Independence Day

Wed 4th Jul 07
Independence day holiday... it being a wed... we couldn't go on any trips... and though it was a pretty big day for the Americans... we decided to give the celebrations a miss... and just spend a quiet day... at the movies... the show tat all the guys are looking forward to... Transformer...

We met up at the theatres... bought our tickets and went in... being a hoilday... the cinema was packed... and we were all seated separately...

halfway through the show... lights started flashing... for a moment.. nobody took any notice of it... and thought it might be part of the show... but then the annoucement came on and asked us to evacuate the building... some fire alarm thingy... everybody couldn't believe they were asked to leave the theatre when the show was just getting exciting...

we all gathered outside by the road... and everyone was talking about wat happened... it's was later we saw the fire engine and heard tat there was smoke coming out from a popcorn machine tat started the alarm... -.- when things were sorted out... we went back into the theatre to continue our show... we thought we could get a free show or something... but no... just carried on from where we stopped... hahaha....

the show was pretty good... better than wat we girls imagined it to be... there was more storyline than we thought... plus a little encounter in the theatres...

-jiahua

Summer

The long awaited summer is finally here... we can keep all our down jackets and put on our shorts... and do some outdoor activities....so for the coming weeks... we will be going to Hampton beach...

Sat 16th Jun 07

Today is a good day to go to the beach... the sun is strong and it is hot... and it's our first summer day on the beach... we had our towels spreaded out... and we are ready to get baked... sun tanned... chit chat... read magazine... nuahing around... nice!

before we got sunburn... it's time to go..... hit the supermarket... to do some groceries for dinner... had ben and HL come over for dinner... we came up with one dish then they came up with one... decided to go with western... so it was steak... mashed potatoes and shepard's pie...

Sat 23rd Jun 07

We decided to go to Hampton beach again today.... there is some sand sculptures there.. but this time it wasn't as hot as last week.. and we were actually wearing light jackets... a little weird while other pple are still playing in the water in their bikinis... there were a couple of sand sculptures along one side of the beach... it was a competition... wasn't super fantastic though... but it was ok...

Sun 24th Jun 07
It was a little gloomy... but we still decided to give York beach a try... there wasn't much of a beach there... so we hang around and decided to head towards the lighthouse area instead... hung around there for a bit... nothing much we could do there too... then the clouds started getting dark... and a light drizzle started... so we headed home... well.. it was nonetheless a day out... better than being cooped up...

Thur 28th Jun 07
After sending them to the swimming pool... we headed towards York beach... thought of hanging out at the beach a little.. but due to time constrain... we went straight up the hill to where Brown ice cream is... the ice cream there was pretty nice... but being at the top of the hill... the breeze was really cold... despite it being a summer day... we had our ice cream... and decided to head back since it was also time to fetch the rest from the pool...

Sat 30th Jun 07
Had to go to work today... but after work... we decided to go to Hampton beach again... we went with YY... we hang out on the beach while YY went to collect her sea shells...

i went for a walk along the beach before joining YY on her quest for more sea shells...

It's a beachy time this month in Summer...

-jiahua

Boston weekend

This weekend... we spend both days in Boston...

Sat 9th Jun 07

This week we had someone from the Singapore plant come visit... so we brought him to Boston... and he wanted to visit Harvard... so that's where we shall go....

I wouldn't say it was very interesting there.... cos it is nothing more than just a campus... and when u have no business with the school... there isn't a lot to do there... we merely walked around the campus... there seems to be some get together thingy going on in the school... there was a tentage set up... and you can see ppl who graduated from the school... all with badges showing which year they graduated from... and some of them are really old...

next we found the statue of the founder of Harvard... John Harvard... there were kids climbing up and down the statue... we had a hard time trying to get a pic of the statue with no one in there....

we concluded the trip with having dinner in Chinatown....

Sun 10th Jun 07

With the complimentary tickets our company provided... we took the chance to visit the New England Aquarium...

The aquarium consists of a huge center glass tank... with lots of sea creatures in there... the usual sharks... the various weird sea fishes... corals... sea turtles... wat's cool about it is... the walkway is a spiral around this huge tank... which is about 3 storeys high... so at different levels of the spiral... u can see diff things.... and u can follow the fishes as they swam away.... and the top of the tank is not covered... so u can actually look down into the huge tank... and the sea turtle happen to be circling there... taking breaths of air before diving down again...

at each level... there are diversions to adjacent exhibition halls where there are different showcases.... like jelly fishes... starfish... corals... penguins.... seals...

this time i decided to take minimum pics... because all aquariums are the same... and u would end up with many pics of diff fishes and creatures... and not forgetting how hard it is to get a good pic in aquariums... most of the time the light is dim for the animals' sake.. and flash just give u a lighted spot on the glass... so i took a couple of pics and decided to enjoy my day by looking at exhibits... seals show... penguins feeding... oh and not forgetting we were like school kids on an excursion... we got our penguin passport and went around looking for the stamps... din manage to find all though...

and last but not least... bought a really cute t-shirt... which describes me.... "sometimes crabby but always cute" Hahahahahaha......

It was a pretty interesting place to spend the day... though frens told me they find it boring and it took them about 1 hr plus before they decided to leave... but this place kept us occupied for at least 4 hrs.... easily entertained.... hahaha...

-jiahua

Egg Tarts

Sat 2nd June 07

Today the guys in my house were out... playing paintball in some forest... so i stayed at home... and kept myself busy... by making egg tarts... very domestic... hahahaha....

I think the egg tarts were pretty successful... well... i made them a few more times after this... and i think this time is the best though it's my first time making them...

The end product.... not bad bah?

Seeing all the big blue blacks that they have from the paintballs... i think i made the right choice in staying home...

-jiahua

Niagara Falls

It's another long weekend... another opportunity for a trip to somewhere... and it's finally time for the long awaited trip to Niagara Falls... after waiting for winter to be over and the weather to get better...

Sat 26th May 07

This is the next long driving trip since Montreal... so as with all long distance trips... we set off in the wee hours of the morning... drag ourselves as well as our luggages... and off we go in our 2 rented vehicles... we drove from darkness to day break... and we finally reach the border between US and Canada... stopped by at the visitor centre for some info.... then proceeded across the Rainbow Bridge to Canada! We can see both the US and the Canada side of the falls from the bridge... but 1st things 1st... it's off to the hotel to unload...

the 1st thing we hit the falls was to take photos... every possible angle... every possible pose... as usual.... next we went for the highlight activity at the falls... Maid of the Mist... a boat cruise starting near the Rainbow bridge... past the American and Bridal Veil Falls... and into the Horseshoe Falls... That was where our 1st free gift... a blue poncho came into use... at the Horseshoe Falls... the mist was so dense... we would be all wet if we did not have the poncho on... and despite having the poncho... we still got our faces and hair pretty wet.... but it was a really cool ride... we experienced the massiveness of the falls.... and captured many beautiful shots of the falls from all angles... though some of them had mist on them cos the lens were wet... haha...

after lunch... we went for Journey behind the falls... where we got our 2nd free gift... a yellow poncho... Journey behing the falls as its name suggests..... is a series of tunnels tat took us behind the falls... and they have openings cut out in the rocks which allowed us to see the falls... most were merely the size of windows.. with water gushing pass... and we could only stand way back for safety reason... but there was one opening which has a platform where we could go out onto the side of the waterfall... tat was pretty nice for a change from looking at squares of gushing water... we are in close proximity to the falls...

after tat we proceeded further away from the coastline... to take an incline railway which brought us to a higher altitude for a better view of the falls... which probably didn't make much of a difference... next we took the bus... to another part of the waters... the White Water Walk... where we can walk along the waters on these wooden walkways... to have a look at the gorges and rapids of the falls...

next we decided to take a break from the falls and took the bus to Clifton Hill... the city area of Niagara Falls... where they have different stores like Hardrock, Hersheys, Marvel, Coke, Ripley's Believe it or not, Tussaud's waxwork, Guiness World Records Museum... we walked up and down the streets after dinner... before heading back to the falls again... this time for the night view... it was beautiful... the falls were lit with changing coloured lights which gave a different feeling to the place... tat concluded the day at the falls....

Sun 27th May 07

Today we took a drive to Toronto... We walked around the city... Saw the CN Tower.. Rogers Center... home of the Blue Jays... then we hang around this wooden platform by the waters... which i have no idea where tat is now... then we proceeded to Chinatown for lunch... next we moved on to exploring the city a little more.. which entails more walking... tat led us to University of Toronto... where we were entertained by a map of the school... well... the lame things u do when u just had lunch and u r bored... haha... Walked around the campus... there was nothing much we could do there... so we decided to walk back to our gathering point... it was when it started to rain... so we hid in a cafe till the rain lightened before driving back to the Falls region... On the whole Toronto was just another city... where we didn't find much to do there for free...

After dinner at an Indian restaurant... we went down to the Falls yet again.. for fireworks over the Falls... many ppl were gathered there.. so we found ourselves a spot for the fireworks too... fireworks is just fireworks... something tat is almost the same everywhere we go... but nonetheless good to have and something to do at every place we visited... so after the fireworks... it was still too early to return to the hotel... so we hang around... window shopping at the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort Galleria before heading back to the hotel...

Mon 28th May 07

Last day of our trip... we checked out of the hotel... went for a buffet breakfast... and we are on our way to the Inniskillin vineyard... as usual... the time tat we are at the vineyard happen to be after harvest... so there wasn't much to see out in the fields... but i would say they serve pretty good ice wine...

after which is the long journey home... prolonged by the jam at Rainbow Bridge.... and the hot weather didn't make things any better...

on the whole it was a nice trip... to be able to see one of the wonders of the world....

-jiahua