picnic trip

bout 2 months ago, yes i know, i havent been updating my blog...

we organized a picnic trip at branched oak lake...

look how pathetic nebraskans are...fake beach at a LAKE!

it was some small gathering before christophe's dad, antonio and dr grass's phd advisor, dr neis go home and julien's welcome party since he just joined the lab...

so before we head over to the lake, we went to the lab to get ice boxes and of cz free supply of ice from the lab! we actually emptied the whole ice thingy.... =DDD

then christophe is always "leader" of everything in the lab, he brought tonnes of food!!! =)))

and since i had nothing to do, i prepared...

guess what...

say hi to ines! =))) one of my few portuguese friends...

dr neis busy grilling the sausages while antonio standing behind waiting to eat! =DDD

my satay chicken!!!! woot!!!! but the peanut sauce was too coarse cz i didnt have enough time to crush it longer...

but

dad, please say i can cook now!!!!!!!!!

=DDD

group picture...

standing from left: ines (portugal), julien's gf, julien (louisiana), dr neis (germany)

squat/kneel/sit from left: christophe (portugal) yours truly (malaysia), dr grass (germany), antonio (portugal)

the month when the number of portuguese increased suddenly! AHHAHA

guess what...

last sunday,

I CUT MY OWN HAIR!!!

yes i cut my freaking own hair all by myself!

the first time i cut one's hair was for my bro and he say just cut however you like...but obviously i was scared and it turned out to be it didnt look like it was cut! =DDD

then the second time i cut my bf(at that time)'s hair...and of cz i got complained for cutting the back flat like americans.... =DDD sorry ler, i dont always cut people's hair one k....

this time i cut my own cz i was so reluctant to go to the hair dresser to let the americans cut my hair even though if they are professional or whatever... so here's the deal going to a professional will cost me at least 30-40 bucks which i will look not too bad....going to the college/academy will cost me 7-10 bucks which i will look super FUGLY! so how?!

i went to walmart and bought a pair of scissors which cost me only 9 bucks... and the end result was...

got cut meh?! =.="

no difference mehhhhh

so to prove that i actually DID cut my hair...here's my WIG!

believe me now?!

o.o

flagstaff- phoenix day 6

from flat lands to the rocky mountains to the red sand desert and to the cactus land

which is also my last day of the trip...

i was so sad since i have to come back to lincoln alone... not because i'm going back alone more of i dont get to visit phoenix and tuscon....

so i didnt have many pictures this day...

T.T

see the cactus along the interstate?

=)

since my flight is at afternoon

we need some lunch...

since they knew i was sad cz i didnt talk much as i did the days before

and they knew i wanted in-and-out burgers so badly...

they of course brought me to in-and-out!!!!

*l.o.v.e*

this is burger...real burgers..!!! only in Nevada, Arizona and California...

why not NEBRASKA!!!!

i had the animal style...^^

a shot for my sister! :p

then they dropped me at Sky Harbor International Airport

bid goodbyes to my bosses and of course my holidays...

T.T

safely arrived at st paul, minnesota

and back to lincoln, nebraska...

the flat land

T_________T

jacob lake- flagstaff day 5

after our caffeine boost we left jacob lake to page again...

on the way back to page, we stopped at

navajo bridge

the one on the left is for pedestrians while the one on the right is for vehicles...

colorado river...

your's truly...and obviously i wasn't ready for the day's photoshoot as i was still in my nerdy specs... =/

then we went to page for lunch and head towards flagstaff...

on our way to flagstaff, we dropped by Wupatki National Monument

some ruins...

Ballcourt

Blowhole...

we wanted to visit Sunset Crater National Monument for the volcano mountains but it was pouring like crazy and flashflood everywhere around the area...so the roads were closed...

dang!

flashflood... T.T

then we got back to the hotel in flagstaff early...

we decided for a movie...

and i slept throughout the movie INCEPTION which was very highly rated...

zzz...

tired maaa :p

last night of the trip...going back to reality next day..

reality is of course PAIN

=(

blanding- jacob lake day 4

today started off with the funniest moment and is the best highlight of the trip....and yea i almost get killed by my bosses...LOL

so last night my big boss asked me to set the alarm for everybody to wake up...since he turned off his phone for charging and etc...and i said OKAY! =) so i asked him what time should we get up, he said 7am! okay sure! happily i did my assigned task to set the alarm at 7am...

and this morning my alarm rang at 7am!!!! BUT IT WAS LINCOLN TIME!!!!!

o.m.g!

it was only 6am in UTAH!!!!

O.O!!!!!!

and my alarm ring tone is the most annoying ringtone ever!

* it's a guy's voice shouting "wake up ar! faster wake up ar!" in cantonese*

and obviously the 2 europeans didnt get a thing of what my ring tone was about but only knew that A GUY IS SHOUTING!

L.O.L

they jumped up from bed before i could even realize it was my alarm!!!

=DDD

and so we got up at 6am UTAH time... =.="

we got ready and had breakfast at 7am...

so at 8am we left the hotel....

where else our initial plan was to get up at 7am, breakfast at 8am and leave at 9am!

michelle lam ar michelle lam!!!

how not to get killed by them! =DDD

oh well... =)

mexican hat...

monument valley where those marlboro or whatever ciggie's ad at the desert with cowboy scenes...here's the place...

and so we arrived at page at around 11am...we went to the office to get our tickets for antelope canyon since we didnt get it done the night before...

and thank god we have 3 seats for the noon trip...

we rested a while and apparently they cancelled the trip to the canyon at 230pm which we initially planned for!!!!!

hohoho...!!!

IMAGINE IF WE LEFT AT 9AM!!!

we definitely could not make it for the noon trip and we will not get the 230pm trip

so we will not get to visit the canyon...

so my accidental morning call saved our lives!

so now they THANK me!

hiak hiak hiak!!! *evil grin*

us on the "bus" to the canyon...

all happy since we were too lucky to get the last trip for the day!

the entrance of the upper Antelope Canyon...

beautiful sandfall captured by the DSLR...

we found a monument valley in the canyon!

awesome, no?

i know you get bored with all the postcard-ish photos...

so here's ME!

NOT ENOUGH?

one more!!! =DDD

then we got back to the office at 2-ish and had lunch nearby...

then we drove again to Jacob's lake where we will stay a night at...

on our way, there's this awesome scene...just a part which is raining and the other part has no rain! o.O

on our way to Grand Canyon...

more cheeky stuff from me...

so we saw a deer by the road side...like literally beside us...

and my big boss stopped the car so that christophe could take a photo of it...

and of cz to prepare a DSLR takes time...

and i was there behind keep saying faster faster faster *in case the deer runs away ma!*

mana tau!

the deer heard me and of course RAN AWAY!!!

L.O.L

the two of them once again wanted to kill me so so so badly!!!

hahahahahahha...

oops!

then we arrived at the North Rim of Grand Canyon

a shot from Bright Angel's point...

and we think that is not a very nice place for taking pictures so we dashed to the other side of the canyon into the woods, speeding like mad just to be in time for sun set!

it's like a scene in twilight....all trees and a winding road....a vampire could come out and attack us at anytime!

ahahah

while waiting for the moment of course we took pictures...tonnes of them!!!

we were again so lucky to be in time for all the sunset pictures...

and this is from my compact! awesome, no?

before we left, christophe took this....so b.e.a.u.tiful!!!!!

then we had dinner at the lodge...and went back to the cabin...

=(

i dont like the cabin, it's not because it doesnt have internet...okay that's one thing but i can live without internet! =p

but the bathroom is so so so freaking small that i cant even turn in there!!!

so i decided to shower only at night and not in the morning cz i dont want to go in there again!

=DDD

the freaking bed has 2 huge ants which made me paranoid....ahhhhh didnt sleep quite well

grr...

grand junction- blanding day 3

after all those shopping trips in the city and passed by the mountains...it's time to go into the rocks...!!!

after breakfast, obviously from the hotel....we started our journey at 8-ish/9am...

we headed more west and south into UTAH...the place is less vegetation as you can see....it's getting lesser trees/grass as we go.....

vs

what's the difference between the above two pictures?

which one is by a compact camera? which one is by a DSLR?

Arches National Park

Balanced rock...

North Window...

South window...

Turret Arch...

Turret Arch and a mini arch...

*l.o.v.e*

famous delicate arch on UTAH quarters...

in case you missed me after seeing all the rocks... =DDD

Landscape Arch...

Landscape Arch is the longest Arch in Arches National Park, measuring 306 feet from base to base. In 1991, a massive slab of rock fell from its underside, resulting in an even thinner ribbon of rock. - from the official website

Double O arch...

at 2-ish, we left the arches for lunch, sadly, fast food, this time Wendy's... =.="

so on the way exiting, we saw many ambulances and emergency teams rushing towards the arches...we didnt suspect anything...just felt weird...

after lunch we headed to the canyonlands...

it was b-e-a-u-tiful!!!

the indian creeks

some rocks in red since it was sunset, the natural color is red... *showing off some photography knowledge*

more rocks before we left....

then we headed out back to the hotel right after sunset...so from the canyonlands out to the main road was bout 15-20 minutes drive...the gas was running freaking LOW! our beloved car owner got so FREAKED OUT....we were just || this close to call AAA to get us more gas...yet the big boss said it's ok....we can still reach the next gas station....it's okayyyyyyy...

but the beloved driver/car owner got really freak out that he couldnt utter a word....he was so so so quiet....being the noisy backseat driver, me, also the youngest, also the cheekiest....i tried to calm him down by talking some nonsense to distract him....but obviously i failed =.=" so i gave him a gum to chew on....

after another 20-30 minutes drive from the junction of the exit, we finally reached monticello, a small little town...of course the first stop was the gas station!!! after filling up the gas, i teased him!!!! hahahaha!!! sorry buddy, i know you were really freaked out, so am i, but i've never seen you to be that quiet before!!!! :p we could have stranded in the middle of the canyonlands and would have to wait for AAA for at least 5 hours to rescue us! o.O

we continued for bout 30 minutes to blanding...we arrived at blanding few minutes before 9pm and that's when all the shops were closed....even subway or whatever grocery store....which means..?! NO DINNER!!!! o.m.g!!! blanding is worse than monticello, bear that in mind, if anyone wants to go to UTAH and to these small towns....

we drove around and of cz backseat driver isn't that annoying/useless....this is when i show them i'm useful!!! hiak hiak hiak!!!!

while christophe was bout to turn left on a junction, i saw a restaurant showing the "open" sign! i was like TURN RIGHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!! there's food there!!!!!

wheeeeeeeee!!! =)

and so we managed to get some dinner there...thanks to this backseat driver! ho ho ho!!!

happened that the whole day i was in my swiss t shirt and the family beside us was from swiss!!!! the mother was asking me have i been to switzerland!!!! O.M.G!!! i had to say no... =( then christophe was teasing me.... *he got back his mood after refilling gas* so you've never been to swiss but you wear something from swiss?!?! isshh!!!!!! *cannot mehhhhh?!?!* grrrrr

then we went back to the hotel to have a good rest for us and the car....

and, remember we saw emergency teams heading towards the arches?!

we found out from the news that there's this "genius" attempted to commit suicide....this smart dude tried to jump over a 2m wide gap...at first he MADE IT!!!! then he lose control and fell back right into the cliffs and of course he "committed suicide" awesome, no?!

where got such dumb ass jump over a 2m gap without any safety equipment one!!!

tsk tsk tsk....

more "exciting" morning to come.... LOL!!!

btw, there's only 3 pictures from a DSLR...can you spot the three? =) if you can't that means my powershot is wayyyy too powerful! as powerful as a DSLR! :p