My very interesting Vegas Trip

I'm back from my mini holiday folks! I had a very interesting trip. *clears throat* I'm summarising here k.

Thursday wee morning 4.11 am, set off to Vegas in the Toyota Camry.

Estimated total drive: 7 hours

Distance from Vegas: 32 miles and the Camry broke down. Waited 1 hour for the tow guy to come.

Drove back 65 miles (that's about 50 minutes) to Kingman street to the car repair shop. Yay, the mechanic isn't around so the car had to stay in the shop overnight.

Called all the nearby car rental companies to find that none were opened on Thanks Giving Day. Basically meant we were stranded. Called EconoLodge (in Vegas) to cancel our hotel reservations coz we were supposed to be there at 4pm.

Crossed the road to stay a night in a place called Knight's Inn.

Woke up 3+ am (Friday morning) to welcome our rescuers (my brother's friends who were also going Vegas for mini trip). We split two cars and finally arrived at Vegas Premium Outlet Mall at 5+ am.

It was freaking cold. I had to wear two jackets and a pair of gloves. But the cool part is when you do a little 'HA', a small white cloud would appear. Fun!

Did some shopping and bought good stuff and the three of us crashed in at my bro's friend's room for a night. (we were going home on Sat)

The car was repaired and ready to go. Collected it abt Sat mid-noon. Drove all the way back and reached Tucson abt 10+pm.

Will mention more about the fun things I did, of course, but in another post. Feeling abit lazy now. Had the runs and a slight fever on Sunday. Got better on Monday and now I'm just gonna rest abit more.

Ciaoz pple!

Vegas Trip

*yawn* Morning all. It's 3.54am in Tucson now.

I'm going to be away for a couple of days (Thurs to Sat, my time). Gonna have a road trip down to Vegas with my brother n sista, spending Thanks Giving there too.

(coz Vegas got after-Thanks Giving Sales *grin*)

Take care folks!

Seee ya all!

POTO

Well, I managed to get my hands on the POTO dvd from the library. It's the 2004 movie version by Joel Schumacher. It's a totally original cast where even the actors and actresses were not familiar by name or face at all.

So. I watched it. Nice.. *thinks* costumes. Nice.. screenplay. And music (duh). BUT, there's not much to say about the voices. Sigh, I know, I know.. It's a movie.

I caught the musical in SG before, prolly 10 years ago. It was fantastic, I got the circle seat that cost about a hundred bucks. Totally worth it. I have been waiting for POTO to run again but so far no news. The cast was of course not the original (Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford) but being broadway performers, they do have substance.

I guess it was just my inner-comparison and too high an expectation that led me to feel rather disappointed in the movie. Have to give the actors/actresses credit though. I don't think they have any prior experience in musicals.

Some little peeves:

1) Christine has to show her bosom eh. Like 80% of her clothes are low-cut, showing cleavage.

2) Raoul has surfer-dude long hair (that look was around since the 1800's! wow!) and I think he sings better than the Phantom (horreur!).

3) Phantom has a rugged, sexy look. Image overhaul anyone? Button-down shirts anyone? And he is suppose to be the Angel of Music. So why is he singing worse than Raoul?!! *wail*

And the part behind his mask was disfigured le. In the end, it's just looking reddish and slightly raw. Not very 'dio acid' look. So it wasn't very realistic when he was clutching his face and looking so traumatised.

The BEST Phantom (not that I have heard the rest. Just btw the original, the movie and the one I heard in Kallang Theatre) is Michael Crawford. Well, overall, that guy has a damn blardy good voice. He is sooooooooooo good. *SIGH*

I found this link, clips of him performing. Go listen to 'O, Holy Night'. Woah.

http://www.phantommovie.com/videos.htm

Oh and my all-time fav piece in POTO is 'Masquerade'. That's when Phantom will appear as Red Death. This was the costume that I saw in the musical.

And this was what Phantom wore in the MOVIE. Like I said, the sexed-up look. That is such a Zorro pose. LOL

Activities after the hike

Carpark near the foot of the trail. Also where ONE of the picnic areas was located. Mingling with hikers and non-hikers.

The second hike was really special coz we had a picnic after the walk. As this hike lasted longer than the first one, we were required to bring our own lunch snack. There was a sheltered table/bench area back at the foot of the trail where the cars were parked.

Was pretty surprised to see some other ST (Sonoran Terrace) folks there as well. I knew them from Water Aerobics class. Quite a few were getting on in age hence they didn't join the trekking. But all were there to join in the picnic and Bernie (a very nice old man I knew fromW.A was the organisor of the Bernie's Bocce Brawl). One of the dudes celebrated his birthday. There was a 'surprise cake' and there was a mini 'joke-telling' session too.

Bocce pronounced: 'bor-chee'

Bocce Ball (not sure the OFFICIAL game but this was how Bernie explained) is a simple ball game that consists of 4 green balls, 4 red balls and 1 little ball. Let's just call them GB, RB and LB. Each game will only have 4 people playing, two vs two. A makeshift court that resembles a tennis court (but way smaller) is laid out on the ground using short poles and strings. The entire idea is.. to get the RB/GB as close to the LB as possible. That's it. Just stand and throw. You can knock the opponent's balls or even the LB. If end of round 1, a RB is closest to the LB, then Red Team wins that round. Then they will calculate how many RBs are near the LB. (one ball = one point). Say two. So end of round 1, Red Team leads 2-0. End of three rounds, see which team has more points.

Round 1 will be R1 and G1 on one side. Throw finish all 8 balls then Round 2 will be opposite side where R2 and G2 are standing. They throw. Then Round 3 back to R1 and G1 again. The LB will be thrown by the referee before game starts. (see pic: If its A1 and B1, the little ball must be on the far half. Vice-versa for A2 and B2.)

There were 20 players, so 10 pairs la. Each of us gotta give a dollar for the 'Championship' prize money. So we drew numbers from a cloth bag to determine our partners. Start w Team:1-2, 3-4, etc.. then winner play winner, eliminate .. till we get the champion team. I'm Team 8 :)

Bocce Ball court

Starting the game

Aim and throw!

Players and non-players watching the game

Me playing Bocce Ball

Bernie the referee. I'm waiting for my turn to play. Far end is Jessica rolling the ball, she's my opponent (Team 7).

This game is NOT easy. Yeah, I know rolling balls, how hard can it be. Look at the ground. Uneven sandy ground with tufts of grass patches. The stupid ball's path isn't determined by YOU, it's by nature. A little bump and it starts veering somewhere else. Throw too hard, you overshoot the boundary. Throw too light, you get too far from the little ball. Wah liao, and sometimes it leans in close to the LB and suddenly starts rolling happily away coz there's a tiny uneven downslope. O_O;; The best part of this game is the satisfaction of getting a success throw and the spectators. Spectators consist of non-players, players who have played and players waiting for their team's turn. ALL will cheer or go 'awwww'. They will yell 'Good throw!' and even clap for those playing.

After much rolling and getting baked in the sun, my team got THIRD place! Prize money of 2 bucks. Erm yah, profit of 1 dollar.. Hahaha!

ME AND MY PARTNER, RUTH!

Happening Hike Day! Whoo!

My second Hiking Trip

Hello hello! I went for my second hiking trip on Wednesday. Woke up at 6.30am to prepare my belongings and have a little snack before setting off to the ClubHouse (meeting point). Jessica, my sista's friend who's staying at another area, was already waiting for us. It was blardy freezing la.. The three of us shivering in our jackets. And one of the hikers was wearing only berms and a teeshirt. She was laughing at us. She's from New York state and Tucson's winter is like her summer. Apparently, quite a number of residence at Sonoran Terrace (the apartment allocated to my brother) are NOT from Arizona. They usually spend 6mths at their own home and 6mths here. Something like migrating birds. Coz their winter can hit single digit temperature and there's thick snow too. Now old liao, can't tahan the cold so they fly over here. That's why they are so comfortable with the weather. This is nothing to them!

The second hike was 4 miles long and timing our trek, it's about 80-90minutes to reach the end of the trail and another 90minutes of walking back to the start. Total of 16 hikers. Some were new faces (last week they didn't show up) while others were familiar to me already. All veterans though. The trail was located in Catalina Mountains - Catalina State Park. We needed to pay for a pass to enter the area. There were many different trails available but the leader chose Sutherland Trail. Terrain was rockier than last week's one, which was good. Give me stones over sand anytime! Elevation of about 800 feet so although there was sun, we didn't feel very hot as the wind was still chilly.

Had to be very careful when climbing up slopes of rocks coz some of the tinier ones were loose. But otherwise, the trail wasn't very difficult, just mere endurance. Stop once in a while for water break and to enjoy the scenic. It's totally different man. Last week was just flat ground all the way, nothing much. THIS one, however, was situated within the mountains. The air's fresh, the view FABULOUS. It's hard for me to describe in words so here's some pics instead. Enjoy! I know I did :)

Sutherland Trail - Hiking Pics

Took this while resting at the end of the trail. The most beautiful sight I have ever seen.

Group Pic at end of trail (U-turn point)

Hikers at carpark, gonna start walking!

Sutherland Trail sign

Me, Jessica and Sharon

Rocky upward slope

Saguaro Cacti and rocks

Scene from the top of slope

Middle of the trail, mountain backdrop

Grassplains (looks kinda like Africa huh)

Right next to one of the mountains

3 of us at the end of the trail (U-turn point)

End of the trail! *slight wheezing*

Mount Lemmon

As I mentioned before, Tucson is surrounded by 4 mountains. Well, one of them is called Mt. Lemmon and today, 4 of us (me, sis and 2 friends) + Miffy the dog, got into the car and drove up there. It took about an hour plus just to reach the edge of the mountain (from our apartment).

After that, we had to do 30 minutes of winding. Bends to the left, bends to the right.. the slope is gentle but every turn brings us higher. We don't even need to on the aircon as the wind was damn cold. We reached our destination of about 6000 feet elevation. The view is fantastic! None of us brought a camera, pity.. But you can imagine standing on a rocky plateau and surrounding you is nature. Just pure nature. The sky is a bright blue, the wind is biting, you see tons of bramble tufts sticking out from the sandy ground, cactus, pine trees, mountain silhouettes covered by a thin veil of mist.. You look down and it's a steep slope of boulders and grass and even further is flat land where buildings are mere dots.

Midway up (around 4000 feet I think), we saw lodges and a public restroom. Stopped for a toilet break and wow, a freakin public toilet up in the mountains is cleaner than the restroom at Malaysia Checkpoint. -_-;

Quite a few interesting road signs as well. We have 'bear crossing', 'deer crossing', 'Watch out for rocks' (I mean, ok, so rocks come tumbling down, what can you do about it? Siam?? There's only a metal barricade at the side to prevent the car from stumbling down the rocky slopes..) , 'speed limit signs.. 20-45mph range', 'elevation: __ feet signs'..

Professional photographs of Mt Lemmon!

Great trip :)

Love the car ride, love the nature, love the scenic.. *sigh*

Finally got my name right

Well.. went to Beyond Bread again and they wrote my name right! But kinda disappointed, since it wasn't written in nice marker.. but some crayon. Pfft. Lousy scrawl..

Hiking Trip

Woke up: 6.55am
Breakfast: Campbell microwaveable Clam Chowder soup
Baggie: small towel, waterbottle, wallet, jacket
Outfit: sleeveless Tee, 3/4 cotton pants, long white socks, Nike running shoes, Timberland cap
Left the house: 7.35am
Number of hikers above 24 y/o: 12
Number of hikers below 55 y/o: 3 (me, sista and fren)
Number of hikers wearing running shoes instead of hiking shoes: 1 (gee, guess who?)
Destination: I have no idea
Distance: 3 miles (1.5 then U-turn back)
Path: Sand, sand and more sand. 3 miles of sand.
Elevation: None. But got rock obstacles to climb (prolly 3 times)
Scenary: Pebbles, sand, rocks, sand, cacti, sand, weed, dry grass, flowers, sand, feces of unknown origin, spiky fruits that cling to your socks, part of a toilet bowl, shot gun shells, discarded bottles, sand
Shade: Duh.

The best part of the hike was interacting with nature. Apparently, me and fren are the n00bs. My sista is not so n00b. The rest are veterans. Safari hat, and trekking poles that can poke an eye out. The guide will pause once in a while and point out interesting facts, like this flower is called the Trailing Snapdragon.

And the sandy path we were walking on is a river bed, hence the dried looking moss all over. When monsoon comes, the water level can reach pretty high. That's why there's dead branches clogging up certain path etc.

Very very cool! Tiring though. Sigh, need rest. Legs aching.. body aching...

*Thud*

Trekking Poles:

Mat Kearney

New artist breaking out into the music scene - Mat Kearney!

He had a mini concert at AJ's situated at La Encantada. Ok, I see lost faces.
AJ's is a l33t grocery and L.E is the area it's in. It's like saying Jason's at Raffles City. Only difference is L.E is an open-air area. And AJ's beat Jason's any day.

So there's this song on radio called Nothing Left To Lose (not sure if SG is having it on air yet) but I couldn't catch the artist's name. Emailed the D.J and was told of this mini concert/interview session.

Pop by at AJ's and he sang about 4 songs total. Received 2 free CDs! One was a promotional cd - new music sampler (abt 18 songs) by the radio station, the other was Mat's acoustic album (8 songs). Nothing Left To Lose was in the cd but well, acoustic will always sound different la. I still prefer the original with drums and all.

Pretty nice dude, shook his hand and got him to sign my CD. Too bad never bring camera.

Yeah, had to spell out my name carefully, letter by letter. Else.. ...

All Souls' Day

On the 6th of Nov, we went to witness a special procession known as All Souls' Day.

Some excerpt from the site: All Soul's Day is a Roman Catholic day of remembrance for friends and loved ones who have passed away. This comes from the ancient Pagan Festival of the Dead, which celebrated the Pagan belief that the souls of the dead would return for a meal with the family.

Paper mache and sugar skulls are popular, as are cardboard coffins from which a skeleton can be made to jump out. Special masks are also worn, allowing a person to achieve a facial expression for which they feel they are inadequate to achieve.

Singaporeans do celebrate this day but I guess only in the church.. but there was a huge parade (somewhat like Chingay) where a large throng of people turned up to watch as well as participate. Those who joined the ~3-mile walk wore costumes that were either store-rent or hand-made. Skeleton suits, masks, painted faces, black robes etc.. Definitely worth the 1 hour wait (they started late).

An unforgettable experience!

Click here to view my sista's Yahoo! Photo album of the procession.

2 new items on ze list

Striped lime green pants and 'newspaper boy' cap:
for $19.90 and $10 respectively

If

If a picture paints a thousand words,
Then why can't I paint you?
The words will never show the you I've come to know.
If a face could launch a thousand ships,
Then where am I to go?
There's no one home but you,
You're all that's left me too.
And when my love for life is running dry,
You come and pour yourself on me.

If a man could be two places at one time,
I'd be with you.
Tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.
If the world should stop revolving spinning slowly down to die,
I'd spend the end with you.
And when the world was through,
Then one by one the stars would all go out,
Then you and I would simply fly away

Dress Slippers

My first pair of dress slippers

Original: $24.50
Discount: $4.99