Chicago

Not sure about the rest... but this was a pretty inpromptu trip for me... wasn't really planning on going to Chicago... just happen that my housemate found a good deal online and so happen tat it has to be around this period... so here we go on our Chicago trip...

Sat 27th Oct 07

If I rem correctly, we took a bus directly to The Museum of Science and Industry... with our backpacks and all... we bought the citypass which gives us entry to 5 diff places of interest... To maximise time for the trip... our first stop is the MSI... something cool about it is tat it has a real Germany submarine U505 in it... and from the video... it showed how the submarine came to be in the museum... it literally got here on water... then after the water was drained... and the submarine fixed to the location... then the museum building was built around it... how cool is tat!?!? very cool if u ask me... haha...

Next we went to the hotel to drop off our bags before taking a walk in the city... along the Magnificent Mile... and decided to go to the Uno Pizzeria and try out their famous Deep Dish Pizza... It really is very thick... almost like a pie... taste not too bad... but i guess i still prefer thin crust pizza... =p

It's almost dark and time for our next stop... the John Hancock Observatory... there is one thing i observed about the big cities in US... they all have their own Museums... Aquariums... and definitely some super tall building that overlook the entire city... the view up there was great... city lights... straight rows of street lights... beautiful...

Sun 28th Oct 07

A brand new day... on to the remaining 3 stops... the Adler Planetarium... Shedd Aquarium... and The Field Museum... which were kinda in the same area... on our bus ride to the planetarium... we pass by Soldier Field... Home of the Chicago Bears... and they happen to have a game today against the Detroit Lions... there are fans hanging outside the stadium all ready.. dressed in their orange and blue "bear" wear...

Soldier Field Stadium...

Adler Planetarium...


Shedd Aquarium...

The Field Museum...

After an afternoon of educational tour in all the museums and aquarium... we took a walk in Grant Park... and came across the Buckingham Fountain which apparently was already closed for winter... cos it's all dried...

Next we proceeded to Chinatown for dinner... after which was where we had a close encounter at being assaulted by black teenagers... which we of course ran for our lives... wow.. tat was scary...

Mon 29th Oct 07

Early in the morning... we did our last bit of visiting before we return to NH in the afternoon... we went to the free zoo... Lincoln Park Zoo... it was a small place... but had quite a fair bit of animals considering its size and it being a free zoo...

My Hippo with the sleeping hippo... hahaha... so cute!

Next.. no matter wat... i need to find The Bean... so we went to Millenium Park for the last time... in search of The Bean.... and finally I found it!!! It was awesome... a gigantic silver bean in the middle of the park... with the reflection of the city on it... wow... cool..... man i'm easily awed... hahaha...

-jiahua

New York... for the last time...

This weekend... we are going to spend it in NY... this is probably the last time to NY... need to make this trip fast before HL goes back to sg and we lost our free accommodation in NJ just outside NY...

Sat 20th Oct 07
this is the 2nd and my last chance to catch a Broadway show... so we chose to watch Les Miserables... wah.. all the shows we picked were classics... previously we watched Phantom... and now Les Miserables... actually Broadway is my first experience with anything musical.... i've never been to any show at the Esplanade...

Les Miserables was really nice... sad and touching... drew some tears from the audiences... the little girl is so cute... "there is a castle on the cloud~~~~" hahaha...


I'll definitely go for shows at the Esplanade... though they are kinda ex... but well.. pump up the art scene! haha..

Sun 21st Oct 07
bright and early... we are going to the American Museum of Natural History... yes it's the one featured in "Night at the museum" and it is really a very very very BIG place! 5 storeys worth of exhibits... good thing i have someone who is constantly keeping track of time... if not i probably won't be able to finish "scanning" all the exhibits... and at the same time be able to watch some of the shows... the Cosmic Collisions Space Show was pretty cool...

There was a special exhibit which was under the "coming soon" section... and it is a "Water" exhibition... and it happened to be in sg Science Center right now... hope to have a chance to go before it ends...

There are so so many exhibits that u give up taking pictures after a while... but how can we not take a pic with the famous Dum Dum....

-jiahua

Maize Maze

Sat 13th Oct 07

I have been wanting to go maize maze since last year... but every time i wanted to go... it will start to rain.. so "maize maze" became a taboo word... and it was later named " the place that shall not be named"... hahaha...

drove to the farm... and waited for the hay truck to bring us to the entrance of the maze... Zack's Farm Great Corn Maze! the corn field is actually one of the biggest in the area... 25 acres... and every year they will make a maze of a diff design... we split into 2s and took diff routes to the exit.... hmm.. i would say we were pretty good at navigating the map... and found the exit after a while...

Say Cheese... erm... Say Maize!


After we walked to the other end and back... we nuah by the hay stacks by the entrance... waiting for the same hay truck to come bring us back to our car....

On our way back... we stopped by a fruits and vege stand... and bought our pumpkins for Halloween... and here's 2 that i chose... though i did not have the time to carve... since we went to Chicago right before Halloween... =(

On the whole it was a nice and relaxing day... none of those crazy rushing... just a quiet day out in the fields... and the weather was great... nice cloudless blue sky... and greenery all round.... though it was pretty cold and windy...

-jiahua

Mt Washington 2007

Sat 6th Oct 07
It's one of the last weeks to go up Mt Washington before winter arrives and the weather gets unsuitable for us to drive up... we have been in the area over the past 2 months... once to the Indian Head Hiking Trail.. which I feel like puking after eating a burger... -.- so I din make it to the top with the rest... and another time with T & R... where the wind was too strong and we weren't allowed to drive up to Mt Washington... so finally we get a chance today to drive up... we've done multiple hikes in the region.. but today's the first time we drive up Mt Washington... and also our last time to this area already...

We paid the fee and got our CD guide and map... the drive up was supposed to be slow... since the roads are pretty narrow... and it's a 2 way traffic... u wouldn't wanna drive too fast... and over the edge... and i would say boy we are so close to the edge! it's almost nerve racking... See how dangerously close to the edge we were!

Halfway up the Mountain at a lookout point...

At the White Mt Observatory... Highest wind speed recorded... 231 miles/hr... see the chain... the building is actually chained to the ground to prevent it from being blown away by the wind!


Yeah! we made it to the summit!


This is the last time that we are going to be in the area... we'll definitely miss all the hiking trips we had... which kept us occupied on countless weekends in the New England region...

-jiahua

Flume Gorge at Franconia Notch

Sat 29th Sep 07

It's that time of the year again... nearing Autumn... foliage time again... remember about the same time last year... we went for foliage at Kangamangus Highway... This time we are here at the Flume Gorge...

It's a pretty nice place... great geographical lesson... how is a gorge form... plus everything tat goes with it... boulders... waterfalls... basins.... one of my fav because it's easy to walk... compared to some of the other mountains which we hiked tat nearly killed me.. haha...

Let's begin the hike with a pic with the Glacial Boulder...

Covered bridge over Pemigewasset River

Can't believe the Flume Boulder was suspended between these walls for centuries before being dislodged by a storm..

Looking down at The Pool and overlooking the greenery opposite...

Next we make our way down to The Basin aka "The Old Man's Foot Basin"... the shape of that rock formation really does look like a foot though...

Next we drove to Echo Lake Park... I think we've been to the opposite of this lake on another occasion...

Drove along Kangamangus and up the Mt Washington region... where we spotted the Mt Washington cog railway... initially we saw smoke at the top of the mountain.. and thought something was on fire... but then we realised it is actually the cog train... cool man!

Day out with nature... Love it!

-jiahua