The Egg Has Dropped

A diary of my life, my travels to various places and my many interests.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Old Rag Mountain, Virginia

Went hiking on Saturday (22nd July)with 2 of my colleagues over the weekend… destination Old Rag Mountain, Virginia (my first mountain in my life I think?!). Old Rag Mountain is part of the Shenandoah National Park and quite possibly the most spectacular mountain in the northern Virginia Blue Ridge.

Old Rag Mountain Sign, VA
Sign, Old Rag Mountain, VA

Jason and I met up with John back in Maryland and took his trusty truck up the hills of Virginia… really a nice break from all those hustle and bustle of city life! The mountain is actually only a couple of hours away from Washington DC, and so is usually pretty crowded on weekends. Luckily (or unluckily!), a thunderstorm was predicted that day, which deterred most of the would-be-hikers.

The climb!
The climb!

Old Rag Mountain is really not an easy day climb and the 2000 feet climb was literally quite a mountain for me to climb! (I haven’t worked out since I left Singapore!) The really tough part of the climb for me was the constant 20-30 degrees incline from the bottom up, for like an hour non-stop up 2/3 of the mountain (I really need to get in shape!). Now, come about the last 1/3 of the way, there’s some rock scrambling (something like beginner’s rock climbing), which was really interesting and challenging!

This is only 2/3 of the way!
At the 2/3 point

Spectacular
Already spectaular view, 2/3 of the way!

Rock scrambling
Rock scrambling to the peak

The peak of the mountain is at 3268 feet and offers some spectacular view of the Blue Ridge Mountains… It was simply awesome! On hindsight, I should have brought my cap and sunglasses along… after all that sweating, my hair was quite a mess… Come next spring, I think I would revisit this place again… Hiking is just fun!

Top of the mountain!
The peak... awesome! That's Jason btw!

Team Everest! (Actually Team Old Rag!)
Team Everest... (Actually Team Old Ragged?)

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Some Cantonese Personality Trivia

人種的測驗

世上有分別五大種人, 以下的測驗可以測出你是那一類. 要嘗試一下嗎?
1) 你覺得最完美的約會是怎樣的?
a) 二人燭光晚餐 b) 去遊樂場玩 c) 去公園踩Roller d) 睇滾石演唱會 e) 睇戲

2) 你最喜歡的音樂是那種?
a) 搖滾樂 b) 其他 c) 軟性搖滾樂 d) 古典樂 e) 流行曲

3) 你最喜歡的電影是那種?
a) 笑片 b) 恐佈片 c) 音樂片 d) 愛情片 e) 文藝片

4) 如果只有這幾種職業, 你會選那個呢?
a) 侍應 b) 運動員 c) 教師 d) 警察 e) 酒吧調酒員

5) 如果你有一個小時去浪費, 你會用在那裡呢?
a) 工作 b) 看書 c) 看電視 d) 聽收音機 e) 睡覺

6) 以下那種顏色你最喜歡呢?
a) 黃色 b) 白色 c) 天空藍 d) 藍綠色 e) 紅色

7) 現在你想吃些什麼呢?
a) 雪糕 b) 薄餅 c) 壽司 d) 意大利粉 e) 沙律

8) 你最喜歡什麼假期呢?
a) 萬聖節前夕 b) 聖誕節 c) 新年 d) 情人節 e) 感恩節

9) 如果你可以去以下其中一個的地方, 你會選那個呢?
a) 巴黎 b) 西班牙 c) 落杉機 d) 夏威夷 e) 荷利活

10) 在以下的人中, 你會選那個和你打發時間呢?
a) 聰明的人 b) 漂亮的人 c) 傻怪的人 d) 幽默的人 e) 感情豐富的人

You have 27 points. 你是第三種. 你很可愛而且每個你認識的人都喜歡你. 你是能夠成為別人最好朋友的人所以沒有人會嘗試做任何事而引致失去你. 你從不傷害別人的感覺和我很少傷到自己的感覺的. 生活對你來說是輕而易舉的. 你經常表現可愛和平靜的. 你只要避開金手指就能夠無憂無累了.

Check this out http://www.mathsking.net/test/question.htm

Monday, July 17, 2006

Road Trip - Niagara Falls (30th Jun - 4th July)

Had one hell of a road trip earlier this month to Niagara! One of my uni friends, Meiyan came to stay with another uni friend, Yingying who is in New York for the summer. So the 3 of us got together for a weekend trip to the Niagara Falls.

I drove up from Maryland to New York to meet up with the 2 girls on Friday (30th Jun) and then we set off early Saturday morning (which is 1am) for what turned out to be a 9 hours drive to Niagara Falls…

The drive was really interesting… you get to see the scenery change from the urban skyscrapers of New York, to the misty hill roads of Pennsylvania, to the foggy lakeside of the Finger Lakes and the vast farmlands of Buffalo… I never really felt tired throughout the whole drive… this is really one totally new experience… America is such a beautiful country…

We finally got to Niagara Falls at about 10am and quickly checked into our hostel… I had to take a quick nap before we can go about our exploration of Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is like what it is said to be… it was an awesome sight… We got to visit the Cave of the Winds where we actually got down and real close to the American Falls! We also explored the sights in Goat Island and saw the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in different angles. Of course THE attraction at Niagara Falls is taking the ferry, Maid of the Mist, which took us real close (I mean really CLOSE!) to both waterfalls… where you really get to feel the power of the Falls!! We were so lucky that 1st July is Canada Day and we got to see fireworks over the Falls at night… really quite an amazing feeling to be there to experience everything…


Cave of the Winds
Cave of the Winds (Niagara Falls, USA)

Horseshoe Falls
Horseshoe Falls from Terrapin Point, Goat Island (Niagara Falls, USA)

The next day (2nd July), we walked across the Rainbow Bridge to Canada where we had a nice breakfast by the Niagara Falls. We missed the Journey Behind the Falls because of the long queues (we had to get back by noon). The view of the Falls from the Canadian side is definitely much better. I would say you get to feel the power of the Falls on the American side but you get to see the Falls properly on the Canadian side.

American Falls
American Falls (Niagara Falls, Canada)

American Falls Up Close!
American Falls up close from Maid of the Mist! (taken on the first day)

Maid of the Mist into the Horseshoe Falls!
Maid of the Mist going into the Horseshoe Falls (Niagara Falls, Canada)

We drove back to New York at noon and I stayed a further 2 days there, crashing in YY’s place so I can get to see the fireworks in New York on the 4th July Independence Day before leaving at night so that I can get to work the next day!

One interesting thing I did in New York on 4th July, I went to Little Italy to try to catch the World Cup semi-final between Italy and Germany! The place was packed, packed, packed!!! And I can assure you that Italians are defintely very passionate people! If only I have came earlier and grabbed a nice spot before the match!


Little Italy, New York on a World Cup Semi Day!
Italia Italia! (Little Italy, New York)

Overall, I traveled across 4 states (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York) and set foot on Canada, drove more than a thousand miles, with about 28 hours on the road… I must say this is one hell of a road trip… I got to do this again!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Jealousy...

爱上了你... 爱上了你的一切...
挥不去的... 是那个没有我的世界...
心中的一个结... 紧紧的锁住我...
微弱似风中不安感受...
该如何面对你温柔眼神当心中有了疑问......
而我是不是你的唯一...
而你是不是真的在乎我...

请相信我... 请相信我的心...
就这样地... 坠入幸福的深渊...
嫉妒你的快乐... 它并不是因为我...
真心退缩在黑暗角落...
该如何倾诉你温柔声音它并不只属于我......
而你是不是真的在乎我...
而我是不是你的永久...

From Cheer Chen - 嫉妒