Road Trip Part One

Just returned from a 7 day road trip with a group of mates from New York. Words cannot even begin to describe the wonderful time I've had during the trip. We traversed a total of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey, and took in numerous sights and sounds.

Amongst the six of us, we must have taken more than 1000 pictures, although I think the pictures merely represent a small part of our experiences. We went up the mountains, drove along the coast, saw the beaches, visited cities, towns and villages. This trip was certainly more interesting and fruitful than one of those "packaged tours". This self-planned package afforded us so much to see, to hear and to feel.

In view of recent events especially, this trip was a very much needed healing process for my heartache and distressed mind.

Some photos here to share, this is Part I. More to come soon....

Pictures of my arrival in New York City, where I met up with the rest.

Time Warner Center, CNN Headquarters





Empire State Building, view from the top of Rockefellar Plaza



Central Park, view from the top of Rockefellar Plaza



Day 1: To Philadelphia, the original capital city of the USA. This was
where the declaration of independence was written, approved and read.



Independence Hall



The Liberty Bell



At the University of Pennsylvania, one of the Ivy League universities.






Day 2: In Annapolis, Maryland

Pictures of the US Naval Academy. The sprawling grounds exhibited a sense of magnificence like no other. I think if I were a high school student, I would want to enrol in this academy for my college education. The visit was absolutely inspirational, to say the least.







Scenes from the town of Annapolis.




Day 3 to Day 5: Visit to Shenandoah National Park. The mountain views were spectacular (the actual Blue Ridge Mountains!), and the rolling "hills" that seemed to go on and on reminded me that I am but a tiny element in this big, big world. We witnessed both sunrise and sunset on the mountains --- what a feeling!

We also took a hike inside the National Park itself, which was really enjoyable. The trees had all grown fresh leaves at the start of spring, and the sound of the rivers and waterfalls created a therapeutic feel in the midst of all the flora and (some) fauna.

The winding mountain road was actually very lovely to drive on; credit really has to be given to the people who had painstakingly paved the road so well, in order to allow all of us to drive on it and stop at the different lookout points.





















"Country road, take me home, to the place I belong....." (John Denver, Country Road)

Two videos to share here:



More pictures to come, stay tuned.

A tribute

I want to say thank you. Thank you

For raising me to be the person I am today,
For all the values you have taught me about life,
For all the tender loving care you have showered upon me,
For your unwavering support of my endeavours in school and work,
For creating some of the most beautiful memories of my so-called life.

菊花灿烂地烧 你的笑容已泛黄
花落人断肠 我心事静静躺
被风乱 也微摇 你的影子剪不断
独留我孤单 在湖面神伤

I am upset. I am upset

That I can no longer repay all your kindness,
That I cannot buy you and grandpa your favourite foods,
That I will come home each time to the flat unable to see your gracious face,
That I will now have to trudge on in life without your physical presence.

把我的悲伤留给自己你的美丽让你带走
从此以后我再没有快乐起来的理由
我想我可以忍住悲伤可不可以你也会想起我

But I want to feel happy for you. Happy

That you are no longer bedridden and suffering,
That you have now joined grandpa in the afterlife,
That you and grandpa will be looking out for me from the heavens above.

I don’t want to say goodbye. I just want to say thank you.

In fact, I will never be able to thank you enough.

Spring flora

The colours of spring just get brighter each day, and I have certainly been going crazy with my camera all around campus. Love the roses and carnation-like yellow flowers. Also, I realise that there are cherry blossoms here, how amazing is that! Kawaii nei! Not only are the flowers blooming, the trees have also started growing young leaves, and it's quite a beautiful (ok, very beautiful) sight both near and far. Some of the vegetation is still pretty bare, but under the sunny skies and bright sunlight, the bare tress still form quite a cool sight.

Pictures galore!




















The photographer (his shadow, anyway)...

Flowers in the springtime

One of the highlights of my American adventure is without a doubt the witnessing of the changing of the seasons. It's really amazing the way nature works, like how it could be all snowy and dreary for all of 4 months, and then, the winds change and and the sun comes out bright and cheery to herald the spring. People have started lying on the grass in the sun all around campus, many in just shorts and tank tops, as if they have been deprived of Vitamin D and have finally found their antidote. I really should do the same one day...

The past week, I've also found something really interesting that has occurred here, and that is the sprouting of wildflowers all over the place. Many of the grass patches beside the sidewalks seem to be just filled with a whole variety of blooms, all of which are very colourful, and under the unrestricted sunlight, the colours are definitely very striking.

The flowers actually grow in a fairly orderly fashion, and I initially thought some people have planted them, but it seems that they are all wild. Amazing.

Some photographs here to share. Click on each picture to see the flowers in their full technicolour glory.









The sun goes down only after 8pm nowadays. I managed to capture these two shots of the evening the other day.




I survived the winter! Welcome to the Springtime!

Strange feelings on a spring day

Today the weather was exceptionally sunny. Much more sunny than I expected, in fact. The temperature was around 15 deg C, but it felt rather warm. The wind was comfortably cool though, just like air-con, but without the stale air. Au naturel...

Went grocery shopping, and decided to replenish my supply of drinking water (only Aquafina for me, thanks to a friend who used to study in the US and got me sold on it....), so I could not take the bus but had to push my shopping trolley from the supermarket all the way back to my apartment.

Anyway, I realised that I was wearing the exact same clothes as when I first arrived in Ann Arbor last year (sometimes I remember strange things like that), and as I was pushing the trolley along the pavement, I somewhat recalled my first day here, when I had also gone grocery shopping and a sense of deja-vu washed over me, as I looked around. Has it been so many months now? It's such a cliche to say this but it feels as if I was walking down the pavement just days ago, and yet it's actually much further in the past.

Do I still feel the same sense of excitement? Honestly, I cannot tell. As I've always said, I cherish the opportunity to be independent and to lead life as a student abroad, and I believe I will continue to enjoy the next few months. But I think I would very much like to see my loved ones when the time arrives. Family, friends, even the duck rice aunty....(ok, maybe more the duck rice...).

Conflicting thoughts? Not really, more like just strange feelings.

In any case, I'll just continue the rest of my adventure here for the moment.

Saw this video of a new song recently, bittersweet feel. Great for a day like this.

April

And so April has arrived. Soon, it will be May, June, July, then August.

I'm nearing the end of my second semester here, and it's all starting to get pretty hectic. Many people here are looking forward to the end of the semester, as they will then go for their 4-month holidays before they return for the Fall semester.

Not me, though. I will be taking summer courses so that I could complete my course in "double quick time". But it's fine, I guess, I think I still have the stamina to continue.

The sun's been going down later this week, and there is generally fair, sunny weather all day. Reminds me of the time when I first arrived. Was it really that long ago?

Time flies.

New York, New York

I love the pulsating beats and sounds of the city. So vibrant, so energetic! I’m in New York!!!!

On the invitation of a friend, I decided to spend my Easter in the Big Apple, and was I in for a real treat! The city is just so full of life, and I’m reminded once again why I am very much an urbanite. This probably makes me sound very deprived, but all the sights, sounds and smells of the city were calling out to me from the moment I touched down at La Guardia airport. The excitement in me simply burst out in joy (thankfully not in fits) as the airport shuttle traversed the highway and took me right into Manhattan, the heart of New York City. I have never felt so delightfully overwhelmed by the city before….

Anyway, for the next two days, I managed to take in quite a lot of sights in NYC (New York, baby!). Navigating around the city was really easy, with the sophisticated subway network and the streets that were all numbered sequentially. I had planned a rather simple itinerary for myself, in addition to meeting up with friends, but I surprised myself (and my friends) when in the end I managed to take in more places than expected. Superb, indeed!

Of course, being in NYC for the first time, I went crazy with the camera, and recorded about 240 shots. Here’s a sprinkling of the photographs I took.

Central Park

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

Views from the famous Empire State Building. My friend and I decided to go up at night, so that we could get a different picturesque view of New York City, and we were not disappointed. The observatory was opened till 2am, and it was very very crowded when we went at about 9pm. This experience was made more interesting by the fact that the observatory was outdoors, so we were there on the 86th floor, with the freezing wind blowing, admiring the stunning night views, and snapping pictures away happily.

On board the Staten Island ferry (free), to see the Statue of Liberty (located in Liberty Island). Having heard so much about it, and read about it as well, it was a surreal feeling to see the real thing, even if I was some distance away.

Scenes from Times Square, day and night. Yes, the famous Times Square, where 7th Avenue meets Broadway. The illuminating and illuminated billboards were impossible to ignore, and standing in the middle of the square (which is more a triangle….), and just looking around, all parts of your senses are hit by the lights and sounds. A truly spectacular visual and aural encounter. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

It is no wonder that throughout history, many musicians and writers have paid tribute to this city. This has been the best Easter in my living memory. Thank you, New York, I will be back!