Amazing Things Happen Once In A While…

Just to let you all know that from now on I’ll be blogging on http://www.alivenotdead.com/?swimpuppy.  Though it will not announce to my friends that a new blog is added (like friendster does), I like the atmosphere over there. Like I found someone who I lion danced at his wedding (his wife is my sifu’s student) and is one of my most memorable performance. Also, many people comment there and even famous singers/stars blog there (and might even comment you back!). My sister even personally met a few singers/stars from there and their friends (such as Terence Yin…can’t believe she went sailing and Terence and Daniel Wu went too!). Anyways, hope to see some of you there!

Well, I’m back from Asia and I miss all the beautiful scenery. Although, the only thing I don’t miss is the polluted air and everyone smoking wherever I turn. Hong Kong was a lot of fun because I got to see my sister and brother-in-law, hang with my dad’s good friend (who’s a great tour guide and very humorous), sight-seeing, and I just never know which famous singer or actor/actress we’ll see. By-the-way, saw Karen Mok while she was promoting no-to-fur and some infamous TVB actor that I recognize from tv series but don’t know his name (that’s how infamous he is). And I was sooo sad that I missed out on Hins Cheung’s autograph signing or album promoting event while I was still in Singapore *pout*. I did buy his latest album there…could have gotten his autograph or even a picture with him! AHHH!!!  Leo Koo was also scheduled to appear on a day I’d be in HK, but didn’t bother going since I’m not much of his fan. I had wanted to go Raymond Lam hunting, but that never happened. Would have dragged my mom hunting as well since she likes to watch his tv series too, but too bad this time…maybe next. ^_^

Just about every day was packed with things to see and places to go. Shopping for winter clothes in Hong Kong was pointless. They really don’t have winter season. But things are usually pretty cheap over there…another thing to miss…cheap music and videos.

We were lucky to go visit the big Buddha statue on the first day the cable cars opened. What was our 10 minute cable car ride would have  been maybe an hour of winding bus ride. While on the cable car looking down, you can see a long hiking trail on the mountains that people were actually walking through…think it will take them a few hours. When there, of course we had to have a vegetarian lunch, which I must say that for 3 people we had a TON of food. I guess what I remember doing in Hong Kong the most is either shopping or eating. I’ve gained maybe 5 pounds since the trip, but it keeps fluctuating ever since.

We went to Shanghai for 3 days for my dad’s best friend’s son’s wedding. This was some experience that I’ll never forget. The air was just as bad as Hong Kong, if not worst. And the wedding tradition there was just unforgettable. People would smoke inside the restuarant (and everywhere else of course), but the tradition there was that the bride would have to go to every guy according to seniority to light a cigarette for all of them. The groom’s mother, my dad’s good friend’s wife, and I couldn’t take it and went and stayed in the washroom to escape from the stench. There was someone who worked inside to clean the place up and I’m sure she was wondering why we stood there like we’re crazy inside the washroom that long…just looking at each other. YES, the toilets there smelled better than the smoking (well, just THAT restroom). And if you think that was bad (about getting away from the smoke), here’s the worst. One night we went to this restuarant for dinner that had kept their doors closed and the smoke that was trapped inside was so horrible that even before they placed their orders, I was literally crying because it was that bad. Tears in my eyes and a wet napkin over my nose, I think my dad saw how aweful I must have looked and asked if I wanted to step outside for some air. Standing outside with my dad I was telling him how I was crying because of the unbearable smell. So I decided to leave dinner and go back to the hotel. I’m sure the food would taste a lot better than the smell there, but I ended bringing KFC back to the hotel. Of course once in the hotel, with the clean air, I kept coughing up stuff (sorry if this grosses you out, but that’s how bad it was).

Then we headed to Suzhou for a day and Hengzhou for another. I must say that Hengzhou is famous for its beautiful scenery, yes, but most importantly the air was so clean I could vacaction at that lake for several days instead. Most of you know I love nature. This place is so beautiful that I really recommend all of you to see it at least once. And hopefully I will visit again, and for a longer stay.

My dad is from Toishan, near or in Guangzhou, so he had to bring us there for our first time. On our way there, I experienced the most awefully smelling toilets on earth. And of course it’s one of those squatting hole-in-the-ground toilets. I was trying to hold every one of my breath as long as I could, and I’m sure that at the end of my business-doing, my face was probably blue and green (too bad there wasn’t a mirror for me to say it definately). Anyways, the villages were still very old-looking and extremely small. Their garbage cans were the ground in front of them and I had a hard time throwing my garbage on the ground…being raised in the US where doing so would earn me a fine. What helped me overcome this was that there were a ton of dogs there and throwing our leftover food out there meant they probably get to eat more than they usually do. Thinking that way, I was glad to litter. ^_^

I’ve taken a yoga class before, but in Hong Kong my sister joined a yoga club in which she was going just about every day now. She brought me in for free classes. My back was aching from sleeping on all the hard beds during my entire trip and so I figure stretching will help a bit. Gosh, during and after that one class my aches were gone and I felt so much better. Think I went a total of 2 times. Oh! And my sister also brought me and my mom to get a massage. That was so relaxing. So relaxing I went again just before coming home. Haha…gotta get them there since they are so cheap! It was like $25 for almost an hour, which would have costed at least $100 back in the US.

After this trip, I learned one thing: Appreciation. Now I really appreciate how clean our air actually is and how big our homes are compared to those in China. Needless to say I really appreciate our sitting toilets that are mostly stenchless (in public). I also appreciate how good our weather is in Oakland. We rarely experience the hot weathers or the snowy weather that China has. And of course we don’t get any monsoons either.

[Pictures soon to come...]

1Hi everyone! I’m here in Singapore and it’s our 2nd day. We were on the plane for a total of about 20 hours, 15 of which was next to a fussy and crying kid during our sleep hours (overnight flight). There was a banquet last night in which I basically was falling asleep during the entire dinner.

Today, we went on a tour around Singapore….but is was REALLY hot. Got to see the landmark Merlion of Singapore and saw a movie about the story behind it. If it wasn’t so hot, I would have gone out to chinatown and other places. But this time, indoors were my friend.

Well, today we’re going to Hong Kong. Luckily it won’t be as hot as Singapore. *sigh*

Frances gave me quite a scare the morning of our trip when she was to drive from Union City to my house. Shortly after entering the freeway, she nearly got run over by a huge truck. The monster tried to merge into her lane, only that she was right next to it. Luckily there weren’t any cars a lane over, but her car lost control and she nearly crashed into the wall of the freeway…less than 2 inches and she would probably have been badly injured or even…When she finally arrived, she had tears in her eyes and still shaken. We didn’t know if the luck was simply her, her car, or the cross dangling off her rear-view mirror. It’s a miracle that neither her nor her car had any scratches.

It is quite hard to travel long distances with two or less people. We took turns to drive, but it’s hard when both of us are sleepy and aching (my back and her cramps). But we were lucky that we both were not sleepy or aching at the same time. The drive from Oakland to Portland, Oregan was something I would not want to do again. Nonstop, that would be about 15 hours straight. But with the restroom, stretching, lunch, and dinner stops, it took us 18-19 hours to get to get there…

Before leaving California, we passed by Mount Shasta and saw the beautiful snowy summit. But too bad we were unable to see Mount Rainier both days we were in Seattle. We went up to the SpaceNeedle two times, the night we arrived and the following day, but the mountain was shy and hid behind the clouds.

I’ve been to Vancouver when I was little, for the 1986 Expo, but I barely remember any of it. Frances was so nervous while getting closer and closer to the US/Canada border because she’s afraid she would get rejected by Immigration. As she became more and more nervous, so have I, this being my first to cross the border as I remember…and I was the one driving, since she was too nervous to. Fortunately, everything went well.

On our flight from Vancouver to Toronto, a dreadful 5+ hours, fortunately Frances had her laptop and we watched a few episodes of Full House (the Korean drama). But my lonely flight back to California was not as entertaining, since I was flying back solo and had nothing but my music and a magazine to keep me awake.

I never knew that Canada could be so hot. When we arrived in Toronto at 11pm, it was a drenching 90 something degrees. I am so greatful for the invention of air conditioning.

All of the waterfalls in Yosemite can’t compare to that of the Niagara Falls. I could just sit there all day and night to watch the power of its water, and the awesome lights show on the falls. Too bad I did not stay an extra night or we could have seen fireworks over the falls. The mist that comes out from the Horseshoe Falls makes it seem like a volcano waiting to erupt. What’s more, we get to take free showers (only with our clothes on). But the showers of the mist does not compare to the downpour of the thunderstorms. We expected the thunderstorm and showers, but never knew we’d get back to the hotel looking like we just trekked across a knee-high river. The noise of thunder was so loud and frightening that I thought we would be struck and become toast. Guess too much imagination…

The entire trip was so much fun, and sharing it with one of my best friends was simply wonderful. But after the fun we had in that week, I became sad because I don’t know when I will see Frances again. Hopefully we will meet up in Hong Kong as planned for November…but I’ll sure have to learn to use a phone card from now on!

I just went to Yosemite for 3 days this past weekend with my two ex-roommate. Frances always wanted to see the "lunar rainbow" aka "moonbow" but never did. This time, we were determined to try to see it. We especially chose to go these three days because these would be the only time this month that the moon would be full. On our second night there, we went to the Lower Yosemite Falls before 10pm and followed some nice strangers that were willing to hike into the darkness with us (us three gals would probably be too scared to hike into the darkness, knowing there are bears and other wild animals around). When we arrived at the waterfall, the moon didn’t rise high enough for the moonlight to hit the waterfall so we waited almost two hours in the cold and misty dark night until about 11:30pm. I noticed a slight arch to the left of the mist caused by the waterfall and pointed it out to Frances. She said it probably isn’t because the moonlight didn’t come low enough yet. Minutes later, the rainbow became brighter and even more beautiful! I was so happy that I shouted out to Frances. SHE was so happy that she was jumping up and down and shouting. I tried to take pictures but it was still too dark for my 15-second-long-shutter-digital camera. I had brought my mom’s old Minolta manual camera, but I was stupid enough to forget to bring it, or my tripod. DUMB, was all I kept saying to myself. I probably could have still gotten a picture of the waterfall if only I had brought my big maglite or a stronger flashlight to take a light-painted picture (I left my maglite in the car…another reason for being DUMB). I ended up with a few pictures of a very dark and faint waterfall that you can barely see the rainbow to the left. Here’s the picture  I edited (changed the gamma) in Photoshop.

Well, hopefully the pictures I took my first night at Glacier Point came out alright. I used my mom’s ancient camera to take long-exposure shots of Half Dome and the stars. I am crossing my fingers.

And lastly, on our last morning we were there, we joined a photography walk where a professional photographer brought us around the meadow near Yosemite Falls and got some nice shots. But because she brought us to her "secret spots" (obviously it’s a secret and nobody goes there because of all the damn mosquitos! I swear there were a billion of them!). The three of us had already used bug repellant and I never got bitten during our entire stay. But we all got attacked at the "secret spots". And I realized just yesterday that I have 20 bites total because they were all itching so badly I wouldn’t be able to sleep without the use of an anti-itch cream. 15 on my legs and 5 on my shoulder, arm, and face. Yes, we were stupid enough to wear shorts. But I figured that I hadn’t gotten bitten all these days with shorts so I thought I should be fine. WRONG! Should have either lugged long pants with me or bring a full-body mosquito net. I’ll know better next time…which will be next month. My sister’s family, my parents, and I will be going to this beautiful yet deadly place…again…

My story goes back to when I went to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. My friends and I were looking at a deer that was right next to the fence in one corner. I asked my tall friend, Motoko, to help me take a picture of it because there were shrubs right in front of the fence. As he was trying to take a picture, he said, "Oh no, it’s pooping…do you still want me to take a picture?" I was like huh? And I tippy-toed to look….it was giving birth!!!! Too bad he didn’t take that picture. But we stayed to watch the entire process…how the baby dropped on the floor and we kept whispering Ganbatte to encourage it. Here’s the mother cleaning it (done with my lousy film camera back before I was "into" photography).

When I first bought a film camera, I started taking lots of pictures when I went out with my friends. Years later, like others, I bought my first digital camera. Ah ha! Filmless camera means that I can take as many pictures as I want without spending extra money on developing film. And that is how I began my journey into my newest hobby of photography. I’ve gotten serious by learning more about photo taking and my Canon Powershot s400 suddenly restricted the possibilites. Now that I’ve got my Canon Powershot S2 IS (thanks Kieu), I’ve started my path to a whole new world.

During my spare time I do things I enjoy, like ceramics. But now, I’m able to use my spare time to take photography to the next level…taking tons of photos and selling them! Although I have just a few photos, I see people buying (downloading) my photos and this makes me even more motivated to take more great pictures. It is always nice to know that others acknowledge the quality of ones work. But the greatest joy would come to the day that I actually see my photo(s) being published or used somewhere…

View My Mini-Gallery!

If you have never been to Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon, I highly recommend it. I definately won’t forget my experiences. Have you even heard of Bryce Canyon, UT? From what my friend says, Bryce Canyon was formed by erosion, and the pinnacles of the canyon were formed by water that froze, expanded, and blew up the cracks of the rocks. The rocks are such an amazing bright reddish-brown color that your eyes always become drawn to.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon just before sunset and was able to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery. We decided to stay a few hours afterwards to take pictures of the stars. By the time we went back into the park after dinner, there were no more cars in sight. It took us a while to get the stars to show on our digital cameras, and luckily I brought two tripods. I also brought my film camera so I could try taking long shutter pictures to see if I am lucky enough to capture the sillouette of trees and the stars with 3-5 minute long shutter. I also took another long shutter picture for 10 minutes hoping I would be able to take one of those pictures where the stars kind of streak. I’m still not sure if these pictures came out because the store was not able to develop them.

On our drive from Bryce Canyon to Grand Canyon, we stopped by a trading post in which me and my friend wanted to buy a Raku-fired pottery, but it was pretty expensive. I looked at the details carefully hoping to remember it so that I would be able to try it (I’m taking a ceramics class and we’re going to be do Raku firing). I will try to make MY version of the pottery that I saw.

I checked the forecast and knew there would be thunder storms in Grand Canyon the 1.5 days we’d be there. While approaching the canyon there were dark clouds and we knew the weather forecast was correct this time. We passed through the canyon on our way to our hotel an hour away, and since we were already there, we decided to stop at the nearest point to take pictures, in Desert View. While we were starting to walk, my friend said that it would be very cool if we could see a rainbow, it being cloudy and rain was predicted. In less than 2 minutes of walking, I spotted a rainbow…but wait! There was also a lighter rainbow just to the left of it! Two rainbows! But that was not all. The prediction of thunder storms did not fail and after about half an hour, lightning began to catch our attention and I tried very hard to take pictures of them. Unfortunately I could never take the picture in time. Then suddenly a patch of lightning filled a portion of the sky and it started to rain. We started to walk back to out car about 5 minutes of walking time away and we pulled our hoods over our heads. About 1 to 2 minutes later, we saw the path in front of us lighting up and it began to POUR! We began to run and run. After we got in the car, I noticed our jackets seemed as if they had just been washed without wringing them out and our jeans were all soaking cold. We immediately started to drive to our hotel that lasted for more than an hour. Along the way, the sun was setting and there was a huge low cloud that caught the sunset, making it a huge cloud of orange. The road led us into the cloud and we were driving in a world of orange. It was something I will never forget.