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Paid usd79 for a day tour from Las Vegas to the big hole. Yes, you hear me, THE big hole.
The fact is, the grand canyon is not the only canyon in the world (obviously), and it is nor the biggest canyon in the world. But it is well-known as *THE* canyon, all thanks to the desert environment, not much vegetation manage to conquer the land – leaving us the magnificient orange/red/brown layered views.
To educate you what a canyon is,
“A canyon (rarely cañon) or gorge is a deep valley between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on the valley walls. Canyons are much more common in arid areas than in wetter areas because weathering has a greater effect in arid zones. Canyon walls are often formed of resistant sandstones or granite. Submarine canyons are those which form underwater, generally at the mouths of rivers. The word canyon is Spanish in origin (cañón). The word canyon is generally used in the United States, while the word gorge is more common in Europe and Oceania, though it is also used in some parts of the United States and Canada. The military derived word defile is occasionally used in England.” – wiki
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So, we unwillingly woke up at 5(?)am for the tour, grumpily waited at the lobby for a coach to the meeting point, which happened to be an airfield.
Iris: Ah, are we going by plane?
me: Hmm.. but we paid for the cheaper fares with the bus…
me: Maybe they’ve changed, we ARE going by plane =D
And we got excited for like 15minutes before *the* bus arrived to pick us up. Potong(means cut in English, well you still won’t be able to understand with translation lol. In short, “potong steam” means =___=”) steam aje…
Passing the police check point at Arizona
Hoover Dam!!!
Remember the gigantic dam in the Transformers movie where the *daigaosuei* bad bad All Spark was being kept in? That’s Hoover Dam =D. And since we have to pass by the dam on the way to the hole =D, we get a short break at the dam:
The intake towers
Saw this at the souvenir shop:
Cowboy bubble bath
My first brainless impression was, beans can dissolve in water?? =p Okay, if you still don’t get it, the beans go down into your stomach, not into the bath tub. Umm, and if you still haven’t been able to get it, it has to do with the word farting =____= (now you made me sound disgusting).
Views on way to the canyon
showing Zorro on the bus. Watching it the nth time.
Oh and the tour fares include an unexpected filling buffet style lunch
Finally…
The suichabo/meinu/kirei-onna once again Grand Canyon!
more suichabo canyon pictures…
We have plenty of time there and there is no other entertainment other than taking picture of suichabo with the canyon
more…
more =D
mo-i-yo (enough! in Japanese)
ok lah last one
nice right nice right? I mean the colour of the rocks lah
the best travel buddy/my dearest bff =D
Don’t do this. 80 has lost their life in Grand Canyon. They just dropped from the canyon. Most of them are pro-photographer (no source for this though, purely based on imaginations).
We were at the south rim – north rim is simply too far and the so-called west rim is bloody commercialised.
And mohawk is very much in fashion here:
bush-ier:
And how can I not taking pictures of the plants even that I don’t have a macro lens so please support “Eehui’s wide angle and macro lens funds” already
unknown
unknown
and
still unknown
this i know though!
suichabo aloe vera and cactus =D (umm maybe not…)
The visitors center
see the different colours
lollies with dead insects
*some* lake on the way back
The best way to see the canyon would be hiking down the hole – otherwise just by viewing it from above is not as ummph as it should be. And the crazy heat is making us grumpy (also from the lack of sleep…). So maybe going there in spring/autumn would be a better idea (bring layers of clothing cause it can get really cold at night and plenty of water!), and be sure to spend more than 1 day to hike a bit there!
Ok promise this is going to be the final entry in Alaska (yes I know you guys are getting bored already =D).
So basically everyone (老板, Cathy and Hanzi) except Appu (but he has to present on that day) abandoned me after friday 555… The very kind Hanzi did give me a good piece of advice before he left though – he went to the zoo and gave me the free shuttle schedules. Also I went to the visitor center and heard that the Heritage Center is a really interesting place to drop by for few hours.
Appu and his very beautiful wife
So early on Saturday morning I took the free shuttle from UAA campus to the conference site (Egan Center) to get the free shuttle. And guess what! I happened to met Zhengjun on the bus and coincidentally he and his supervisor are going to the zoo and heritage center too (actually they planned for cycling in the park before that, which potong steam abit for me… because
…
I don’t know how to ride a bicycle……… T.T ToT TOT)
*now laugh all you want =___=”
Anyway, so lucky-me got to hitch a ride (minus the risk of being abducted given me being such a suichabo (readers: who? who?)).
Here comes the pictures:
going for brekky *yes tatoo and spray tan is everywhere and no we didn’t had that for brekky*
Zhengjun has a list of parks and decided to give the Earthquake Park a go:
umm the gps showed this as the final destination…
And since the trusty gps has gone confused, we had to find our own way.
Well we got confused too… and had been turning around and seeing the turnagain-and-again-and-again sign (poor gps, we feel your pain now =p).
Finally!
This park is set in the woods where an entire neighborhood slid into the ocean during last century’s most powerful earthquake. (source)
Did someone said cycling?
There isn’t a bike rental here so yokata (fortunately) =D
No we didn’t walk the trail (Daniel rode a bike there and saw a moose though here!)
heading to the zoo
zooooo! I know! Back in msia only kids go to the zoo (because it’s hot and sweaty and smelly and with many mozzies)
Red fox!
with really comfy fur. I touched its *ancestor*’s fur in the fur shop yo =p
sea otters – the ones sitting on the icebergs or swimming on their back in the glacier cruise pictures!
seal
Polar bear!!
so fluffy, so gigantic but so swiftly in jumping around
帅!
some weird looking alaskan cat with long beards
with a really cool name – lynx!
I used to love owl a lot – I made an owl out of cardboard when I was small (just told Daniel this btw). And once I dropped it off the window and never see it again; cause I was staying in front of a cemetery and it’s too spooky to pick it back up =p.
can’t remember the name… I just thought it looks like a beggar…
aaa… I forgot it’s name too… I think it starts with ‘a’ =p
Doesn’t it look kinda 郁闷 (emo-ish)?
The brown bear!
flip flip!
after 10 minutes:
Still haven’t been able to get up… =___=”
the black bear – which is much active (and more dangerous)
The zoo wasn’t big (the entrance is just usd10) and we had arrived back at the entrance in less than 2 hours…
And yer… didn’t manage to take a good picture of the moose in the zoo. But it’s got a good one here =D
See how close I am with the cute moose =p
Had chinese food for lunch
According to Xiansheng, having hot and spicy soup is good (for 脾/pancrease) when travelling…
spent around usd15 each person
fortune cookies!
Next stop, heritage center with the guide of gps:
and the still-very-confused-and-forgetful(to fasten seat belt)-navigator
and the photographer!
Heritage center
It costs around usd25, but since we only arrived the center at around 4pm (closing at 5pm) we got *some* kind of special ticket that is only usd10 and still get to go in =p
traditional dance performance
dream catcher
It’s got an outdoor musuem:
moose!
some ancient equipments – notice the khaki colour kinda of bag thing at the left upper corner (not the blurry one)? That’s made of animal’s intestine – they even used intestine to make window shield so rain can’t get in while able to get some sunlights into the house. pretty cool huh.
zhengjun likes to pose with random skin/fur =p
love the dreamy effects with F1.4 (large aperture)
apparently fishing is an important industry since old times
that’s the ancient houses – looks like the hobbit places in LOTR doesn’t it?
(i love my F1.4 lens!!!)
more equipments…
for fishing!
umm it’s actually an emergency exit
instead of an entrance =p
very cool ancient goggles (like a polarizer!)
love the effects (no PS!) on this picture
some bones/fossils =p
the very ancient public toilet – river runs underneath and therefore doesn’t even need flushing =p
whales… maybe…
i said, “turn around!”
=p looks like some kind of movie poster desu ne? ne?
each of the ancient housing has friendly guides to explain the structure of the housing (which obviously I didn’t pay attention to but busy testing my lenses instead)
reminded me of maoris in newzealand
i wonder if it’s because people are that short in that era
zhengjun kept us well entertained…
followed by dancing lol
police directing the traffics again on the way to the botanical garden
bears alert!!
cute!
pretty creative pony deco
this tiny lil thing suddenly ran to the trail, hit zhengjun’s feet and ran back…
herbs garden
xiansheng surprised to see fake flower decorations =p
had been following it awhile for pictures =p
love the elegant colour!
cute tree houses
posers =p
and that concludes my day tour – catching a plane at 6am the next day :O
Had japanese food for dinner to compensate for the non-authentic-chinese-lunch =p
which is pretty good in fact. cost around usd20 each.
Flying to seattle with Alaskan airways
old leather seats… and usd5 cheeseburgers (no not in the picture =p)
of the snowy icy mountains
In short, Alaska is really interesting, but it would be even more exciting if I had more time to travel up north (towards the north pole!), or to Fairbank (with really extreme weather). The seafood is awesome – fresh king crabs, salmons and halibuts and plenty of activities in all seasons. Had a great time there and thanks to everyone (especially those who offered to drive cause I’m too chicken to drive on the other side of the road) who has made the trip memorable!
actually, just walking on the very front part of the glacier =p
And why I said family?
We were at the visitor center for the glacier and it costs usd15 for adults, usd12.50 for seniors:
Lady to 老板: Are you 65 and above?
老板: …
(with sorrowness in his eyes, 老板 turned to us and couldn’t say anything (no he is not that old… =p))
Lady: Oh I’m so sorry… I don’t mean that, I mean this is just a procedure…
老板: Yeah, and these are my sons and daughters.
me: I’m the grandaughter =D
老板
later…
me: You should have said yes, you can save usd2.50 yo!
老板: Pride has got a price…
老板: If it’s usd5 I would say yes =D
me: …
so cute right =p
Neway, we all know the lady is really just doing what she has to or else she could get into trouble for misinformation.
So, we all paid full price. Pictures below =D
alaska map
on the way…
老板：Cathy, start writing your thesis already or I’ll make you jump into the river!
the Gang :O 很有势力吧 =p
The plants:
The dead ones:
The views:
The photographer:
The meinu/sui chabo/perempuan cantik/kirei onna:
LOL
Finally the glacier =D:
at the front part of the glaciers – covered by muds and is really sticky. If you keep digging you would meet the ice.
muddy muddy – caused by soil fell from the neighbouring mountains
closer look – see the blue-ish ice underneath?
we didn’t have the right shoes so it’s quite difficult to move around
those are the professional ones
suichabo once more! =D
(readers: where? where? kenot find eh…)
lake near the glacier
zoomed at 200mm =D
views are superb, aren’t they?
more…
had 25cents bottomless (means free refill lah) coffee in eureka lodge
and if you know me well… I don’t drink coffee ToT
So, I hiked walked on the glacier =D I know… not very exciting cause I didn’t really hike to the deeper part… maybe next time then if I get to go to the fox glacier in New Zealand south island =D
Though you can explore the downtown entirely in less than an hour =p. (That excludes the time spent in the museum/heritage center of course). So, the sun goes down at 12am and before it gets completely dark, the sun rises at 4am. And there goes my hope for encountering the stunning Aurora…
But the good thing is, you’ve got 24 hours to go around Alaska in summer =D Like, you can still go canoeing at 12am:
(That’s the tiny weeny white/red canoe at the left corner) Taken at 1230 midnight at the University of Alaska Anchorage lake.
me me!
some random guy lol
We stayed at the UAA dorm for just usd30 per day =D
And then zhengjun saw this:
and insisted that we follow the sign so he could/might find some kind of mm paradise =__=
we got attacked by alaskan mosquitoes (which are huge and very slow-motion) along the way
only to realise mm means
(many) mosquito(es) lake =____=”
Anyway, a few more pictures on campus before pictures in downtown:
The very artsy library:
main entrance:
Bus stop:
Moving on to the city center:
ok this is NOT the center of the city center, but the edge of the city center =D. And that’s my big boss with his leng (ok with some cvpr conference participants)
in the city center! the shops are mainly souvenir shops, travel agencies and restaurants – very tourissy!
with lots of stuff like this for you to pose with
lol
oh and not forgetting the many skin/fur shops:
i’ll bite you if you don’t leave a comment =p
or even skinned you… I know this is cruel – I guess hunting is pretty common here therefore the abundant skins/furs.
and gold mining industry too:
rings with gold nuggets
even watches
some graffities around the corner:
So, in short, the downtown is more like a place to stay/eat/get creative souvenirs (seriously, the tee-shirt’s designs are much more interesting than any other states’ designs). I did a few outings (other than the cruise) in Alaska and will write them up next yo =D.
dad called in yesterday…
dad: only three pictures!!!
mum: she’s busy lah…
so dad, this is specially for you yo
Not vegas – though Vegas IS a city that does not sleep all thanks to the casino lightnings that are on 24/7.
I got the chance to visit Anchorage in Alaska all thanks to the CVPR conference =D. It’s a huge conference with more than a thousand participants – you might see this person today and not seeing him/her in the next few days! Met lots of interesting people and had really good alaskan experiences (especially being bitten hard by Alaskan Airline (the mosquitoes!!)).
Neway I’ll let the pictures do the talking =D
I was a blur sotong (octopus) when I booked for the flight to Alaska – I thought the conference starts from 22 June so I booked 21 June – only to find out it’s one day later. So as I was blaming myself (for like, 1 second? =p), I immediately googled up a glacier cruise =D
no not that kind of small boat =p
with nice reflections
the very shuai captain
it’s double-storey
We first visited a salmon farm, and you get to see salmons come flying from the water. But I can’t predict where the salmon will jump from and therefore the best picture I got of the salmon is:
yes the white splash is where the salmon was =p gomen lah, you just have to use some imaginations…
seagulls
starting to see some glaciers:
It’s kinda cold if you stay out at the front deck when the cruise is moving…
cute isn’t it? =p
The captain will stop whenever we spotted sea otters – this is a mum with baby otter… chio kawaii… and they love to swim on their back =p
more sea otters on ice bergs
and finally, the tide water glaciers:
notice the distinct blue colour? “The distinctive blue tint of glacial ice is often wrongly attributed to Rayleigh scattering which is supposedly due to bubbles in the ice. The blue color is actually created for the same reason that water is blue, that is, its slight absorption of red light due to an overtone of the infrared OH stretching mode of the water molecule.” – wiki
closer look
even closer =p
the fresh white (clean) part is where the glacier just collapsed in front of our eyes =D
and dad, I know you missed me, so here’s your kawaii daughter before I end this entry =p
chiang =D
So, I haven’t really explained bout the midnight sun – will do so in the next one yo =D
p/s: I am looking at buying a wide-angle (I know I am super broke already but… u know… =p). Anyway, just planning okay… Let me know if you have any good suggestion, I’m interested in Tokino 11-16mm F2.8 (I hope to get a wide angle with big aperture so I dont need a tripod for nightscene).
http://smartimports.net/product.php?productid=16272&gclid=CIK3yuC7pZQCFSEbagodyGyWtw
My current lenses:
Sigma 18-200mm (which has a bit of wide angle to telephoto) F3.5-6.3
Sigma 30mm F1.4 (which is freaking good for dim light shots and with a bit of wide angle – which is bad sometimes cause it makes me look fat!!! =p)
eehui
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