Wednesday, July 30, 2008

To everyone especially Gu Long fans: Must read!!!

I stumbled upon this essay on Chow Yee Hoong's blog, and it is absolutely hilarious....if this was indeed written during exam period, you got to admire the author's courage and incredible sense of humor...

 

[爆笑]北京高考零分作文
题目:“细雨湿衣看不见,闲花落地听无声”是唐朝诗人刘长卿在《别严士元》中的诗句。曾经有人这样理解这句诗:1、这是歌颂春天的美好意境。2、闲花、细雨表达了不为人知的寂寞。3、看不见、听不见不等于无所作为,是一种恬淡的处世之道。4、这种意境已经不适合当今的世界……根据你的看法写一篇作文。题目自拟,体裁不限。字数800以上。


盛夏,夜,深夜。


景山山颠。


山上有人,两个人,一男一女。


这两人就是当今武林名声最响的两位杀手,男的名秋细雨,女的叫叶闲花,江湖人称“细雨闲花”。


诗人刘长卿曾用“细雨湿衣看不见,闲花落地听无声”来描述这两个可怕的杀手。细雨湿衣,湿衣的是鲜血;闲花落地,落地的是人头。这两人杀人来无影去无踪,如果他们想杀你,当你还没看到他们人影没听到他们声音的时候,你就已经死了。


秋细雨三天前接到一份帖子,指名要杀叶闲花。事成之后,不但有三百万两冥币,更可以让他在“红楼梦中人”选秀节目中担任曹雪芹的角色!


但是杀死叶闲花比杀死比尔还要困难得多。


江湖中没有一个人清楚叶闲花的武功来历,性格脾气,但是每个人都知道叶闲花的故事。


叶闲花有一双迷人的大眼睛,据说她曾一动不动地瞪死过赵薇和高圆圆,而那一年她才十七岁。


叶闲花声音有如黄莺般幽婉醉人,传说听过她说话后林志玲身体酥麻了整整一年,你说要不要命?


叶闲花轻功独步武林,踏雪无痕,落地无声,号称超过当年青翼蝠王韦一笑。有人见她上星期在高速公路上偷了刘翔奥运会入场证,刘翔追出一万公里最后被活活累倒。


一般人听到叶闲花的故事早就吓得去买尿不湿了,但是秋细雨没有去买。


秋细雨不是一般人。


他知道,杀人不但要靠技术,还要拼人品!


秋细雨很镇定,他正用一把指甲刀修整着手指甲,他的手指修长有力。


他要等待,等待对方先沉不住气。高手相争,不允许一丝一毫的失误,先沉不住气的人就会露出破绽。


致命的破绽!


因此秋细雨一言不发,只是静静地玩弄着指甲刀。


没想到叶闲花更是好整以暇,自己悠然自得地涂口红,喷香水。


秋细雨只好先发制人,道:“你知道我找你出来是为什么。”


叶闲花温柔道:“在我们动手之前,不能先谈谈么?”


秋细雨道:“我是来杀人的,不是来聊天的。”


叶闲花道:“你有把握杀我?”


秋细雨道:“我从不做没有把握的事情。”


叶闲花道:“我要提醒你一件事。”


秋细雨道:“你说。”


叶闲花道:“百晓生作杀手谱,小女子是杀手榜排名第一,阁下区区第二,你真能杀得了我么?”


秋细雨道:“我也要提醒你一件事。”


叶闲花道:“你说。”


秋细雨道:“论杀手实力,我本在你之前,只是那次排名百晓生采用了短信投票系统,中国‘花痴’人数过于庞大才让你得了第一。”


叶闲花的脸色一变,道:“我更要提醒你,我的粉丝团叫‘花粉’,不叫‘花痴’!”


秋细雨道:“我最后要提醒你,你的那些‘花粉’全都是花痴。还有,我们已经跑题了。”


叶闲花道:“我们这样拼命厮杀,你难道不怕麻烦么?”


秋细雨道:“你以后再也不用怕麻烦了,天下只有一种人永远不怕麻烦,死人!”


叶闲花道:“这么说你非逼我出手不可?”


秋细雨没有回答,他已不用回答。


秋细雨道:“亮兵器!”


叶闲花道:“我用刀。”


秋细雨道:“你用刀?刀在何处?”


叶闲花道:“我就是刀!”


叶闲花露出甜甜的笑容,忽然间褪下了自己的衣服,全身上下只剩下蕾丝比基尼和黑色丝袜。


叶闲花的脸美得让人窒息,再配上这样的身材,这样的服饰,充满了一种原始的诱惑力。


她的眼睛会说话,她的媚笑会说话,她的手,她的胸膛,她的腿……她身上每分每寸都会说话。


她知道,只要是个不瞎的男人,现在肯定会被她迷得神魂颠倒。


秋细雨是个男人,而且是个不瞎的男人。


可他现在却偏偏好像瞎了一样,完全无动于衷。


他知道,美丽的女人是一把刀,当你沉醉的时候,刀就会切进你的胸口。


秋细雨沉吟道:“我只想问你一件事。”


叶闲花娇笑着:“请讲。”


秋细雨道:“大夏天的,穿这么少你丫不怕蚊子叮啊?”


叶闲花沉默了半晌,幽幽地道:“你一定以为刚才我在喷香水,是不是?我告诉你,我喷的是六神花露水!”


叶闲花又道:“不过这不是普通的六神,是我特别提炼的药水,无色无味无毒,不过却会慢慢扩散在空气中,闻到它的人会四肢麻痹不能动弹。”


秋细雨一惊,忽然觉得身体已经麻木不听使唤,不由得一身冷汗。


叶闲花又道:“你以为我和你扯淡是因为我害怕,以为我脱掉衣服是想色诱你,其实这都是为了拖延时间让药水能扩散到你周围。”


秋细雨面上不动声色,道:“难道你自己不怕药水的厉害?”


叶闲花得意地道:“一开始我涂的口红就是解药,所以我仍然可以自由行动。”


叶闲花逼视着秋细雨,问道:“现在你还认为你能杀了我么?”


秋细雨道:“我能。”


叶闲花道:“你不能动而我能动,你却能杀了我,这不是很好笑么?”


秋细雨道:“是很好笑,但是你一定会被我杀死。”


叶闲花道:“为什么我会被你杀死?”


秋细雨忽然反问道:“飞刀能不能杀人?”


叶闲花道:“好像能。”


秋细雨道:“我有没有手?”


叶闲花道:“的确有。”


秋细雨道:“我手上有没有刀?”


叶闲花道:“你手上好像只有指甲刀。”


秋细雨道:“足够了。”


叶闲花道:“足够了?”


秋细雨道:“我有手有刀,就能置人死地。”


叶闲花道:“指甲刀也能杀人?实在可笑!”


秋细雨道:“以前江湖中有七十三个人觉得我这把指甲刀很可笑。”


叶闲花道:“现在呢?”


秋细雨道:“现在人都已死了,死在这把刀下。”


叶闲花道:“你的手还能动?”


秋细雨道:“你要不要试试?”


叶闲花脸上的笑容渐渐凝固,忽然间,她已出手!


一招“冒牌九阴白骨爪”直逼秋细雨天灵盖,这一招她已练过七年四个月零二十九天,她完全有把握相信没有任何人可以抵挡得了这一招。


可这一次她错了。


刀光一闪,“盗版小李飞刀”已插入她的咽喉。


她到死也不相信,一把指甲刀可以要了她的命!


闲花终于落地!


三个时辰后,药水的药效渐渐淡去,秋细雨终于可以动弹了。


望着叶闲花的尸体,秋细雨道:“虽然你已经死了,但是我还要告诉你两件事。第一,我一直用甲刀修整着手指甲是为了调整手和刀之间的同步率,说白了就是找手感。第二,我杀你的真正目的不是为了钱或者名利。”


一边说,秋细雨一边从叶闲花衣服的口袋里搜出了刘翔的奥运会入场证。


秋细雨坚定地说:“我爱北京,我要看奥运!”

Sunday, July 27, 2008

New place, new life

When I first started my job, I kept on whining about almost everything when I really should not. I think I was mainly terrified by the idea that I was already a perceived grown up and should start acting like one. I also did not like the idea that I was about to enter the "working" part of my life...no more long vacations, no more spring breaks, more commitments, more responsibilities etc. But one month after, I've kind of found my center and start to appreciate things more. Life is actually not that bad, and I hope things won't take a sudden downturn when I am starting to enjoy it. Right now, I am seeing this period as a time when I build my foundations for a better and more exciting future...

So let me start by describing my new apartment (ok, maybe I should not sound like I own it). It is called the Stonegate apartments, and I just love it for its convenient location. It is less than 10 minutes from my workplace, and it has everything you need within 5 miles radius (Walmart, Meijier, Kroger, cinemas, banks, post office etc). The Monon Trail, a nice jogging trail that goes as far as to downtown Indianapolis runs right through it, and there's a lake not far from my apartment. The Arts and Design District of Carmel is also within walking distance. In a nutshell, excellent location.

The apartment itself is not so new, but I got a remodeled unit. Hence, the microwave and oven are new, and next week they are going to do some work on the windows. The only downside of it is that there is no washing machine in the unit, so I have to go out of my room to do my laundry, and it's coin laundry. But well, the laundry room is literally like 5 steps away from my unit, so no complaints.

As for the community, I think Stonegate is more like an area for people who just started working or families with lower incomes. I see a lot of Hispanics around (most of my neighbors are Hispanics), some Indian families, and not to mention Chinese families. I think my next door neighbor is a Chinese, but we did not really talk as we rarely bump into each other. From what I have seen thus far, the people here are decent folks. No loud music on weekend nights, no crazy activities around. This should be a good place for me to study...

Due to my limited funds, I took the minimalist approach in furnishing my apartment (haha). Let the pictures do the talking: 

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Living room...Yup the weird thing is a video bean bag...can't afford a futon yet :P

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My computer desk at the corner. It took me more than half a day to assemble that monster...

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My entertainment center!!! A pathetic 22-inch flat screen TV (two of my colleagues who were also just newly hired bought 40-inch!!) and of course, my wii :)

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Dining table and kitchen.

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Kitchen with microwave and oven (sinks are across the aisle)

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My full-size bed...

Basically it's a nice apartment with a nice price (<600 per mo). Will blog more about the surroundings next time!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Winter fun

Found out this video when I was trying to upload my photos to Snapfish. It was taken during our freshmen year (judging by the fact that Qun Feng was still there). Although that is probably like 3-4 years ago, it almost felt like centuries ago...



How I miss those days...we seemed so carefree and innocent!! (and kinda stupid and wuliao not to mention..)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Moving out of Ann Arbor

After just a mere month of resting, I had to move on with life; my next stop would be Carmel, a town about half an hour away from Indianapolis, Indiana. The good thing about this place is that it is 4 hours away from Ann Arbor, and this means that I can practically go back to my college town during the weekends, whenever I wish to.

The packing and moving was not that bad, due to the fact that I did not unpack most of my belonging when I moved to U-Towers. Coincidentally, Ren Jie would be leaving the states the very same day I moved out from Ann Arbor. Hence, we had a small gathering and dined in Yamato, a Japanese restaurant in Kerrytown the night before our departures.

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Group photo

The food was ok, but the AC wasn't working that day, and it was a hot day. After dinner, I packed all my stuff into my car with the help of Wei Chieh and Ren Jie (thanks!), and had some card games before calling it a day.

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Our messy room in U-Towers right before moving..

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The bathroom and pathetically small kitchen

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Wei Chieh being himself

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Ren Jie was like: "What??!! Haven't seen leng chai before ar??"

Soon after, I would be bidding Ann Arbor goodbye and embark on a new journey!!! Well, right now I have already known that it is not a particularly exciting one, but let me blog about that later...I'm catching up!!!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Midwest Games 2008

Midwest Games is an event organized by MSD annually to allow Malaysian students from the region to participate in various sports competitions. The venue changes each year, and this year it took place in Carbondale, Illinois. Throughout my four years in the States, I have never participated in Midwest Games before, but I wasn't going to miss this one. It was my last chance to participate as an undergraduate (technically speaking).

I signed up for volleyball and badminton mixed doubles. Practice we did (lol) before the game, especially for volleyball. The Michigan gang went there in 3 cars, and I was one of the drivers. It took us 8 hours to reach our destination. Carbondale wasn't a big place, but it had everything in my opinion. For the night (and the following ones), we stayed at Motel 6.

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Student Recreation Center of Southern Illinois University Carbondale

The results did not turn out well for us; we managed to win only one game in the volleyball (not counting the walkover), and we (Pei Ying and I) lost in our first mixed doubles game. Pei Ying did win 2nd place in women's double though. Despite the losses, I did have a great time there just playing sports. And I should not fail to mention that something happened while we played volleyball; let's just say that thanks to Wei Chieh (:P), I had to reset my "focus".

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I seemed to be distracted by something when everybody's focusing...

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The volleyball team (with our "babysitter" - RJ)

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Group photo with Wichita key player - StarryNight

On the night before we departed, there was a tornado warning. The city siren went off for a few minutes, and when we turned on the television, the local channels kept repeating warnings about the impending storm. The tone they projected was grave and we were advised to head to underground shelters to take cover. As it was our first time, we took heed seriously, and was even considering hiding into the bathroom if things got really bad and debris started shooting everywhere. Well, it appeared all our worries were unnecessary; the storm when it finally reached was pretty anti-climatic. I have definitely seen far worse ones in Malaysia.

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Ominous clouds

So after another 8 hours of drive (we managed to stop by in Indianapolis for lunch), we got back to AA safely. All in all, this was yet another fun trip during my post-grad pre-work period.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Stardust

Memorable line from the movie (Yvaine to Tristan, thinking that he couldn't understand her):

"Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no fits. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine. "

For anyone who loves fantasy, adventure, and romance, this is a highly recommended movie....

Monday, June 23, 2008

Cedar Point

Exactly two years ago, when I went to Genting, I had already found out that I was too old for rides. Back then, even the stupid Corkscrew managed to scare me to death (I thought my seatbelt was not working), not to mention the damnable Solero Shot. And I thought I have already experienced the worst....how naive I was.

Cedar Point is a famous amusement park located in Ohio, more than one hour away from Ann Arbor. We (Ren Jie, Jason, Siew Gee, Pei Ying and I) went there in a car but came back in 2 cars, thanks to the cool Ford Focus that Siew Gee bought in Ohio (cool when you judge the cover oops ooops better stop here :P)

The weather was okay that day, a bit cold but did not really rain. From miles away, the towering tracks of the rides already gave me a sense of foreboding. The ominous clouds that composed the background did not help much either in alleviating my soul.

We started our day with Raptor, a ride which was considered a medium-level in Cedar Point. Then we proceeded with the Top Thrill Dragster, the pride of the park. To get an idea of how thrilling it is, check this out:

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Top Thrill Dragster

Quoting Wikipedia:

"When Top Thrill Dragster opened, it set five new records:

  • First continuous-circuit roller coaster to top 400 feet
  • First roller coaster to reach 120 mph
  • Highest drop of any coaster
  • Fastest roller coaster in the world
  • Tallest roller Coaster in the world "

After that, we basically did most of the insane-est rides, including Mean Streak, Maverick, Millennium Force, Skyhawk, and Magnum XL-200. Here's an idea of how intense the Millennium Force is:

 

Again, I could not stress enough on how crazy the rides were. Take Millennium Force for example: it slowly hauled us to a height of 310 feet, and the ascend seemed forever. When the climb was over and the train started moving over the curve, there was this almost-still moment which we could see how damn we were, before dipping 300 feet to hell. The horror was simply indescribable. I still could not believe I have done all of those things....That made me think that I should do such things when I still have the ability to do so, because I realized the older you grow, the more "kia si" you would become...

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We certainly did...

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Post graduation (Cars)

After sending my parents off, I stayed in LA for another night before flying back to AA. For the month following that, I would call 536 South Forest Ave, Apt 1603 my new home. Staying in U-Towers was fun; its location was perfect, there was free air-con (included in rent), I had another 2 "pig friend dog buddy" as my roommates, and most importantly Pei Ying and I were just 2 floors apart. 

Life was easy, but deep inside me there was this uneasiness due to the fact that I was about to start working soon, very soon. So there were quite a few things that I needed to settle first before I could actually slack, for example arranging for a place to stay when I work and getting a car.

My car search actually started since before graduation, but did not bear any fruits. That was probably because I had plenty of time. It was amazing how pressure worked wonders (or I should say how money bought "wonders"). Once I felt the heat, I got a car and decided where to live all in just one weekend.

So my new baby is a 2000 Toyota Corolla. It is rather ironic because my first car (a 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage) was newer than my 2nd car. I did not like the Toyota very much initially, because it was manual, and it did not look cool. I had to convince myself to buy it (ask Wei Chieh about that). But I have grown to like it the more I drive it. It is spacious (had enough room for a computer desk, a set of dining table complete with 4 chairs, kitchen set, plates set, and bags of groceries - the guys who helped us loading the stuff had a look of utter disbelief) yet petite in size. Most importantly, it has good gas mileage.

Look at these pictures:

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My first car (gosh, look at me!! ......)    -Summer 2005

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                                   Wasn't it nice and new?

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I was bored and wuliao enough to take a picture of mileage reaching 88888. (Remind me to do so for my current car...it's now at 82k + :P)

VS my current car:

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Toyota Corolla 2000 (I don't like the GANLEY thing, but lazy to take it down)

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Parked across the road from my apartment

Yup so that's the very short story about my car. Will blog more on post-grad activities....

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Los Angeles

Los Angeles has never been my favorite city. To think of LAX and all the unpleasant memories associated with it simply makes me reject the idea that LA could be a nice place. Indeed, I still do not like the place although my visit to Los Angeles was not a comprehensive one.

I always thought that the highlight of my graduation trip was the Grand Canyon - Las Vegas portion, even before the trip. Hence, when we reached LA I was already not quite enthusiastic in visiting around, which was bad for my traveling companions - my parents and RJ's family. We stayed in Westin near the LAX for the remaining of our trip.

Throughout our stay, we have visited Hollywood (nothing much there, really), Disneyland (yeah yeah where your dreams (dry) come true) and Universal Studios. Here are the pictures:

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Walk of fame

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Showing enthusiasm posing beside Goofy's statue which I have already posed with in Florida.

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Group photo in front of the Universal Studios globe

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Any resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator? 

So our trip officially ended on the 8th of May when our parents bade us goodbye in the LAX airport. Again, I want to thank my parents for bearing with me for the whole period, and hopefully I can organize something better for them in the future.

Sin City

For our stay in Las Vegas, we chose Stratosphere, a unique hotel off the strip. It has the most visible structure in the skyline of the glamorous city, an observation tower standing at 350m, making it the tallest free standing structure in Nevada (2nd in US).

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Stratosphere (technically speaking it is still in troposphere)

For dinner on the first day, we went to MGM Grand for the Grand Buffet. It was costly, but worth your penny (if you don't eat too little). I took in quite some calories, eating stuff ranging from seafood (king crab, crab, shrimp, various kinds of fish) to mutton, beef, chicken and pork. After the sumptuous meal, we went to the Venetian to watch Phantom of the Opera (Las Vegas version). It was shorter than the Broadway version, but since there wasn't any intermission the show actually felt longer. The effects were more suited to the Las Vegas feel with more lights and fireworks. Overall, I still feel that the New York's show was better.

On the next day, we went up the Stratosphere tower to get a better view of the city. The most interesting thing about the tower was that there were rides on top of the tower. The sheer height of those rides make them the worst nightmare of people with acrophobia. Of course, I did not take those rides (as I knew I would be taking more insane rides later - another story).

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On the outdoor observation deck of Stratosphere

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Errr....no thanks.

For lunch, we went to the highly recommended Todai, a Japanese seafood buffet. The food was good, but wasn't quite up to my high expectations (boosted by praises from VS).

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On that night, we went sightseeing along the strip, and I finally got  to see the famous fountain performance of the Bellagio. Bellagio was indeed the  ultimate luxurious hotel; the interior was just palatial, embellished with seas of fresh flowers which I wondered cost how much to daily maintain them.

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Eiffel Tower (in Paris (in Las Vegas) )

After the sightseeing, we rushed back to Stratosphere to make sure we were not late for the adult show - Bite that we planned to watch. The show was not that much erotic. It combined elements like magic, singing, dancing, acrobat, and lights and sound to make it an entertaining package. Yeap, another show not quite up to my expectations :)

Of course, any Las Vegas experience won't be complete without any gambling. I did play some slot machines, and learned first hand why casinos exist.  

Friday, June 06, 2008

Arizona

Upon reaching Las Vegas, we picked up the rental car (a minivan) that we have reserved earlier and officially kicked off our road trip. We dropped by IHOP for lunch before driving to the meteor crater, located not far from Flagstaff. To our dismay, the crater was already closed (yes, it has hours) when we reached there. Hence, we decided to visit the site again early in the morning the next day. We spent our night in Amerisuites Flagstaff, a hotel which we found to be not bad due to the spaciousness of the rooms.

We finally got to see the meteor crater the next day, not without first paying an admission fee. I was surprised to know that the site was not owned by a government entity. It was, and still is, managed by some private organization, hence the "premium" charged on every entrance. The crater was gigantic in size, and we already got the idea when we were driving towards it. The rim that was forced up spanned a good 1200 meters in diameter, and it was visible from miles away. To imagine oneself standing in the center of a massive impact 50000 years ago was simply mind-boggling.

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Meteor crater (there's an old mine shaft at the bottom of the crater)

After visiting the crater, we wasted no time and drove straight to Grand Canyon. It was my second time there, therefore I was not as awed as I did 2 months back. Well, even back then I got a bit bored after seeing the same thing a couple times. I guess to really appreciate the view you have to either hike or join a helicopter tour ride.

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Grand Canyon..

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Sunset in Grand Canyon as backdrop

We slept at Holiday Inn Grand Canyon that night, and bid farewell to the famous national park the next day. On our way back to Las Vegas, we managed to spend some time at Hoover Dam, used to be crowned with superlatives but now the world's 34th largest hydroelectric generating station.IMG_5046

The intake towers on the Arizona side (the dam is on the Nevada-Arizona border)

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Contemplating on life (LOL)

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Graduation trip (San Francisco)

After the graduation day (4/27), I had to move all my stuff to where I would be calling home for the next one and a half month - U-Towers. I have to thank a bunch of friends who helped me out in the process: Pei Ying, Siew Gee, Ren Jie, Wei Chieh, Mei Chen, Jason, Masz, and Wei Hsien (hope I did not forget anyone). Everything had to be done on that day because on the very next day, Ren Jie's family and my family would have to catch a flight to San Francisco. Our full itinerary for the next 10 days would be San Francisco - Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas - Los Angeles.

Since I have already witnessed the insaneness of the roads in San Francisco (steep slopes, existence of relatively reckless drivers, difficult parking), we decided against renting a car during our trip in the city. Hence, a lot of walking + taking public transportation had to take place. Luckily the weather was okay, as in it didn't rain although it was quite cold. I would say that we were pretty productive in San Fran, covering most of the attractions including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown and a couple more places.

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Sea lions lazing at Pier 39

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Finally got to sea GG bridge up close

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"Crookedest" street in San Francisco - Lombard street

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Alcatraz (remember the Rock? I don't frankly)

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Inside the prison

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One of the cells

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Skyline of San Francisco viewed from Alcatraz

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Group picture "inside" an artwork in San Francisco MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

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Taking limo (a short and ugly one though) back to the airport

Friday, May 30, 2008

Graduation

"Hi everybody, I am in the states already. Till now, everything goes on quite well and I am now in my own dorm room."

                                              Keng Yang, Old email

That's the first line of the email I wrote when I first came to the states. Almost four years have passed since then, and it certainly did not feel like four years. Here I am, graduated and feeling apprehensive about what's about to come up in my life. Will I blend well into the company I work for? Will I fit in the circles? Most importantly, will I be happy? I guess time will reveal everything eventually.

But until then, let me blog about my graduation. My parents came to the states a couple days before my graduation (4/21). It felt kind of weird to actually see my parents in this country, because...I don't know why. An analogy would be like seeing your teacher in the mall. Nevertheless, I was excited and needless to say I did bring them around (but now I regretted not planning well enough).

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Drinking bubble tea at South University :P

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Law library

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Burton Memorial Tower (Bell tower)

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North Campus sign

As for the graduation day (4/26), I am proud to be the first class to graduate on the diag. I am grateful that the ceremony did not take place in EMU, but I don't really care if it is in the big house as long as it is in the campus. I actually preferred it to be in central campus instead of south campus. And I'm delighted that we as the class of 2008 can tell the others that we had a "special" graduation.

The speaker for this year is not as well known as last year's speaker, Bill Clinton. I for one do not even remember his name. We the Malaysian bunch attended the actuarial mathematics commencement after the general one. It was much more fun, because there was food and it was indoor. Of course, throughout the course of the day we did a lot of camera-whoring, and not to mention the must-do: tossing the graduation cap to the air.

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Graduation ceremony in front of Hatcher Graduate Library

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Actuarial students = Malaysians???

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One big family....

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4 years for this moment..

So yeah, I've finally graduated!!! Thank god nobody turned on the waterworks, though I did feel a bit sad that my college life has come to an end then. Here I would like to give special thanks to my parents, who had given so much yet asked for nothing in return. Thank you mum and dad, and happy graduating for me!!!