in the us

part 2.... in Yosemite.



Firstly, write down your version of the pronounciation of "yosemite" and "Toulumne" WITHOUT looking it up please.

Hint: I'll tell you what it isn't... "yo-os-sim-mite-ye". That's what my uncle's GPS was saying on our drive to Yosemite National Park.



Anyway...some photos. There are a lot of granite domes in Yosemite. The most famous one is Half-dome.
We climbed 2 out of many domes (not Half-dome, it's not a last-minute thing). They aren't hard, but it is a non-stop scramble from the foot to the top. Class 3 on the Yosemite Decimal System (the one we used on the school wall - 5.9 or 5.11).
Half-dome is climbed using a cable route, where people pull themselves up the ridge between the two straight walls. From what I saw at the base of half-dome, it looks slightly more intimidating then Sharp Peak. The top of Half-dome juts out like a diving board(but BASE jumping is strictly prohibited).

Living in Yosemite Valley is another big lump of Granite - El Capitan. We did spot a few climbers on the wall, despite it being the hottest part of the day, with the temperature at 100 degrees fahrenheits. (fever temperature) I suppose the climbers would be roasted by the time they get to the top. When they get to the top, they will probably be tortured by the fact that there is a hiking route that is incredibly easy that goes up to El Capitan. So easy we saw kids up there.

We also saw these giant sequoia redwood trees in the southern part of Yosemite at Mariposa. I wasn't as interested in trees as I was to rocks, but they were really big. And big is beautiful.

We stayed in Yosemite for 3 days, 3 nights (leaving in the morning). We stayed at a Hostel near Yosemite, because all the camp sites are totally full all summer. Bookings must be done 6 months before hand!

The drive from our place in Palo Alto to Yosemite takes up to 5 hours. The funny thing that I didn't expect in Yosemite was that on Sundays, traffic jams sprout out of many parts of Yosemite, especially the Valley.

Yosemite is a really nice place. However, the place is really big and will take a long time to explore fully.


go to http://picasaweb.google.com/eugenewong2000/Yosemite for my photos...

in the us...

getting through the US Immigration in SFO (the airport) is pretty annoying. The average person takes about 3 minutes to get through. The queue is so long it takes up the whole entry hall. Even with most of the counters open, it took us more than 1 and half hours to get through.

Privatisation of the Chi Fu Swimming pool

It just sucks big time!

Last summer, the swimming pool WASN't open.

This summer, the swimming pool gets privatised by this annoying "Stanford Club" company.

Either way, most of the Chi Fu and Pokfulam Gardens residents are locked out of their own swimming pool!

Which one do you think is better?

Get a mac!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci2D1ig4df4

haha!!

Global warming is real!!

Just one and half hours ago, I had my riding lesson. We were doing the usual exercises and jumping and stuff. Half way through the lesson, one of the guys in my class (we have 5 riders, including me) said he couldn't go on and needed to rest, because he's getting a really bad headache, was dizzy (very dangerous when you're riding) and felt very thirsty.

This was obviously heat stroke or exhaustion(forgot which one.). A while later, the entire class was begging for water. Sadly, horses are messy drinkers, so they can't drink from bonaqua bottles. They'll have to wait.

In California, temperatures are going through the roof. The average day temperature in the south (lucky I'm in the North) is hitting 107 Fahrenheits (42 degrees). And the summer is only half way! I heard that 20 people have died of heat stroke in the area my camp is going to be in.

I wonder how long I'll survive on 2 hour riding lessons at summer camp in California....

So I'm going to have to do a lot of acclimatizing. There are no air conditioners (very few) around. However, the nights are quite cold, so I suppose that's the only good bit. : (

haha...look at this!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_kGL3M5Cg

Mac vs PC

So Funny.