*autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower' "

i'm going to las vegas
woo hoo! =))))

YiLiN
7/25/2008 07:58:00 PM

i've been in states for about 1.5 months already and i'm starting to get used to their culture, not entirely though. but some aspect for their culture is really worth adopting them. for example they greet all people whether or not they know them, being environmentally friendly ane many more. westernisation is not all a bad thing after all.

my body is getting used to the weather too. it's not as dry as before and the rashes are gone whew! the sun usually shows no mercy so i got to put lots of sunscreen lotion or else i'll be super dark by the time i get back. humidity level is much lower than singapore so i don't sweat easily which is a good thing. overall the summer is alright, not as bad as i thought.

food here is kinda unhealthy with lots of fried stuffs like burgers and fries. the only healthy stuffs i think is salad and fruits but i hate eating salad cos it makes me feel like a deer or rabbit with its raw earthy taste. chinese food is less common here so sometimes we cook to satisfy our chinese food craving yums! i still really much prefer singapore food. we are definitely not called the "paradise of food" for nothing

it feels weird missing national day and mid autumn festival becos these two festivals are kinda important to me. national day is when i feel patrotic when hanging the singapore flag outside our flat and mid autumn festival gives the feeling of travelling back to time to the ancient china. both feelings are really great and it's a pity that i'm going to miss them this year but well....but i gain a lot from the trip to states as well. so i guess i don't have complains about it actually.

hope everyone i know is doing well in singapore. i miss my friends, family, singapore food, relatives, colleagues and everyone lol ciao! (:

YiLiN
7/19/2008 06:01:00 PM

we just came back from hiking yesterday. it was really a great experience for all of us even though it was tiring both mentally and physically. our plan was to go down the south kaibab trail then come back from the bright angel trail since bright angel trail is less steep making our ascend less difficult. we have 2 overnight permits at the bright angel campground and indian garden which allows us to rest for the night. on both the trails, we will encounter mules which brings people down the canyon, their poo and urine really stinks! but it's really expensive to get on them. also mules have the right of the way of the trail so hikers must always give way to them.

the very steep south kaibab trail begins near yaki point near the desert view drive. the only access to the trailhead is via the green route shuttle bus. we took the bus from the backcountry office around 5am then started our hike on the south kaibab trail about 6.15am. the disadvantage of south kaibab trail compared to the bright angel trail is that along it there is no water at all so we got to prepare more water. there will be 2 points on this trail which is the ooh aah point and skeleton point. after these 2 points, we use the black bridge to cross the colorado river then we reached our campsite in about 0.5 hours. near to the bright angel campground is phantom ranch where people of the mules get to stay overnight. the place is really nice and i get to send a postcard to my family from there!

after the night, we hiked to indian garden which is our next campground before going to plateau point. there is no shade at all so hiking to the point in the middle of the day is not encouraged. we reached about 6pm and stayed there to watched the sunset. from plateau point the view is magnificent and we can even see the el tovar hotel which is on the rim. after spending a night at indian campground, we set off about 6am in the morning. setting early as possible is encouraged because when the sun is out, it can be really hot and draining.

we are on the bright angel trail now which is the most heavily travelled inner canyon trail. there are 2 resthouse here, 1.5 mile and 3 mile resthouse where we can find restrooms and water and that is the reason why this trail is the most popular. on the 3rd day at 11am, we finally completed our hike and reached the rim! the feeling was really satisfying even though again all of us are really really tired. i'm really happy to experience all these (: