Boxing Day...

hi again... just wanna remind u guys that i'm writing this 2 weeks after the trip... so, they might be some details which i couldn't remember that well... but, i'm trying my very best to describe the trip as entirely as possible...

so, this morning... woke up really really early becoz we did decided to set off early this morning...waited for 30 minutes, and just to know that my friends were still sleeping... after waited for about an hour, we were all ready to go...

so, we set off to the Statue of Liberty... but to get there... first, we took a subway to the South Ferry Station... which is thefinal stop of the 1 and 9 redline... from there, we had to purchase ticket for ferry to get to the Liberty Island and the Ellis Island....

today was the coldest day of the entire NY and DC trip(i can say this after the trip)...it was 19 degree Fahrenheit... this is about -8 Degree Celcius... and this cold is aggravated by the strong wind at the seaside...(river side)... wateever u want to call it....

luckily, we weren't too late as 15 minutes after we were in line... the queue started to build up really quick and it was really a huge line.... oh man... lining up in the cold is not fun...NOT fun at all... in order to keep my toes warm... i tried hard to move them in order to get more blood being transported there....

then, we took a short ferry ride... i think about 10 minutes... to get to the 1st destination, which is the Liberty Island... This is the island which the Statue of Liberty is at... on the Island, we can really see the majestic Statue... so huge... so green... and so green... why izzit green in color??? oh, becoz of the oxidation of the bronze (which covers the entire statue).... after walking around the Island... which is really small actually... took us about an hour... becoz of everyone stopping every few steps to take picture of the statue and of the Manhattan skyline from the Island... group photos... personal photos... sceneries... watever combinations u can think of...

then, we took another ferry from Statue Island to the Ellis Island... This was the Immigration center for all the immigrants from dunno when til 1912 (if my memory is right).... this was where all the immigrants were checked and registered... and everything...

then, we decided to leave and took another ferry ride back to the Manhattan Island... then, we had our lunch at McD...again....

and then.... i screwed up my chronological order... need to go back and check the dates and time of my photos to refresh my memory... up til here for now...

It's Christmas (NYC Trip Dec 25)...

Well... it's christmas... and this is not the First Christmas i spent away from home and family...

still remember exactly 2 years ago, i left for Singapore to study on Christmas Day.... and it sure sucks....
anyway, get back to the trip.... so, this morning, Kai and I followed the big gang, led by Eric, with Ivy, Pohyi, Kengyang and Renjie, had a morning walk at the Central Park...

The Central Park is really really huge.... and it is so huge that i think it would be best if anybody wanted to go there, better split it into halves and visit it in 2 days.... becoz if wouldn't be fun if u force urself to walk the entire park in one go....

took a lot of pictures here... as the temperature is just about freezing... we can see a layer of thin ice is forming on top of the stagnant water of certain part of the lakes in Central Park... It is really beautiful...

we walked around, look at the elm trees, the statues at The Mall, the squirrels... and many other things...
then, we had our lunch at the New Malaysia Restaurant at Chinatown.... well... the food is awesome... very authentic... very original.... not westernize, yet... at least, we still can have really nice belacan sauce.... (Malaysia spicy and "stinky" sauce)
later, we went to Wall Street, to visit the heart of business of the world.... well, at first, we went to the Trinity Church... it is really beautiful... and then, the New York Stock Exchange building, then the Statue of George Washington... and then, the Trump Building, the Bull.... and then the Bowling Green... and walked around.... then, we took a subway to the World Trade Centre site....(we chosed to take the subway becoz it was really windy and kinda cold....) then, from there, we took a wrong subway to Brooklyn.... and by the time we figured out, we took another subway to Chinatown to have our dinner....
oh yar.... on the way to the restaurant, we saw the Arch of the Manhattan bridge... and also, today is Ivy (Jin Ye) 's birthday...
just not to embarass her, i'd not include some details on our way from WTC site to Chinatown....

after the dinner, Eric, Ren Jie and Kengyang went to the Rockefeller Center...While Kai and I had a very important mission of escorting Pohyi and Ivy back to the hostel.... u know... (girls with maps...., just joking...) for their safety... and our safety... they needed to go back to the hostel becoz they wanted to wash their hair.... really... no joke....

then, Kai and I went to TimesSquare just to look at the neon lights and to get rid of some bucks from our wallet.... went to Planet Hollywood... and damn, it is a small world after all.... we met some of our friends from other universities.... Michelle from MIT, Chiun Lin from Cornell, Wooi Yang from Uni of Virginia and Hung Wei from Northwestern Uni.... what a coincidence...

we chatted a while... right outside the Planet Hollywood Bar and Restaurant....took some pictures.... and they had to run to catch a bus.... and Kai and I continued our shopping.... I bought a t-shirt from the Virgin store... and that's about it...

went back and we didn't plan about where to go or what to do for Boxing day... but, nvm... impromptu is good.... travelling by intuition is great.... fun , exciting... and full with unexpected....

NYC Trip (24 Dec)...

Dec 24 2004... (NYC Trip - 2nd Day)

As Kai and I were hungry for great food, both of us decided to go to Chinatown of New York, located at the Southern part of the Manhattan Island, to have some really good food. We had some fried dumpling... Hot and fresh from the oven frying pan.... nice...

Then, we decided to go to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum...
This is the largest floating museum in the world (correct me if i'm wrong).
It was the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, and after it was decommissioned, it was transformed into a museum.

This museum is really huge. And there's a submarine and a concorde attached to it... Too bad the submarine section was closed for some maintenance... while the concorde is really magnificent... the leather seats, the sleek shape of the plane's body... and the nose of the bird which can change it's attacking angle... wonderful

Then, we had McD for lunch... and then, we went back to meet Putt, Chia Chye and Yee Chiun(Putt's fren) at TimesSquare, at about 3.30pm...

after that, in order to stay indoor...(away from the cold weather), we decided to catch a movie... Dunno why, we decided to watch the movie : Blade:Trinity.... not to say that the movie is lousy... but, just that the plot is kinda trite... after the first and 2nd movie of blade... the plot just kinda repeating... and very predictable... anyway.... the CGI effects are not too bad... and i wonder how much Apple pay the producer to promote Ipod... can't believe it that they mentioned Ipod in the movie... and the main actress did listen to Ipod (they even show that how she upload music to her Ipod... and show her wearing the while earbuds in slow motion.... OMGoodness...

initially, movie hopping did cross our mind... but then, it is kinda against our consience..(muahaha)....that's why,we decided to go to Chinatown again for dinner...

For dinner, we had Bak Kut Teh (pork in herb soup), fried Kangkung belacan (vegetable), Pipa Duck, Tofu , all these dishes with Rice... and we did tried the Asam Laksa (noodles)... the dinner was awesome...

Then, we headed down to Rockefeller Center for the Christmas countdown... as it was Christmas Eve.... and Rockefeller Center has the largest Christmas tree around... However, it was very crowded... and we were all exhausted after a long day.. and it was only 9.30pm when we reached there... we just walked around, took quite some pictures, and decided to go back to our hostel to get some rest....

at the hostel, we met Eric and company again... and after listening to their plan for Christmas Day...both of us decided to follow them tmr...

Wow... that's some snow.. and the journey begins...

woke up this morning just to find that snow are getting into my room through the tiny slit of my window which i left opened.... damn... it wet my bed...

and to my finding... there's more than 1 feet of snow accumulated on the ground... and it was still snowing heavily.... very heavily....

went out to took some pictures and some videos....

then, i had my breakfast... and i'm ready to start my 11-day trip to NYC and Washington DC....

the snow has caused some delay on the bus ride to the airport... but fortunately, not the flight...

the check-in is really fast... and it is a self check in thingy... just use a credit card for id purposes... then, check our luggage.. and we(Kai and I) are free to walk around until the time to board the flight....

we arrived at LaGuardia Airport at about 3.45pm.... collected our luggages... and asked for directions and we were on our way to Hostelling International New York City.... a really nice hostel.... great location and sorta affordable price...

we arrived there at about half past 5pm... it was drizzling... we checked in, got our room, happy with it... and went to Subway to grab a quick bite... then, we headed to TimesSquare....

and once we stepped out of the subway station.... WOW.... the neon lightings and the gigantic screens which cover 10 of storeys of buildings are so bright and the effect is so great to take it all in for the very first sight...

we walked around and around...aimlessly in the light rain...took shots after shots in front of the infamous Broadway and 7th avenue cross junction...

after about 3 hours of walking.. we decided to get back to the hostel...and coincidentally, met our other friends at the hostel...

great....

Snow Storm.....

yeah...weather forecast is expecting 3 -5 inches of snow accumulation over the night... meaning, i'll be building a snowman tomorrow.. cool.... hopefully, it will turn out to be a snowman and not snowball lar...

so, here i am... bored to death... virtually, wasted 2 days doing nothing much productive... efficiency level must be well below negative... just like the weather temperature....

for the past 2 days... i've been watching movies, playing Yahoo!(R) Games, chatting, and playing table tennis... and sleeping and trying hard to clear my fridge... (ice cream, smoothies, yogurt, milk, chocolate, frappucino...) coz i need to clear it for the holiday...

other than that.. did some cleaning up as the semester has come to an end... all the notes which can be recycled are in the recycle bin... textbooks for trade are listed at the marketplace...

gonna do mass laundry today.. and then, have to pack for my NY AND DC 11-days TRIP...
damn, i'm so looking forward to the trip...

ok, wat else... yeah.. that's most about it...nothing much to crap now...

i'll try my very best to post some updates when i'm in NYC and DC... since the hostels which I am gonna stay has internet access.... hopefully, i can use it for like 15-30 minutes every other day...

other than that... i'll only be back on Jan 3rd, 2005...

and , let me take this wonderful opportunity to wish all of u

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS too...

Last paper standing...

Darn.... 2 more hours to go...1 more paper left... and that marks the very end of my very first semester in University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

what's that very last paper??? Astronomy... The Solar System...

Interesting?? YEAH...

so, i'm now, wasting my time (updating my blog), instead of studying for the final...

and damn... It's been a cold weekend... especially yesterday... it's really like hell freezes over...
it's so cold (-18 celcius), about 0 degree Fahrenheit, and if u include the wind chill effect... it is -27 and -15 degree respectively...

so, to go out, i need to wrap myself with layers of clothes... synthetic and natural fibre... watever... as long as they keep me warm... and damn they do... but just the face was suffering from the blistering cold... with gloves and winter cap, and ample clothing, only the face is vulnerable to the cold termperature and piercing wind... damn, my nose was numb for a good 30 minutes after i went outdoor for about 10 minutes... and it started to drip like a leaking water faucet.... (exaggerated)

really need to go and revise my notes now... keep u posted later...

damn, i'm so in holiday mood now... just can't wait to get the exam over with...

ciao

2 more days to go...

Ho Ho Ho..... 2 days to go... and it's end of all classes... for the fall 2004 semester...
yup... just 2 days... that's 48 hours, and .... minutes... and second...

anyway.. who's counting...

just 2 days.... left with only 1 lectures... for today... and 3 more discussion classes for tmr... and 1 final for tmr too... and then, i'll be left with 2 more finals on 20th.. and i'm free....

so happy to think about going to NYC and DC for Christmas and New Year holiday... it will definitely be a great break....

sorry for ditching u guys lask week....
had been busy doing all sort of everything....but actually quite some nothing too...

yay... it's really snowing at last... snowing as in snowing continuously for few hours... it had been snowing for the whole morning.... yeah... since 7 am til now....(maybe it started earlier... but too bad.... i'm too sleepy to notice the exact time)and it's gonna snow for the entire afternoon too...
so with the current rate of snowing, i think i'll be able to build a snowman in the late afternoon..... wahahaha....

so...how are u guys? most of u guys are enjoying ur holidays rite??? having a great time???

that's about it.... have fun and take care...

wish me luck in my finals, ok? thankx.... u guys are the best.....