Another month...another year...

I'll try not to express and describe how time passes by. I turned 25 earlier this month. That's when it hits me that, wow, can't believe, I'm 25 already. Been 2 years out of college, working for 2 years, and settling down at a new place, in my job, and what's next?
(By the way, thanks for the birthday cards! And gifts! Thank you! Some of them remind me of my past while some remind me of my far future...)

The trip home was great. It's true that it's not easy to come back after being home for 2 weeks. Even though I get back to the usual drill quick, but deep down inside, I still feel a hint of 'homesickness'. Guess that's the magic of family and love.

Anyway, the trip back wasn't all smooth sailing either. Our flight from JFK to BOS was canceled, again!!! And with the inclement weather forecasted for the next day, we decided to wing it and rented a car and drove up. Because of the heavy snow in NY and part of CT, the drive took us 6 hours, instead of 3.5 hours. By the time I got back to my apartment, it was 5am. Took a shower, unpacked a little and I went straight to work at 6.45am. By 3pm that day, I was more dead than a zombie. Even after 3 coffees and a redbull, my eyelids were barely open.

I'm not sure if it's my aging, or because of the drive, but it took me a good week to totally overcome the jet-lag. I'll be heading home again for my brother's wedding in May. This was somewhat brought forward. So, I'll be home for a shorter stint, traveling back on May 12th, reaching May 13th, leaving for the States again on May 18th. 7 days vacation, spending 2 days on the plane.

Other news, in preparing for my upcoming exam (CAS 7) on May 4th, I'm now waking up at 4, studying from 5 - 9ish 10am on weekdays, and a few more hours here and there on weekends. So, May will be a big month for me. First, the exam, then, the trip home, and finally, closing on my house and moving! Can't pack anymore into a month than that...

Also, something happened few weeks back that surprised myself. It's just interesting that I did what I did. Not to reveal too much, I did what I believe is right. I did something out of the ordinary. I let myself heard. Not sure how that well sit with others, but, I think I've done myself proud. I wasn't even sure why I actually did it. You know that feeling, where you think you're gonna say something, but ended up keeping it to yourself because you're too afraid. Well, I didn't keep it to myself over that. I did it in a professional way, requested, inquired and responded with what I had in mind. If someone is gonna preach about something, I'll make sure that I'll hold them to their preaching. And NO, this has nothing to do with religion. It's about values, more about principals. (Thanks for my 'life' coach, and my email buddies. You know who you are...)

So, upon turning 25. I thought, what will I be in 5 years? Other than being 30, will I be a guy with attachment? Will I be in a different city, with a different job? A different country? Do I want to be at a different place? Do I want to give up the bachelor life and turn to a new chapter in life? Do I want to chase my dreams - if I know what they are, or be slightly contented and let opportunities seek me?

All the waking up at 4am in the morning and studying for 4-5 hours every morning, sometimes got me thinking, why am I doing this? What's keeping me going? Every now and then, I'll be able to think that I'm doing this because I want to get it over with. I'm close to getting this done. Just 3 more exams, best case scenario, that's 15 months away. I won't be able to deny that's not a tempting reason. Part of it because I do like the stuff I'm learning. Call me a dork, call me a nerd, but hey, some of them are rather interesting. I believe the main reason I'm willing myself on is I think there's much more in life. Hence, by doing my best the fastest, I can do more. What will I be doing? I don't know, but, it's definitely than not doing anything. Just keep throwing them at me, and I'll let you know when I can't handle it.

Sometimes, I couldn't help but to think back to all the what ifs... what if I didn't do that, what if I did it in a different way... But, well, what if I didn't think about all the what ifs?

I think why I'm doing what I'm doing is so that I won't regret what I didn't try the hardest at whatever I did when I'm looking back at a later point in life, and then I think, what if I had tried harder...

Funny how and what I think about upon reaching 25... I mean, can't believe that I'm 25 already. People tell me how much I've achieved... Well, not bad at all.
But, well, come to think about it, life's short, there's no guarantee for how many 25 years ahead is ahead of me...

Trip to Cape Cod...

So, my trip to Cape Cod started not-so-well. On Friday night, there was a thunderstorm going on, and at about 10.30pm, I heard a crashing noise, so, I went to the window of my room (on the second floor) to check out where did that noise come from. And to my surprise, I saw two kids with baseball bats beating the shit out of a truck. The wind-shield, the side-windows, the doors... It scared the crap out of me. I wanted to take a picture of it, but I was charging my batteries for the trip, and also, I couldn't really take a picture of them without letting them know about it because it was dark and I definitely needed the flash to take that picture. So, I just watched from my room, hiding, while fearing that they were high on something, and will go to the next car (mine or someone else's) when they were done on the first one. But, fortunately, they targeted that truck and ran away after they were satisfied. I took a picture of the truck the next morning, at 7.05am, just before I hit the road for the Cape.

I started my journey at 7am because the traffic to the cape is normally really bad on weekends, unless you leave early. I had no problem following the driving directions I printed from Mapquest(R) and reached Provincetown, MA at 10.15am (~160 miles). I was way too early for my 12.45pm whale watching trip. At first, I wanted to try my luck, asking if I could join the 10.30am tour instead, but unfortunately, that trip got canceled. So, I walked around Provincetown downtown and had a decent lunch before the trip.

Provincetown, link, is known for its reputation as a gay resort. So, if you are not comfortable with gay couples, it might not be a good idea to visit here.

The whale watching trip was amazing, and I was burned by the sun, (I left my sunscreen in the car, so, didn't re-apply while I was baking under the hot sun for 3.5 hours). Other than the videos below, I took many pictures of whales of different behaviors. It was definitely a must-do activity. It's like watching national geographic/discovery channel's documentary live. Two out of the more than 200 photos I took on the whale-watching trip.
The humpback whale was lobtailing in this one.Flippering in this one (the whale was actually on its back, and was flapping both of its flipper. Imagine lying on your back, and raise your hands... that's the position the whale was in).
After that trip, the heat started to get to me. (I'm not good with too much sun, and that's why I only run indoors in the Summer, or else, I will spend the entire day 'in heat'... where I can feel my body 10 degrees warmer than it should be...) I decided to push my plan of visiting the Highland Light House to the next day. So, I drove to Truro, link, about 10 miles away from Provincetown, for the hostel to rest and called it a day. (yeah right, I went for a short trail after a quick frozen dinner, but missed the sunset). It was Hostelling International (HI) again, (the same hostel chain that I stayed in about 3 years ago when I first visited New York city during my 2004 Winter break trip).
A google-map, which I added the red line and the blue dot. The blue dot was the place where we spent the night. And that's the Atlantic Ocean...
View of HI-Truro from the beach with 1X magnification.
View of HI-Truro with 12X magnification.
HI-Truro is a mansion, 5-minute walk from a private beach, in the Cape Cod National Sea Shore Park... amazingly quiet and perfect for a great-escape vacation. Serene, tranquil...
After a short trail, up the hill, but missing the sunset. But, the view from above was really breathtaking.

One thing to expect if you are traveling alone and staying in a youth hostel is to meet people. (you gotta be alone, or maybe a couple, if you are in a group, it's hard for you to meet other people in the hostel). People from all over the world, well, at least from other parts of the country. And, I think all my staying in hostel experience had been great, and maybe I'm lucky thus far? Can't believe that I met a guy, an attorney, who went to University of Michigan, class of 86, and he was traveling with his son, and we struck up a conversation easily, and got well-acquainted. No way! And then, I met with other people, an air-stewardess/court-reporter, 2 ladies from Ireland, another from Germany and a guy from England. 7 of us spent the night at the beach, just chatting, and enjoying the sight, sound and the feel of the ocean. Also, the sky was clear, and I could see more than a thousand starts just with my naked eyes. Not to mention the milky way could be seen clearly too. And shooting stars(I did make a wish), and I got to see the moon-rise. And yes, it was amazing. But, all these amazing sights were not captured because I left my camera in the hostel. And another bad thing from the night was, I got bitten by bugs pretty badly, I counted more than 10 marks the next morning. Oh wait, did I mention the 7 of us finished 6 bottles of wine... It was a great night. It was just plain relaxing, and relaxing.

The next morning, damn body clock, I woke up at 6 again. But, I decided to go back to bed (just to wake up at 7 again, and gave up). Another thing to expect while staying in a youth-hostel is, not-youth-male (in the 60s) snoring!!! The most ironic thing was, the snorer (he was the only one that snored loudly) was wearing earplugs.

So, I had oatmeal (breakfast provided by the hostel), and after packing up and all, I went to the beach to get some color. :P. It's morning sun, and I can handle it better. I strolled down the long beach, and the weather was perfect.
Cooling sea breeze, with perfect morning sunshine. Couldn't get any better than that... and it's the Atlantic Ocean...

After that, I checked out from the hostel at about 9.45am, and drove to the Highland Lighthouse aka Cape Cod Light. This lighthouse was famous not only because it is one of the brightest, but because it was moved back 90ft from it's original position in 1996 because of the sliding cliff.
The lighthouse current position, and the previous position (marked by the rock).

The view from the lighthouse was wonderful, and the wind up there was really strong.
The wind carries dust/sand and was constantly blowing at me during my entire 1.5 hours there. (I was there for quite a long time because my next destination was the Truro Vineyard, but it only opened at 12 noon on Sunday.) I went to the Vineyard, couldn't participate in the wine-tasting because of pressing time, and I needed to drive for 3-hours back later. I just stopped by, took pictures of the vineyard, and bought 2 bottles of wine, 1 for my keeping, another as a gift (didn't take the picture of the bottle, but the vineyard is famous for its lighthouse-shaped bottle).

The scenic highway...just a quick pit-stop...

The drive back to Worcester, MA was pretty uneventful. Forgot to mention that on my way to Cape Cod, a tiny pebble stone chipped my wind-shield. And there's a tiny crack on my window now...The crack...

In all, the trip to Cape Cod was really an amazing one. Being able to appreciate nature, and also, to meet up with a fellow wolverine and meet people from other countries and all... not to mention the thoughts that went-through my mine from my conversations with the fellow Wolverine were well, left me with a lot more to think about.

Whale Watching... it's not a trip, it's an adventure...

Hey guys, so, I'm back from a short trip to Cape Cod. It was an amazing trip and I'm still taking it in and still loving the experience I had. Anyway, I'll dedicate this post to videos I took on the trip, and few other posts to pictures and write up. :)

New York City revisited...

So, last Friday, I went to work early, started work at 7am, and had my lunch at my desk, hence, I left office at 3.30pm. After I checked that I had everything packed, I left my sublet and started walking to the Worcester Union Station at 4.30pm. It took me about 30 minutes to walk there. And it was quite a scary walk, as Worcester is not an ideal town to travel around by foot.

It cost $7.75 to travel from Worcester to South Station, Boston (the last station) and the journey took about 90 minutes. I left the Worcester station at 5.38pm, and reached Boston just after 7pm. The bus station is connected to the train station, and I was there waiting for my bus in no time. There's a huge line waiting for the bus to Boston, (the greyhound bus system works in a way that they will just sell ticket without controlling how many they sold, and it's passengers' responsibility to wait for their bus early on to make sure that they get on the bus they wish, if the bus is oversold, they will have to wait for the next bus. I thought they got really oversold, but apparently, 2 buses was delayed because of an accident en route to NY or something like that. I boarded the bus at 9pm, instead of 8pm that I wanted. While waiting in line, a guy tried to cut the queue, into a position 3 people in front of me, and the guy in front of me called him out, and they had an exchange of words, and that guy insisted that he was waiting in line for awhile, but he 'forgot' to move in front... a lady (and all of us) didn't buy it, but we tolerated for awhile. And then, a cop walked by, and the lady told the cop about the incident, and that dude was thrown to the back of the line. :)

So, I reached Times Square (42nd St) of New York city at about 1.15am. Met up with Teck Hua at about 1.20am. Then, we went to Astor Place for Japanese food, and from there, walked to his place(where I crashed at for the next 2 nights), reaching at about 3.00am.

The next morning, I woke up at 9am, thanks to my body clock, (6 hours of sleep), and I spent the next 2 hours watching 'The Soup!' and ESPN. Then, Teck Hua, woke up at about 11am, and, we left for Chinatown at about noon. We walked around, and damn, it's like Kuala Lumpur's Petaling St. "Miss, handbag? Gucci, Fendi, Coach?" "DVD!" "Perfume?!" All the road-peddlers with counterfeit items... And the place was packed!
Summer Fair!
So, we walked around, and discovered the NYC Summer Fair (every third Saturday of July), where there's lotsa food stalls, and other handicrafts and stuff on sale on the street.


For lunch, Teck Hua and I met up with Melissa and May Ying, we were at Canal St. (Chinatown) earlier, and was walking while waiting for them to come. Waiting.. waiting... waiting...Waiting to meet up with us, and I took this picture from across the street. :P

So, for lunch, we went to 'Nyonya', a Malaysian restaurant in Little Italy. The food was great, more authentic than Penang's (the restaurant chain) and more reasonably priced.
There's also a fair going on in Little Italy.
And yes, I took this shot in New York City. There's a park where a lot of senior citizens, 90+ % Asian, hang out... We walked by this park, after lunch, from Chinatown towards Wall St.
Snapping some pictures along the way... This is the NY Court House.
And that's LAI(me)!!!
Reaching Wall St. (smiling ear-to-ear from L-R: May Ying, Teck Hua and Melissa)
Us (Melissa, I and May Ying) in front of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Well, as a tourist in Wall St., one thing that you must do is to take photo with the Golden Bull. As I previously took one, and there's a huge crowd in front of it this time, I didn't take one with the big bull. There are actually 2 smaller bulls (one bronze and another silver) near Merrill Lynch's HQ. As it is still a hidden secret, nobody was there, and we took full advantage of the photo opportunities.
The four of us in front of Merrill Lynch's HQ. (not really in front of, but the HQ as background).
While the smaller bull is easy to be mounted by some. It still proves to be a challenge for others, like kids...

and Melissa. :P
She did manage to get on it, but, I decided not to put it up here. :)
Teck Hua and I.
And also, the bull was touched.
Not to mention, the weather was great. Sunny weather, about 30 Celcius hot!
Not sure why this picture turned out like that.
'Putera lilin'...

So, we went to this Peruvian restaurant, Pio Pio for dinner. The chicken was amazing, and the price, was very very reasonable. Thanks to my cousin's husband (is there a genealogical term for it?), Tomas for recommending this place. With dinner (and Sangria) including tips, it only cost us
$13 per person. For dinner, we met up with Sui Lin, and Jon San, and also, Teck Hua's roommate, Crispin.

Before....
After:
(just kidding... pidgeons -//-> chicken... just like you can't turn coal into gold.)
Fried plantains, and rice + beans. And also the amazingly good green sauce (to go with the roasted chicken).
After dinner, we went to TimesSquare's AMC to catch a movie. We saw I know pronounced you Chuck and Larry. It was a really funny movie, and kinda a movie that increase LGBT awareness in a backhanded way.TimesSquare in the evening...
After the movie, taking subway to a lounge. (May Ying, Sui Lin and Mel... exhausted...)
At the lounge, a really cool place (it was much darker, but with the flash, this is the end result).
From L-R, Jon San, me, Teck Hua, May Ying, Melisssa, Sui Lin, and Crispin...

So, that's pretty much my short trip to New York city. After this, we parted ways, and Crispin cooked us really good mee goreng...

So, it was all good. The next morning, woke up at 9.06am (I checked my watched), again, 6 hours of sleep, but seeing it was still early, I went back to bed, woke up at 10.35am, and packed and all, and left Teck Hua's place at 11.30am for the NY Port Authority to catch my 12.30pm bus back to Boston. Reached Boston at 5.00pm, and had a McD dinner, and caught the 6pm train back to Worcester, reaching at 7.40pm, and took a scarier walk back to my sublet, reaching at 8.10pm. It was still bright out, but, it was really scary. I think I will not walk along in Worcester downtown anymore. The conversation I overheard on my walk back from the station to my sublet, and also the broken glasses on the walkway are really scary.