a modest little building of dark wood frames and sheepish looking nerds sitting all around. It turned out to be a luxurious and aristocratic mansion, everything was done to the extreme with many many details. They were not your community library. There was only one place where visitors can look down to see where it really is for the book part. Again, the National Treasure movie had it very original, like how it is said there.

This very end of day was spent in a Korean restaurant.
http://yechonrestaurant.com/
Address: 4121 Hummer Road, Annandale, VA 22003 Phone: 703 914-4646

These are supposed to be really good, but I had to order a soup for the fatigue and discomfort that was grown on me. The hot tea (free) was very relieving, having a small of the freshly grown, picked and brewed smell. I almost drank two glasses. The waitresses were also wearing colorful cultural costumes, it was refreshing and I like the place.

BBQ - Daiji Bul Gogi
Korean traditional dinner - Hae Mul Dolsot Bibim Bap (rice with sea food on hot stone bowl)
Noodles - Hwe Naeng Myun (cold noodles)
Side dishes - Hae Mul Pa Jun (pancake)

These are supposed to be good, so I need to try them out.

The place under renovation is called "Annangol Restaurant", famous for its BBQ.
Address: 4215 Annandale Center Dr, Annandale, VA 22003, USA
Phone: (703) 914-4600

Another place for soup is called "Lighthouse Tofu Korean Restaurant"
Address: 4121 Chatelain Road, Suite 100, Annandale, VA Phone: 703 333-3436

|| A summer day at Lake of the Woods

2009-09-03T15:27:00.001-07:00

I put up my two hands for returning to this beautiful place for this quarter's team event. Cathy agreed to lend us her parents' beach house, such hospitality and generosity. So on this very fine and pleasant early September Thursday, we came back to the Lake of the Woods.

Same was the house, the dock, the boats .... water was shiny and wavy, gorgeous weather accompanied us, several of us took the plunge into the water, tubing. I did canoeing and peddling boat, for some time, we just let the boat float and sat there talking. Can't ask for more than what we could have for the day, only that the thoughts haven't changed, neither the circumstances. Time passed and passed one year, and there was not a single advancement but I always thought I was fortunate to have it and have it again.

Listening to Debussy's Clare de lune, I thought the music flows as if it takes me back to a lake in the woods, peaceful and melancholy.

|| Hot day on the Flood Wall walk

2009-08-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

In reverse order, this was the second stop on the James River trips. Flood wall is on the opposite side of Bell Isle, so south of the River. First, I was awed by how much history the downtown has showed me, was never a fan of it because the downtown that I have lived up to is built is modern, urban, crowded and dysfunction. The Richmond downtown was obviously built from a much earlier era, evidenced by the heavy industrial and manufacture reminiscent. It is very clean by all means, but old and lacking human scents. So after wandering the streets figuring out parking places, I found the designated lot on Hull St.

The weather was extremely hot. I felt sweating from head to toe, but had to keep on walking. The scene of the James River was much of the same from the week before on Bell Isle, rapids, water (not abundant because of no rain). However I could see the new downtown on the north more clearly as if I stood to watch Manhattan from the other side of the Hudson River. When I saw it, I was tranquil and peaceful, the nature looks like everything is in good place and in right order, that includes me as well. I was fortunate enough to see it.

The roads led me to some unknown rock walls. They were not easy to understand, how it came about and how it is now maintained. Only when I climbed my way along the hills through the paved and planned trail did I see that it was actually the stone bridge support for the James, but now it is abandoned for sure. There was a sign that marks the year and the people that made it, more than a hundred years ago. I stood on the overlook and watched it, grateful that I was able to share the experience with so many others before me and surely after me.

The summer is coming to an end. It has been a busy season, and slowly it's gone.

|| Twilight at the York River

2009-08-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

Dan Honsberger is a colleague of mine. He provided me a list of summer and local travels along the James River, and without his permission, here it is that I've kept up so far for three weeks in a row.

In Richmond:

Belle Isle

- Park in designated lot on Tredegar St (near corner of S 5th St and Tredegar St) or on street nearby
- Walk West along Tredegar St and take the pedestrian footbridge across the river to Belle Isle
- This is a must do
- http://www.discoverrichmond.com/dis/sports/recreation/james_river/article/belle_isle/1455/

Flood Wall walk

- Park in designated lot just south of the river at the corner of E 2nd St and Hull St (JL: the parking place itself is on Hull St)
- Look carefully for trail markings - can be confusing about where to go
- You will have to walk West along a driveway shared by a factory (for a short while) before getting on the trail (goes up on top of concrete flood wall)

- http://www.discoverrichmond.com/dis/sports/recreation/james_river/article/flood_wall_park/1457/

Outside of Richmond:

York River State Park - beautiful mix of scenery: multiple types of forest, marsh, York River. Not very popular for walking, so it is quiet. $3 entrance fee.
Chippokes State Park - haven't been there yet, but I've heard this is a good place to swim.

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/chi.shtml

Today's I made the drive to the York River. It's fairly simple eastward along I-64, hidden inside the huge acres of ranches and plantation farms. The park takes its name along the York River border which is formed fromt he joining of the Pamunkey and Mattaponi rivers at West Point, 10 miles up river from the park. The place is surprisingly well maintained with many newly built wooden passages, fishing poles, benches etc.

The River was the first thing that I saw. This is a very cloudy day, damp air swept on the face and skin with moist and coolness. The clouds were very low and very dark, occasionally rain came down, and there was nowhere to hide. We walked on the sandy beaches along the river, breathing oxygen as if we never had it in the city. The River scene was perfect for my taste of things, it's calm, peaceful, gloomy, quiet and clean, could be the habitat of a variety of wildlife, but I saw none. And I didn't need them, for this nature of the living suffice the need of my thought for the moment.

We then met a group of people finding fossils on the beach. Kids, siblings, parents, rangers. Rain kept pouring down, so had to leave them quickly and went on with our journey. There was marsh, ponds, and brushes dwelling along, and I walked them by. Soon I found myself in the middle of a land that looks like being stonewashed with water paints such as the blues, the greens, and grays. These were remnants of the wooden "corduroy" roads or of the background set of the Twilight saga stories, they were just like that. You think that I'm depressed, but I'm not. Of all the things, I recognize myself with a thirst for feeling the blue, because I feel comfortable being there. And then I will like the vibrant greens even better, so fresh, so outstanding. I found myself walking on these loose stony service roads with no clear directions, pine forests, leafy trees, colorful mushrooms, and no one else. Only reminded me of how much I liked it and wanted it.

There were two cultural shocks this summer. Phantom and Twilight. Twilight is the very recent love crush, was only until I saw the cast and now I only wanted to have the book of it instantly so that I read it all. The movie is so much better and amazing than my own original imagination. The film was processed with a color that's almost addictive. Everything, everybody, every expression was unnatural but beautiful, and it's not entirely in dreams. I guess I look hard enough, I should find the woods (like here), I should have expressions, and I should see the people, only hope that they do not drink blood, not the real blood, not the blood of the soul either.

|| Belle Isle

2009-08-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Several people have mentioned Belle Isle to me, located in downtown Richmond, this is an outdoor haven that is rich in both history and nature experiences. The one-of-a-kind pedestrian suspension bridge starts under the Lee Bridge on Tredegar Street to get visitors to the island.

Then there is one-mile trail around the edge of the 54-acre island with stops like an old quarry, ruins of a hydroelectric plant and plenty of rocks, all along the James River of Richmond.

The little island appears to be moody and raw, hardly any signs of active maintenance. The rapids have a salty smell like that of a fishing market. Rocks are oddly shaped and grim looking. A few pathways in the old power generator factory are rotten and therefore have to be closed. I wonder why people have not turned this place into a more enjoyable and upbeat venue, could be because of the prison history, see there is still that site to be remembered for the hundreds died either in prison or because of civil war. The history is not exactly easy to forget. However, the trail is relaxing, watch the river flow by, birds, downtown Richmond skyline.

Coming back, we ran into five teenages, four boys and one girl, very good looking. We followed them to a bank where the water is more accessible. Ignoring warning signs not to swim in the James River, these young men and girl stripped themselves to swim suits, started rope jumping and diving, it was a scene to watch, the teenager fun that only a teenger would ever understand. I especially admire the girl, she looks awesomely healthy and well maintained, and wearing a black biniki, she did all the stunts like the boys, and they were such a group of good looking people ....

We drove back to the short-pump Chipotle, sitting outside along the driveways in front of the mall, Spanish speaking songs, light breezes in the midst of heat, tasty food, ice cold water, a good day.

|| Mid summer afternoon in Maymont

2009-07-18T16:41:00.001-07:00

I haven't been to this place for at least five years ... wanted to come back two years ago, but was in a melancholy mood and didn't come after all.

Today we came here from the Hampton entrance, the parking lots were limited but we were able to find a place. The Italian garden is the closest, and there are people preparing for a white wedding. We also went back to the Japanese garden, which has a genuine understated beauty of some sort with only subtle asian flavors here and there. The trees are all old but healthy and giant. I still remember an old neighbor when lived my opposite door when I was in the Gables. A weekend afternoon, with a book and a cool drink by the river in Maymont, is the best summer, that's probably true. But the heat was a bit overwhelming today.

|| I survived the Chinatown bus

2009-07-11T08:53:00.001-07:00

This is 2009 summer. I thought of going back to New York city again, for no particular reason. I drove my car to the Regean airport, then rode DC metro and coming out of the metro underground, I found myself already inside the Chinatown. Actually my first visit here, I couldn't afford much time looking at the streets and shops, but I was just looking for the Chinese bus companies. For many years, people were talking about the $35 Chinatown bus between DC and NYC, sounds like an awfully cheap roadtrip, and with wi-fi. However, there were nowhere to be seen at first sight, after walking a block or two, there were the crowd of people with backpacks and carryon bags. The scene was total chaos, people were not sure where the bus was going, the bus driver didn't know where he was supposed to go, and there were far more people than "the next bus" could ever carry. There were two very plain looking middle-aged women talking a strange language very very loud. They were from the bus company but instead of maintaining orders, they were making decisions on destinations of the buses based on the number of travellers. There is basically no schedule of any sort, it's all about luck of the day. This is not a good experience, but I was ok fighting the crowd and secured seats for myself and my mother. The bus stopped at Phillie, saw the Chinatown over there, never knew that Phillie had such a presence in the east coast in terms of population and old time prosperity. The city skyline is still much of the industrial era reminecent, steel plants and shipyard. The majority of the people got off the bus at Phillie, what is there exactly?

However, I enjoyed this new adventure to NYC. We lived in Flushing, a familar place from so many years ago. It was a family motel operated by an old Chinese couple. The place is clean, but not fancy. There was only one thing that feels odd, that there was no smile on the old woman's face, nor on her husband's.

Central Park - this is the place that gave me the most surprising and joy, looks like an ordinary park from the outside, but just walk in 5min and you find many musical groups, jazz and contemporary cello and saxophone, and these music certainly provide an extra relief of stress and fatigue. In the middle of the crowds, there is an understated serenity and wisdom floating around. For its very unique position in Manhattan, you get peaks of high rise buildings among the bushes, tree leaves and the blue sky. The Bethesda fountain is simply gorgeous, as if built for a lord of honor, this seems only the opening of a grand and lofty mansion.

Brooklyn Bridge - it was my mother who reminded me, that we were in the Hudson river cruise about six years ago, together with my father. We saw three bridges, Brooklyn, Manhattan and another. The were just beautifully and quietly situated across this busy harbor and busy city. We walked onto the bridge, it was very old, paint coming off of the steel cables, and the bridge was built from wood. The air was fresh, we walked slowly, and passing us by were automobiles down in the tunnel. We were visitors, taking vacation, but this city is just so fast and dynamic.

911 World Trade Center - I came to this place time and again, but WTC is forever gone. I was on the top of it back in 2000, everything else was looking so small and trivial, but even the invincible can be destroyed. However, the rebuild progress was very very slow, constructions had hardly come out of the ground zero. But we visited here again, in the memory of my father, it is four years since he left us, and I thank him for giving us strength and security.

St. Patrick Cathedral - Same as last year, I went in and lighted candle for my father. The building remains to be my favorite religious congregation place, so grand, those details, yet everything was built in the busy street of the 5th Ave.

Lincoln Center - we watched the Ballet Performance of Sylvia. I'm only happy and thank god that we were able to see the performance, it was such an experience. We were only sitting at the very back, but the music was like heaven and really love the performers, understanding their quest of art of culture and of perfection.

|| Phantom of opera

2009-06-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

This show has bewitched me. We entered the Venetian auditorium, and immediately the blueish grey lights moved you back to the beginning of the last century as if you were sitting in that London theatre. This is master illusion production, grandeuous music and broadway casting. The Phantom is of course the most intriguing, Anthony Crivello put on the best you had wished for in operas for seduction, mystery, roughness, courages and a broken heart. I would watch other productions, if my purse has the money ~~

Oh I missed these live performances, the last was from two years ago, at the Mark Anthony's DC concert at the Verizon center.

http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/the_show/

|| That adorns the mountains

2009-06-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

These last few write-ups are for the small things that make up the grandeur and beauty of natures. Mom has been very interested in mountain flowers, plants and mushrooms that grow from extreme conditions. Here are a few photos for her and her only.

Teton Steakhouse

|| My friends in the summer

2009-06-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is dedicated to the people who made me happy and made me laugh in the summer of 2009.

In the west entrance of the yellowstone park, actually in Montana, there were several statues of buffalo, later real buffalo should come.

Hayano Yuki (早野有希）

We stayed in N2-1 cabin. The heater was old fashioned and dangerous, we saw two burned over cabin sites around the facility.

The buffalo, they were lucky for the freedom offered through the national park, acres and acres of green land where they live ...

This steakhouse has the best steak lunches with baked potatos ($9.99, and salad bars are fantastic)

My mother and me, better shots taken by strangers ...

St. Marks Square （圣马克方场）

Our guide is tough and strict, but full of humor. He is not warm, not emotional, intelligent and wise, proud of his family.

Elk displays (we touched three elk doors)

Our tour bus, beautiful isn't it?

|| What happened here, will stay

2009-06-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

For as much as I didn't like Vegas, I now missed it, the busy streets, neon lights, crowds, clubs, shows, noises ...

Pirates ship (that later sink into the water), notice that bull head ...

Mom wanted to take a picture of the blue bouquet in the flower market inside Wynn.

Pirates ship (this is the best free show right outside Treasure Island)

Beautiful skies ...

Cute street light

St. Mark Square

Venetian (where we ate at 如意面馆, and later saw Phantom of the Opera)

Volcano outside Mirage (good free show starts at the hour after 8pm everyday)

Caesar's Palace

Bellagio's music fountains

In Vegas, I walked and walked and my feets were full of cracks. Lot of skinny Asian girls, wearing black cocktails, high heeled shoes and LV bags. I had to walk fast for the shows, and in the middle of changing hotels, buying tickets, collecting tickets, finding the shows and everything, I found that there were many 10 to 15min accomplishments all along. I thought it was gonna take 30min walk, but in the end, I hit all of them on my list. This is the one thing that I feel missed, those 10-15 victoies, that I so much lacked in my life here in Richmond. I should not complain that resources are scarce, people are dull, or things are slow. What I couldn't have is that goal in my life, hence there had been no stepped up joys towards the goal and everything. I missed Vegas, probably not so much for the busy street, but a busy life, which I still don't know where it is, and my characters will not be happy until I find them, it's just in me.

The sin city has much more, of course. We were only the conservative tourists, heard about the invitation only parties and everything, but I really do not look forward to come back, not for the sin of it, but I need to find my sin.

|| Salt Lake City in the rain

2009-06-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

We stayed in the Salt Lake city for two nights, in the Red Lion hotel. It was a very fine hotel, right in the downtown and beside the most expensive hotel in the front of the mountains. It had private balconies for every room, pool and a whirlpool where I relaxed my skin and feet.

The city hall is the most fine one around the nation, it was so quiet that visitors are welcome to enter any time, while officers and personnel working in the offices. The granite marbles had different natural designs in fours and together they make diagonal patterns. There were four prominent statues in the main hall, one for technology and science, one for art, but forgot the other two.

It was a rainy day, but still visible are the houses in the far back in the middle of the mountains, reminding me of those million dollar estates in San Francisco in the midway of the mountain driveways.

All folks got out to attend a quick tour of the Mormon Temple Square. A sister Yao from Singapore was greeting us but later was criticized by me for having walked too fast, and spoken too softly. She had us for 20min, but couldn't tell any of the essence of this Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saint. I probably had high standards, but she was just incapable of drawing us in or anyone to understand of the faith that she held and the powers she inherited for being a devout member. She was on her 18mon duty of serving herself to the god. As usual, none of the photo shots inside the buildings were good, not religious, I always thought it has something to do with the spiritual forces.

|| Upper loop in the east

2009-06-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

The last stop in the park was the waterfall at the north of the upper loop. Snow and ice were particularly thick, this was the coldest area and the most difficult roads. Some of the stones were pressured and crushed, seen in the third picture here.

|| Mammoth springs

2009-06-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

After Artist Paint Pot, we drove from Norris to the northern entrance, the Mammoth springs. The roads were congested (by the way, all are one lane of two ways) due to construction, and I heard the northern part of the roads were only just opening up in the beginning of June.

The Mammoth springs were also where the staff located themselves, but the most prominent was the natural evolutions of these hot springs where they were full of calcium, and formed into terraces of steps. Some where old and dead, white and grey, the terraces started to erode, others are live and flowing, those were in yellow and brown. Some places they were together, the dead and the alive, other times they were well apart.

|| Artist Paint Pot

2009-06-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

These are my favorites, and one by one ~~

The color variations were accompanied by the different surfacing of the lands, some were scrapes, some were rugged. The steams were full of real colors of gradual changes from light orangy to light blue to white.

|| The old faithful nevers disappoints

2009-06-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Some people already knew the old faithful. It was a live geyser, and the eruption could be exactly predicted. It used to be able to erupt once every 15min, now it's 90min. We ate in the cafeteria (same food like the Canyon lodge one), then we found a place on the bench and started to wait for the 1:30pm eruption. It was supposed to be old and faithful.

It started spitting waters about 15min from 1:15pm. I was getting all excited, but then it was just quietly calming. The big guy beside me explained that it would prep itself that long for the final shot, all right, I patiently waited and waited, my eyes were getting sored as I was so concentrated on the eruption point.

It came right at 1:30pm, the old and faithful, never late never disappoint, for all the people who saw it, we deserve faith and confidence in each and one another, there should never be an empty promise or we never ever make them.

|| The colorful springs

2009-06-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

Mudd of volcanos

These are my favorite, colorful and natural displays from formations of spring waters which influenced the plants, the surfaces of the stones, and the bacterias all around. I had so many of these, again they were much more lively than the calm 九寨沟.