|
Home
|
Oct. 26th, 2007 @ 04:49 pm
|
|---|
We're back in Taipei, after our trip to Gao Hsiung and Tainan. Spent two days in each city, eating our way through each.
Kinda glad to come back to Taipei, where it is cooler and back to the same hostel, where it kinda feels like home away from home. Hurhur.
Counting down to the day we go home...My Mood:  cheerful My Music: Norah Jones at the recept |
Waiting for a phone call...
Waiting for an email (or two)...
Waiting for the dryer...
Waiting for your letter...
Waiting...
is
a
Pain.My Mood:  crushed |
I'm so tired. We've been out the whole day and we just came back from dinner with the Taiwanese Yellowstoners. Okie, tired is an understatement. I have been feeling tired ever since we left Yellowstone and started our tour. Feel like taking a day off to really take things slow and rest, if you know what I mean. But now, got to go wash my stuff and fight with Stephen for the dryer. Till later...My Mood:  tired |
9 Oct 2007, 2.37am
'Tis the season to be packing (again)!
And I am not done yet. As expected. Muhahhahaha... I wanna scream out loud now. Shopping is evil!
We're leaving for LA on the afternoon flight. LV has been filled with shopping, shopping and more shopping, though I've controlled myself, because my luggage cannot fit in more stuff. =x
Okie dokey, back to reality and packing. Will be in the States till 14th, then off to Taiwan.
I miss home. =(
And I'm hungry now.My Mood:  crappy |
5 Oct 2007, 12.15am
I HATE PACKING! PACKING HATES ME! Oh gosh... I just finished packing for this leg of the trip. We're leaving SF for LV tomorrow night, via Greyhound. Hoho. 14 hours on the bus.
It seems to be that it has gotten colder in SF the few days we have been here. Brrr... Cold isn't fun. Yesterday's morning temperature was 15C. Is it cold or what?
We went shopping at Great Mall, an hour BART and bus ride away. Great Mall is indeed GREAT. Didn't manage to complete even half of the mall, which is good, because we spent moolah in almost every shop we went into.
Like in Seattle, we bought the Go card for access to attractions in the city. The Go SF card costed us 89USD for 3 days and we made use of it to go to the wax museum, cruise, wine country tour and cycling. Haha, the three of them had to take turns to take the tandem bike with me. But we cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge!
Did you know the Chinatown in SF is the largest in the States? I had my first real bowl of noodles in four months for only 3.80USD. So gan dong-ed. I'm so going to buy egg (or custard, as YT always corrects me) tarts for the Greyhound journey later. Yummy-licious. And eat real (and cheap) Chinese food before we continue on.
I'm tired. I want Milo and my Mummy. =(My Mood:  cranky My Music: I want Mummy song |
25 Sep, 8.13pm
We are in Seattle! Arrived at 9am this morning, after a short 2 hours flight from Bozeman. Liquid sunshine over here today. Brrr!
There's like a Starbucks at practically every corner here lor, really! We have been to the first ever Starbucks, which is over at the pier. Too bad we bought coffee from another Starbucks store, but you can bet we will be back again to get coffee from the first Starbucks.
Missing Yellowstone already. Sigh.My Mood: sleepy |
According to the website, it's -2.something C now. At 9+ in the morning. *screams*
I spent 135USD at the General Store yesterday, mainly buying stuff for myself and my family. That's where all my paychecks have been going - the General Stores, gift shops, Walmart. Tsk tsk. I barely have enough moolah for our travelling after this. Got ti depend on Papa's credit card. Thank you, Papa. =p
A few of us went for the scenicruise yesterday. The captain and Robert, the old man who was doing the talking, were really, really sweet! Gosh... Am so gonna miss the old folks.
Spent the evening with Ken, talking about happiness, life, platonic friendships and how it irritates him when people use the word "like" constantly when they are talking. So it happened that Stephen and Brian, these two servers, came out to the lodge's front porch to talk and they were standing behind us. Well, Stephen is one of the "like" people and I was counting the number of times he went like "like". Haha, it was so hilarious!
Packed schedule for our remaining week. Tomorrow morning going for the end-of-season scenicruise, working late shift. Tuesday morning work, then going to Cody to settle the car thing and do some SHOPPING at Walmart and develop some photos. Wednesday morning work, then maybe going for sunset tour. Thursday work, then probably the five of us will go down to Old Faithful Inn to eat in the dining room.
Still got to do Elephant Back one last time! Plus catch the sunrise on our last morning, go for dinner at the General Store at Fishing Bridge, go see Lonestar Geyser, go write our names in the pub on our last night, PACK!
PACK!
PACK!
Sheesh. Have I told you how much I abhor PACKING?!
Maybe we will do Mount Washburn if the weather gets warmer in the afternoon. That's like a "must-do" hike lah!My Mood:  accomplished |
13 August 2007, 9.00am
And so! I used all four washing machines just now and my clothes are in all four dryers now. Haha, I sound so bored, ehz? Working the closing shift today, my first time ever in my three months in the EDR.
We used our lunch break yesterday to send the group of Taiwanese off. There were no dry eyes around, even though we ought not to be so sad since Taiwan is so near and we will be meeting up when the girls and I go to Taiwan in mid October. Darla walked past and I asked her how she handles all these goodbyes since her husband and her have worked in the park for 15 years. She said, for her, it boils down to her personal philosophy that every one of our friends leaves a part of them in us and we also leave a little part of ourselves in them. That's why we will never be alone. Wow...
The marina is half shut down already. A few of us planned to go rowboating last Sunday but guess what? IT SNOWED! Had to cancel our rowboating 'coz it was too cold. Ah wells... The marina is left with old employees, who are really sweet to me. They're always asking me how I am and yesterday, the captain of The Queen II, the boat they use for the scenicruise, actually gave me a special invitation for a closing scenicruise trip for next Monday.
Sophie and Kimmy will be leaving on the 20th. My two recent breakfast partners! Am so gonna miss them...
10 more days left? I seriously should start packing huh. EEEEEKS!
But now, bedtime. Checked out the temperature at the hotel on my way back from breakfast earlier and if the temperature thingy they put out is correct, it was -2C at 6+am. Is it really that cold? Back to my cosy room then.
OH YEAH... Chen Yu and I have submitted our forms for the 100 miles hiking club. No cheating hor. We actually did it on our own! So proud of myself. *beams*My Mood:  thoughtful |
1 September, 7.47pm
Yes, dear all, I am still in the park. We will be leaving the park on 24th September, after four I-don't-know-if-to-call-it-short-or-long months here.
Our travel schedule as follows:
25 Sep Bozeman fly to Seattle
29 Sep Seattle fly to San Fran
05 Oct San Fran Greyhound to Las Vegas
09 Oct Las Vegas fly to LA
14 Oct LA fly to Taiwan
?????? Taiwan fly back HOME!
Basically, the three of us girls have yet to decide how long we plan to stay in Taiwan, so I still don't know exactly when I'll be back in Singapore.
Part of me wants to stay on but part of me wants to go back home like NOW. Kinda feeling homesick seeing everyone leave. Teija, my second ex-roomie, together with two French girls, left this morning. Quentin and Jared will be leaving soon and the whole group of Taiwanese will be leaving mid September. It's gonna get soooooooooooo quiet. The EDR is like an old people village as it is now. Can't imagine how quiet it'll be towards the end of my stay here.
You know what really sucks? It's knowing that when I say goodbye to someone, it probably will be forever. I probably wouldn't be seeing that person ever again in this lifetime. I'm not really that good at farewells and letting go, I guess. And then there's the tinge of regret of not getting to know that person better earlier...
Okie, so I'm terribly bored now and I don't know if I should go and take another shower or wait till a bit later.
A few of us did a full moon hike up Elephant Back earlier this week. Heh, thinking back, a full moon hike up Elephant Back was my very first hike ever. It's like, I've seen four full moons in Yellowstone! Next full moon will be in... Seattle. However, unlike the first time, we managed to catch the moon rise and sit there yakking away while watching the moon and disturbing Ken's peace as well. The morning before that, we actually caught a lunar eclipse while walking to work without even knowing it! We were thinking the moon looked scaringly yellow, with a tinge of blackness at its side. It was only in the kitchen when the photo safari guide asked if we caught the lunar eclipse did we find out about it. Cool huh.
So, you, my SIMmie friends, have offically graduated! Congrats, my dears. It's a pity I couldn't join you guys and take lotsa crazy photos, but ah wells, there's always MY convo next year! Tee hee! I want blood red roses, thankew.
Anyway, I thought I could leave Yellowstone with only my backpack and daypack but judging by the amount of stuff I have accumulated, no way is that possible! Plus there's gonna be an employee discount thingy at the General Stores next week (we're not the same company, but we have *ahem* 'connections'), so we're gonna do more shopping, you bet. Gosh. I so dread packing again!
*New photos at Flickr. Take a look.My Mood: crushed |
August 24, 2.38pm
Chen Yu and I just came back from a hike up Purple Mountain. Yup, you got it, it's so named because the rocks on the mountain are purplish in colour.
Working tonight. Oh gosh. WHY AM I WORKING ON MY OFF DAY?!
Happy 3 months to us. Less than 1 month left to enjoy life here.
Posted some new photos on Flickr. Username is e_aka_e. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12029751@N07/My Mood:  crazy |
Raining!
In case you aren't exactly good in math, it's 17 August (Friday), 2.38pm here now. Well, hopefully the rain will put out the fires. I want to go star-gazing!
We got to know these two Japanese guys a few days ago, Koji and Hojito (or something), who are volunteering as park rangers in the park. They forked out 3,200 USD to come here and are getting 100 USD a week as food allowance. Really cool of them huh... We'll be going to their trailer for dinner tomorrow. Trout, anyone?
My boss ran away in the middle of the night a week ago. Madness lah! He was going to leave on 15 August anyway, so why run away? Snorts! THAT PIG! We were preparing a present for him lor! And my breakfast partners and I didn't get to learn how to make eggs to order before he left. Anyway, we have a new boss, who seems to be much better than him.
Oh yeah, my roomie moved in with her Finland friend, so I have the whole room to myself. Got the cute security guy to help me move my furniture, joined the two beds together. Yay! Feels nice to have the room to myself and I don't have to worry about waking her up too when I wake up at 4.20 in the morning. Hoho...My Mood:  impressed |
Check out our car, man!
http://18145.multiply.com/journal/item/17/Zhng_My_Car
Okie, so the furthest I've driven is... around our Lake Village. =pMy Mood: amused |
Whoa... Time flies. It's been a month since I last blogged.
It's a cold day over here at YNP today. Raining since morning. Joanne and I signed up for the Photo Safari, which departs from the hotel at 6am, but we overslept and I woke up at 10+, just in time to go to the EDR for an early lunchie.
There was the Perseid meteor shower on Monday night and the three of us girls plus Claire (from Taiwan) went to the benches in front of the hotel to catch it. I saw 20 odd shooting stars in one hour (before it got too cold and we had to go back) but I didn't make any wishes because every time I saw one, I would gasp in surprise. Looking at the stars and the Milky Way (yes, we can see the Milky Way!) in particular makes me feel so small and so in awe of the universe...
A few of us went camping at Grebe Lake (over at Canyon) last Wednesday evening. It was a 3+ miles hike in to the campsite with our backpacks and equipment. We had to rent sleeping bags from the rec hall because the sleeping bags we brought from Singapore cannot withstand the cold over here. Set up tents, collected firewood, started a campfire and watched the sunset reflected on the calm lake, with two graceful swans which became the subjects of many of our photos. The next morning, I woke up at 11+ and Jacobs said that someone hiked past and told him that there were two coyotes really near our campsite. Anyway, on our hike out, this coyote ran past, really close to us.
There have been forest fires since a week ago, across the lake from us, at the southeast arm of the lake. Pretty scary, seeing all the smoke... Last I heard, there are five fire spots. The east entrance has also been closed due to the fire activity. They're not fighting the fire (as far as I know) because they occurred naturally because of lightning.
It's pretty sad seeing people come and go over here. The Americans are starting to leave to go back to college, the Colombians have all left but one, the dorm carpark's getting empty... Sometimes we don't even know that a certain person has left, until we suddenly remember that he hasn't been to the EDR for eons... My dear partner, Lina, just left on Wednesday. Went down to send her off. It was depressing, knowing that I may never see her again in this lifetime. =(
They said that August is bison bison mating season and that they'll mate anywhere, like outside our dorms. But the bisons have been missing in action for a long time! We only saw one at the roadside near the hotel a few days ago. Think the rest of the bisons are hanging out at Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley.
We're starting to plan our tour schedule liao. Big headache. Need to compare prices and all. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!My Mood:  bored |
The weather has been been cranky lately. Hail and rain in the afternoon the past three days, but it passes very fast. That's why they say that in Yellowstone, if the weather isn't good, wait 10 minutes.
I guess I've reached the midpoint where there's a trough. We haven't been going out much lately and I feel tired at work, especially when it reaches 12pm and I have two more hours to go before clocking out. |
July 5, 3.46pm
It was Independence Day yesterday! I managed to change my day off with Ling Hang, but went in anyway from 5am to 8am to help. It was a trip to Jackson Hole after that! Yippy! To get to Jackson, we have to pass through Great Teton National Park, so the drive there takes about 2.5 hours. We spent the day shopping around in Jackson and it was hot! The temperature was about 90F lor.
Jackson Hole is the richest town outside Yellowstone, which is why we chose to go there for the fireworks. =p The fireworks were "fired" from a ski slope, so we went to the park there at 6pm, to wait for the 10pm fireworks (remember the sun now sets only at 9+pm)... Curtis had brought along blankets, so we were just lazing around, dozing, passing the time. The atmosphere was nice; and a group even brought a BBQ grill there. Hahha... Most importantly, the portable toilets were quite clean, even after the fireworks.
At 10pm, the fireworks started! Yay! Guess how long it lasted? 40 minutes of fireworks, I tell you! We were lying down, watching the fireworks go off, wow-ing away, and hoping that the trees wouldn't catch fire 'coz it's so very dry over here. After that, when we thought that it was over, the low fireworks started and it was a blast for 5 minutes, when multiple fireworks went off at the same time. WOW.
We got back to our dorms at 1.30am and I had to wake up at 4.30am this morning for work. Madness? Nah? Totally worth it, I say. =)
On Tuesday, a few of us went hiking with the Employee Recreation. We took the Garnet Hill loop near Tower. The total distance we covered? 8.2 + 0.8 miles = 9 miles. Gosh. I don't even know how many kilometres it is, but 1 mile is 1.6km. You do the math. The first half of the hike was very much enjoyable, until we made a side trip to Suspension Bridge. After that was BAD. We hiked 4.4 miles through sage plains. SAGE PLAINS! It was like hiking through a desert, with all the sand and the sun shining down without mercy. Blah. We were going up and down slopes. But we survived! Hahahah... Maybe really will try the Seven Hole Mile (or izzit Seven Mile Hole) trail one day. Heard it's much worse than Garnet.
Tuesday's dinner was yummy - nice noodles and ice cream... Vanilla, chocolate and huckleberry!
We made an impromptu decision after the hike to have a Singaporeans' BBQ that night, so a few of us hitch-hiked to Bridge Bay Marina to get the fire ring permit. And so, after dinner, fire ring it was. We did a bit of shopping at the General Store, bought overpriced mashmallows and hotdogs and walked down the road to the fire ring.
You know how easy it was to start a fire? We simply used a lighter and some dry grass and poof! we got a fire. Effortlessly. That's why there's a constant danger of fire over here, epecially since there have been a few cases just outside the park recently. Our firewood was gathered around the area. Hoho. We shall have a better prepared campfire next time, with more food!
Anyway, uploaded some of the photos taken the last two days at my Yahoo. =) Time to get changed and go for dinner.My Mood: crazy |
|
Photos
|
Jun. 25th, 2007 @ 05:47 am
|
|---|
Trying to upload some photos but Photobucket refuses to work for me! Hmmm... I'm using Yahoo Photos. First timer. Here goes:
http://sg.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/e_aka_e/album?.dir=/6e92scdMy Mood:  curious |
Come, let me teach you all about the time difference between Singapore and Yellowstone. Basically, Yellowstone is 14 hours behind Singapore. It's now 4pm, Saturday over here now. So usually, when I'm calling back home, I add two hours to the time here and when it's daytime over here, it's night time over at Singapore.
Summer IS here. It's getting really warm, especially in the kitchen. I'm feeling sleepy already... I've been working the opening shift lately, which means I get up at 4.30am and work from 5am to 2pm. It's tiring having to go to bed early and wake up at an unearthly hour, but I like the idea of having the whole day in front of me to do whatever I want. Furthermore, the sun sets at 9 pm, so, I really have the whole day to do stuff! Just two days ago, we went with our sous chef after work to Pocket Basin, a river near Old Faithful, to swim. There are thermal features just right near to the river and in the river, so the water was a comfortable temperature.
On Tuesday, we tagged along with our Resident Coordinator to Chico Hot Springs, which is just outside Gardiner, a 2.5 hours drive away.My Mood: good |
It's 1.47am now and I'm in Chen Yu's room, listening to her and Mabel talk. I've been promoted/transferred out of the really terrible job to another one, so YAY! Still in the kitchen lah, but it's a much happier job so far, I guess. =)
Been busy, busy, busy. I went on a tour to the Great Tetons last Tuesday. We went car shopping at Bozeman last Wednesday but couldn't get a car. Caught "Pirates 3" for USD 6.25. It's free seating wor. The car ride to Bozeman (each way) took 4 hours, mind you. Thursday was tagging along with a guy from the pantry to Cody. It's a much smaller town than Bozeman and very cowboy-ish. Woo... We caught a bit of a gunfight. It's also nearer; the car ride takes 2 hours. Friday afternoon was going with our sous chef to Old Faithful. A few of us took the evening tour to Lamar Valley on Saturday. Caught sight of a mother grizzly and her two cubs, and two black bears playing togther upclose. The petrified forest is somewhere at Lamar Valley. I so wanna go back to hike there. Heh. Busy week huh.
Off on Tuesday and Wednesday. Can't wait for a break...My Mood: exhausted |
SIM informed us that results will be out like NOW, so Chen Yu and I (plus we pulled Mabel over) stayed up late. BUT IT'S STILL NOT OUT YET! Sheesh. SM will be out only next week.
I have a new roomie, who's from Finland. She moved in while I was at work and she was sleeping by the time I came back after work and a short cereal supper at the EDR with Yong Tang, Kimi (from Kosovo), Emma and David (from Colombia). On our way home tonight, we saw two deers and a bison. I think we disturbed the bison and he got up, scaring us a lil. Don't want to be charged by him, eh. He can "run" at 35 miles per hour! Usually I shine my torch ahead but tonight, David took it and shone all around. Scare off the bears! Make lotsa noise! Interesting bunch of walk-homers tonight. =)
Results still not out. Shall scram back to my own room! Bedtime. Ciao, people...My Mood: sleepy |
|
Write
|
Jun. 5th, 2007 @ 12:37 am
|
|---|
Someone, WRITE TO ME! So that I can experience collecting mail from the Post Office! Heh. But must email me to lemme know, so that I know when to collect? I'm not sure how it works too.My Mood:  geeky |
Terribly disconnected from the world ever since before we left Singapore. I don't know about the world news, or even what is happening over here in the States.
I like the leisurely pace of life over here. There is totally no concept of time or stress or pressure. We go to work, we meet people and we say "Hi" even if we don't know them, we go sit in the rocking chairs outside the Lodge, we go to the lake, we go walk around, we go shopping at the small General Store down the road, we go for employee recreation activities when we can make it, we have to detour when we see bisons in our way, we go hiking, we have early dinners at the Employee Dining Room (EDR) and have cup noodles gatherings at Room 225 (Chen Yu's room, which is just across the bathroom from my room) when we are hungry at night.
Singapore seems like a lifetime away.My Mood:  refreshed My Music: Yong Tang doesn't snore! |
It's 9.33am over here now and Yong Tang's still in bed while I have been to four rounds of breakfast and spent an hour by the lake. Hurhur. PIG!
The lake's really beautiful this morning. It was still a lil foggy over by the mountains at the other side when I went there just before 8am. The water's really calm today and I went down the slope to walk by the lake. Managed to get myself up again this time, unlike the last time, when Stephen had to pull me up. Hahah.
Jared (a fellow Singaporean) and I went for the Circle of Fire tour yesterday, which took us around the lower loop of Yellowstone (the main road in Yellowstone basically makes a 8 figure around the major villages). The tours here are free for us employees, depending on space available. That Circle of Fire tour costs around 55USD, if I'm not wrong.
Love the Upper and Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Can't wait till we buy a car and then drive there and hike closer to the falls. =)
The weather's heating up. Don't think there'll be chance of snow in the near future. But in Yellowstone, you never know!
You know, we took the Elephant Back trail for the full moon hike. I was wearing four layers of clothing and took three off as we walked up. Hahhaha. Forgot whether it's 4 miles or 6 miles, but tough luck, the moon was totally covered by the clouds that night and only peeked out as we made our way down. Sheesh! Shall find a day to hike up Elephant Back again in the day. You can see the Hotel and the three islands on the lake from up there. I'm sure the scenary will be lovely in the day too.
Stephen and I caught sight of a mother grizzly and her two cubs just across from the Lodge and Employee Rec Hall the other evening. The ranger let us view them through his telescope and the cubs were wrestling. How terribly cute. Eeks, but dangerous too. A photographer got his face mauled by a mother grizzly at Hayden Valley about 1.5 weeks ago. But he was too close to the bear lah. Tsk! Can't blame the bear, can you?
My roomie transferred to Old Faithful, so for now, I own the room. Muahha!
Anyway, there is no handphone reception over here. Brought my phone to Old Faithful yesterday, but nah, still no reception.
It's so dry over here and it's quite a chore having to slap on moisturiser every day! Blah. I've been having very bad hair days since we got here. URGH! So irritating!My Mood:  awake My Music: does Yong Tang snore? |
It's 12.32am, 30th May over here now. We just got back from work about an hour ago. Blah. Night shift means we have to wait till everything is clear before we can leave. Tonight is considered early liao lor. We worked till 12am the past few nights.
Yong Tang, Chen Yu, Mabel and I went "hiking" in the morning, to Fishing Bridge, which is two miles away. We walked all the way there and we actually forgot to continue towards the General Store. AHHHHHHHHHH! On the way, we saw an elk with a white butt, squirrels and a grizzly bear. That wasn't a real hike anyway because we were just walking along the road. We tried to hitch-hike our way back but nobody gave us a ride, so the whole walk plus photo-taking took from 10.30am to 1pm.
Joined the 100 Mile Hiking Club at the Employee Rec, so guess that'll be our aim. Hahah... Very possible, since we'll be here for four months. Full moon hike coming up next week!My Mood: exhausted |
|
Here
|
May. 25th, 2007 @ 10:55 pm
|
|---|
Hello, people! We have finally arrived at YNP! It's 8.55am over here now and it was snowing earlier. We were all so excited and took lots of photos. We're at Lake Village instead of Grant 'coz Step has to be here. Yeah. Vicky is my roomie and she's from Vietnam.
Keri is here visiting and sitting on my bed.
Anyway, my address is:
Ee Cheah Khaw
General Delivery - Lake
Yellowstone National Park
WY 82190
USAMy Mood: cheerful |
Last post from home for now...
Xinhui, please don't bite my hamsters and stress them even more. Feed them everyday and make sure they have water in their bottle. Change their poop poop every week and wet tissue them sometimes. Play with them everyday also!
I love my Papa, my Mama, the Baby Pig and the fatty acid Xinhui! Bye bye!
I have to go and bathe now!My Mood:  bouncy |
Current weight of my bags: 13kg, 10kg and 6kg.
Current temperature at YNP: 12C
Current temperature here: 28C
Current weight: 46kg
Okie lah, I guess it's time to go spend some time in my bed. Still have to change my hamsters' poo poo when I wake up.My Mood: groggy |
These are the small "huggies" I'm bringing with me in a ziplock to retain the baby pig's smell! Hoho, they've also slept with the Papa, Mama and the evil Xinhui!
The moose was bought back from YNP by the evil sister five years ago, so I'm bringing him back to where he came from, though he was actually Made in China.
AND I HAVE YET TO FINISH PACKING!My Mood: tired |
These are the people I've been spending time with!
Yujia is leaving Singapore for WAT a happy girl, though I haven't exactly been able to meet up with all of yous after the biggies because of time constraint. Never mind, I'll be back before you know it!My Mood: content |
Gosh. Packing is so NOT fun, I tell you. It sooooo requires strategising, and I have yet to complete a day of strategising. Blah. Packing gives me a headache. Baa baa black sheep.My Mood: drained My Music: "街角的祝福" by 戴佩妮 |
The biggies are finally over. Yay! It's been busy, busy and busy since the biggies ended last Friday, with shopping last Saturday, a very intimate chalet with the girls on Sunday, sleeping the whole of Monday to make up for the lack of sleep on Sunday and catching up (and more shopping) with Sharmaine yesterday, while it's off to the airport later in the day to send dear ML off. She's also on WAT, but she's going to Morey's Pier over in NJ! We'll be so far apart!
I really oughtta make time and start my packing. The essentials are more-or-less bought already (I hope).
How many more days left in Singapore? Eeks! Only six!My Mood: tired My Music: "Emotions" by Destiny's Child |
It's snowing over in Yellowstone now! They say it may snow in May and September, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Okie, so I haven't got my jab, haven't bought my shoes, haven't bought daily essentials, haven't had my exams, but at least I've bought a lip balm already (and speaking of which, isn't enough for the trip), went jogging once and cleared up the issue regarding travellers' checks.
We've also received our e-tickets, so the flights and timings are confirmed, yeah?
Around 28 more days. So far yet so near.My Mood: sleepy My Music: "Where To Begin" by My Morning Jacket |
55 days. It isn't very far off, considering the fact that we are having extremely late papers this semester and the very last paper is only 10 days away from the flight outta Singapore. Gulp gulp. Preparation has come to a halt, or has it ever started?
On happy happy news, I called Rohana the other day and she informed us that we can convo next year! YAY! Convo isn't a super big deal since we wouldn't be convo-ing with the rest of our friends, but hey! at least we get to wear the gown thingy, yeah? *note: must remember to confirm with Rohana again*
I can foresee there is going to be a mad rush to prepare my stuff in May. Blah.My Mood: cranky My Music: Power 98 |
|
Done!
|
Feb. 14th, 2007 @ 10:12 pm
|
|---|
I guess we received the best Valentine's Day present ever - our visa! Yippy! The lady who interviewed me is so cute. She asked me to go try fishing (because it'll be real neat) and to look at pictures of bears and not go look for the bears. Haha.
Everything else has been settled and paid for, so with our visa approved, it means that we are on our way to Yellowstone soon! With everything added up, this trip is not cheap okie! Maybe it's time to set up a "Yujia Wish Foundation", where people (read: kind and nice and nice-est people like YOU) can donate items, gimme advice, sponsor me things and stuff. =)My Mood:  mischievous |
It was a long and lonely 2.5 hours wait to collect my new biometric passport last Friday, with 276 people ahead of me in the queue. Totally irritating, plus the ladies at the counters were so curt. Does it hurt to even smile back at me? Sigh.My Mood: blank My Music: "Everytime We Touch" by Casada |
There, there. We went down to Speedwing after our paper last Thursday and paid for our programme fee, insurance coverage and SEVIS fee. Guess that leaves us with the cost of the visa and transport to be settled early next year.My Mood: busy My Music: "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Jem |
And so, yesterday was the day of the interview for WAT. We arrived at Orchard Hotel bright and early and as we SIMmies were labelled under "Others", it meant that our queue was the shortest (or should I say we were the only ones in the queue) and we managed to get the front interview numbers.
It was more of an information session of sorts than an interview session as the interviewer, Carrie Holder, and her assistant talked a whole lot more. Essentially, she only asked one question, "So why did you choose Yellowstone?" Blah blah. She told all five of us at the interview table that our English was good but she wanted us to improve our English so she offered us the Hospitality job, yadda yadda. So she meant to say my English is just about as good as the Chinese girl next to me? Whatever. I got the job and it is all that matters. Tentatively, we will leave Singapore on 24 May and finish our job stint on 24 September. After that shall be a spot of travelling around the States for a period of time and probably a short holiday at our transit location.
Oh! Saw a few other Cedarians at the interview. Angela and HuiLi are also going to Yellowstone. Yippy! Familiar people are always nice.
Now, to survive the upcoming exams and then to plan for our trip. It also means finding a job this holidays and saving up!
P/S: Did you know that if we fly to SF and take a Greyhound to Montana, the bus ride takes 30 hours? Madness!My Mood: content My Music: "Eastern Glow" by The Album Leaf |
Hooray! I'm back from settling my S$50 deposit for the interview. To think we SIMmies almost missed the deadline because we were left out for the talks. Hur hur.
This is the first step towards Work and Travel (WAT) USA 2007 and this blog shall document my WAT experience from hence on! =)My Mood: energetic |
|
|
stressed
