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

Labour Day Weekend

Sat 1st Sep 07

Today we drove to Rhode Island... there is a Water Fire Festival at Providence every year... so we decided to go down and have a look...

we drove the few hours to Providence... and did some shopping at Providence Place since we were still pretty early... then we went down to the riverbank to find a place to sit and wait for the event to start... there were a lot of ppl... all ready with their picnics... the group in front of us was having a cheese and crackers with wine and grapes session... wow wat a way to enjoy life... and we weren't even prepared with anything... just sitting on the grass... with no food... not even a mat... hahaha...

it started with gondolas rowing in... i guess those are for ppl who paid to get a ride along the river... then slowly there were boats rowing in with ppl lighting the piles of wood set up on platforms along the river... after the lighting... the whole river was lighted up and classical music playing... we decided to walk along the river and have a look... it was so crowded... we could bearly squeeze through some tunneled walkway... there were performers singing at intervals along the river... and couples started dancing to the music along the river.. as if the surrounding pple don exist... aawww...

supposedly the Water Fire is a art event... and it bonfires are art pieces... and they revitalises the Providence area... makes the area more lively i guess...

Mon 3rd Sep 07
Today we are going to Ogunquit... highly recommended by my colleagues... took us a long time to find a parking spot... the town was pretty interesting with all the small stores of watevers... there are candy shops... shops selling seashell jewellery... shops selling toys... and all the cafes with their sandwiches, pastries and coffee... but we chose the Inside Out Rooftop Cafe and Lounge... it's a small place tat overlooked the street... and OMG they have the best fried scallops! *drools*

after lunch.. we walked along the streets... browsing in the shops... before making out way to Ogunquit beach... weather was great... scenery was great... we walked along the beach... the water was freezing for a summer day... after a while our feets were numb from the cold... it was then tat i realise Ogunquit is a town with an active gay community... if u look closely.. there they are sun tanning.. playing along the beach...

next we went in search for the Marginal Way which my colleague mentioned... it took us a while to figure how to get to the start of the walkway... it is really a walkway along the cliffs and shore... nice place to sit and look out to sea... and take in the moment of silence... with the occasional yak of the seagulls... we even found a small lighthouse... probably 4 to 5 metres high..

well... just another quiet day out with nature...

-jiahua

Water Country

Sat 25th Aug 07

Today was one of the rare days in summer that the weather was good... it wasn't gloomy and it wasn't raining... so we can go ahead with out plan of going to Water Country... Water Country is a water theme park... pretty much like our Fantasy Island... but i'm not sure how comparable the rides are since i've not been to Fantasy Island... so i was a little skeptical about going to Water Country because i wasn't sure if the rides were going to be scary...

There were already a lot of ppl when we got there... we were directed to our parking lots on this big patch of grassland behind the park and walked the dirt road to the entrance... got ourselves a locker... changed and we were ready for some fun...

Most of the rides are either straight slide ones or twisty ones... we tried a twisty one to start with... wow it was fun! i have never been to a water theme park... so ya.. i like it... it wasn't scary... so we ventured to try all the diff rides... there were rides where we could take in groups... and there were rides that u go in covered slides... everything was fun! but the Q for the rides were pretty long... we managed to take most of the rides... but we were only able to do each once...

We break for a quick bite... then continued with more relaxing activities... like lazing around in the tidal pool... tat's pretty cool too... just sit in a tube and get pushed around by the waves... just tat there were tonnes of ppl in the water... and there are feets everywhere... and in your face sometimes... haha... then we tried the slow flowing river like pool... where u just flow along a series of waterways... and get water sprayed at u from all over... nice too!

On the whole it was a pretty enjoyable activity... nice for a hot summer day... at least it somehow breaks the fear i have for such high... water... rides...

-jiahua

Sound of Music

Sat 5th Aug 07
Every summer there will be an outdoor musical at Prescott Park... last year when we just arrived in the US... oliver twist was showing... but we didn't go for it... so this year.. i wanted to go have a look....

we left home about late evening... drove and parked at the swimming pool... and walked to the park itself... the park was already packed with ppl... everyone seems to come prepared... with their own chairs... picnic stuff... we paid $5 and went in... found 2 chairs and positioned them at a good location... though pretty far away from the stage... but we could still see the whole stage...

on the whole the musical was pretty good... despite it being an outdoor musical... the overall and sound system were pretty professional... reminds me of the kind of performances i went to at the drama centre near fort canning during my pri sch years...

and despite it being a summer day... it was a really cold summer night... coupled with the fact tat the park is just right next to the sea... just makes the wind even chillier... other than tat it was a pretty good activity for families to spend the night together... feels like the times where we went for outdoor movie screening at fort canning... it's just a totally diff feeling altogether...

-jiahua

Acadia Camping Trip

This is my second time at Acadia... but it is a different experience... previously i came with a group of girls and we stayed in a hostel... but now it's a mixed group and we are going to be staying in pitched tents....

Fri 20th Jul 07
We took the day off work... and since this is going to be one of the longer drive... 4-5 hours... we set off early in the morning... backed all the gear that were borrowed from colleagues and off we went...

we reached the campground... BlackWoods Campground... checked in.... and drove to our camp site... we pitched our tent... 1 big 8 men tent with an air mattress... courtesy of xy's colleagues... after we settled down and kinda settled our lunch... the weather was looking rather gloomy... so we decided to take it easy for the day... just taking the shuttle and go wherever it brought us... it started raining when we were on the bus... and we couldn't make out much outside the window except trees trees and more trees... in the end everyone fell asleep on the bus... and it probably brought us to the other end of the park... which we kinda looped back before we alighted...

dinner was BBQ at our campsite... wanted to get rid of all the fresh food before they all go bad... so we started our mini fire... and let the cooking begin...

the temperature at this time of the year + just after the rain + in the midst of tall trees + at a slightly elevated altitude + the night = ultimate coldness!!! sleeping in the tent was really super cold... and the air mattress din work to our advantage as it kinda "decrease" in size and bounciness throughout the night.. and we literally were almost sleeping on the floor by morning... haha..

Sat 21st Jul 07

today was the day for some hiking... since i've been to acadia before... i told them to go to all the "must-go"... which included hiking around Jordan Pond.. and up to Bubble Rock... which shag me out.. haha... the rest of the "must-go" include Cadillac Mt... Sand Beach...Thunder Hole... Frenchman Bay...

We were tired of eating canned food and watever semi-stale noodle tat we brought... so we end up having dinner somewhere in the Bar Harbor area... before going back to our ever so cold campsite... this time round i chose to sleep in the car with my thermal sleeping bag... it's a lot better... tat is if u wind up the window and not let the cold air get in.. which equates to almost running out of air.. haha...

-jiahua

Summer days

Sat 7th Jul 07

We had our 2nd ever BBQ at Kittery... Just gotta make use of our time in summer to hold outdoor gatherings and to use our pit one more time... the turn out was pretty good... initially we were quite worried because the weather seems pretty gloomy... but it cleared after a while.. and we were able to start BBQ-ing according to plan... but half way through.. it started to rain a little... so we shifted our pit into the garage and continued BBQ-ing from there... managed to clear quite a bit of the food before we decide to head back upstairs for indoor activities... play games... drink... and more eating...

Sat 7th Jul 07
Today is the day for strawberry picking... went to the same place we went for apple picking last year... there were rows of strawberry... wat u call those? plant? shrubs? watever... so we took our containers and started our search for ripe strawberries... there weren't many strawberries left since it was nearing the end of the strawberry season.. most of the strawberries have been plucked... those left behind were either small... or weirdly shaped... nonetheless.. we were still able to fill up our containers.. but this time we tried to keep from picking excessively... so as not to waste as well as to save some strawberries for others to pick... Strawberry picking wasn't an activity that would last long... we were done in about one hour plus... then we busied ourselves with taking pictures of ourselves... flowers... ladybugs...

went home... washed the strawberries... and counted... a proud 57 of them... haha... 56 red ones and 1 small albino one... they were pretty sweet though...

Sat 7th Jul 07
Today's the day for our annual QC outing... as usual... it's BBQ at Newcastle... we got to go off work early and headed for The Great Island Common... it's the usual boss Adam BBQ-ing for us... while we just sit around eating.. chit chatting.. playing frisbee... volleyball... hang around with colleagues... this will be our last QC outing before we go back to Singapore soon... so tried to take as many photos with colleagues as possible...

Boss cooking...

Volley ball...

With Mary...

With WL and Chris...

So proud of myself too... managed to drive to Newcastle and back all by myself... haha... and i agree with jas it feels good to be driving around esp the Newcastle region... winding down the window... having the wind blowing on ur face and the sun on ur skin... music blasting in the backgroud... this is life! haha....

Sat 7th Jul 07
Today we have got nothing better to do... so we decided to go to the Wildlife Refuge near our workplace... from the brochure... it seems to be an area rather similar to our nature reserve... with diff plant and animal variety... when we get there... the place was very deserted... and there wasn't really much to see... but we decided to walk into the refuge nonetheless... and our findings for the day... a frog... a couple of squirrels... some birds that we can hear but not see... and lots of insects buzzing around! So much for some encounter... we left for dinner after the walk through... no wonder pple say our nature reserve has more variety of animal and plant species than the whole of north america.... it's true! haha...

The many things we do or try to do outdoors during summer.....

-jiahua