Sepertimana yang diceritakan oleh Dyanna: travel

Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

USA Trip: Chicago, we are in you

The following day after returning from Miami University, we head up to Chicago. This would be our first stop in our long journey up to Winsconsin. The day was sunny (as seen in the pictures) and I think it was a really perfect day. My brother was driving, so I sat shotgun and proceeded to shoot pictures of the city as we drive into it.

Kuala Lumpur can't be compared to Chicago. It is so big with so many skyscrapers. From a certain angle, you can see tall buildings aligned nicely in a straight line, which is a pleasant thing. The city was quite clean and the traffic wasn't so bad. That's why I said KL can't compare to it.

The first thing we did was to park the car somewhere near to The Millenium Park and started to walk. My dad was quite hesistant about this at first because the last time he and his friends parked their car, it was ransacked. But that was in the 70's and a lot has changed since. But we still hid our valueables out of sight, just in case.

Did you know that Chicago was the setting of one of The Dark Knight's movies? Maybe all three of them. The scene where Bruce Wayne was driving his sports car under a rail track.

We walked through Millenium Park and there were a number of peculiar construction/monuments in that area that are quite interesting.

First there was this huge vertical LCD monitor with water flowing down the sides of the monitor cube. There were smiling faces shown on the screen.

Then there was The Bean, which is a large oddly shaped metallic bean that reflected a panoramic view of Chicago main buildings. Really cool!

And there were nice garden with tulips blooming in front of another metallic thing that looked like a Tengkolok.

A face on the screen. Reminded me of that 1980's Apple advert relatd to Big Brother.

The Bean.

We walked around for a bit. The we had lunch of bagels and doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts. I wanted to walk further, but after noticing how tired my dad looked (must be low blood sugar or high), we decided to return to the car and drive around the coastal road overseeing The Great Lake Michigan.

The area near the beach (as they call it, even for lakes although it is not a sea) are more touristy with Museums, Aquarium and Planetarium (I think). Found a parking spot and went to visit The Aquarium. It was so freaking big! And it costs USD 20 for each person. Ugh.. Why can't nice places have low entrance fees?

Although the sun was shining, the beach side was realllllyyy freezing and not to mention veeerrryyy windy too! I wasn't bothered much by the wind while I w in the city maybe because the large building blocked most of the wind movement, but here if you had an umbrella, you'll be Mary Poppin off to London. So that's why Chicago is called The Windy City.

We drove around the city in the car for the rest of the day because we cannot tahan the cold wind. I felt it was such a shame that I can't explore it on foot and walk into places that we saw (a funfair near a pier, some shops, art museums, etc). Maybe next time, when I get to stay in Chicago for a week. I really hope I'll be back again, coz I want to eat Garret's Popcorn in it's birthplace.

Ps: by the way, did I mention that while lurking inside a Main Building trying to find a tourist information counter, I saw Rahm Emanuel. I think he's the mayor or something, but a person of importance behind Obama's rise to Presidency.

Saturday, 5 January 2013

USA Trip: Miami, Ohio

I should pick up where I dropped off last year. I hope I could still remember the details.

The next stop was to go to Miami University, not in Florida where Horatio Caine works, but in Ohio. The drive up to Miami took about one hour or so. As usual, the scenery are mostly of small farms and landcrops. Reminds you of Smallville.

Miami University is where my dad did his PhD back in the 80's. The place is a University town, not as big as Purdue or Bloomington. Being a small town, naturally people are friendly. But I could imagine feeling 'kepam' if I stayed here. lolz.

We visited a few places, namely the town centre, the bookstore (which is a must at every university town we visited), and looked around the University grounds, which were quite (almost!) empty due to the summer break. The buildings are well kept. Doesn't look run down or very old. I think local uni should take down a note or two. Maybe it's the weather that prevents mold from growing on walls, but our Uni's especially UM should buckle up a bit.

The place my parents wanted to see the most was our old rented house. Here it is. My mom said it looked as it was back in the days, plus new paints and everything. It is nice to see your parents smile reminiscing over the days when they were living here. Good thing the building was not demolished or anything.

Before leaving, we stopped by Lake Monroe (I think that is the name), a place where my dad used to go fishing and we had our picnics here. Maybe there are old pictures of us having a nice time here tucked somewhere in the old albums.

I love to be this guy.

Monday, 14 November 2011

Panoramik

Gambar ni tak pasti sangat samada Gunung-ganang Ranau atau Kundasang. Tetapi yang pasti dibelakang saya adalah Taman Kinabalu.

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Aku Dibawah Bayu (3)

Tinggi-tinggi Gunung Kinabalu,

Tinggi lagi sayang sama kamu,

Biru-biru hujung Kinabalu,

Tengok dari jauh hati saya rindu.

Apa guna pergi luar negeri,

Naik Kinabalu hati saya rindu..

Saya telah membuat keputusan untuk melihat Gunung Kinabalu pada hari berikutnya. Memandangkan tiada bas shuttle yang bertolak awal (7am) ke bandar KK, saya terpaksa menaiki kereta sapu seperti yang dibuat oleh orang lain. Antara bas dan kereta, kedua-duanya pergi ke destinasi yang sama, Plaza Warisan. Tambangnya hanya RM1.50 sahaja. Dari situ saya berjalan kaki ke stesen bas ke luar bandar.

Tibanya di stesen bas, ramai yang datang bertanya "Mau ke Kundasang? Mau ke Sandakan? ...." pastikan anda mau cari bas yang pergi ke Ranau sahaja.

Bas macam ini...

Pukul 8 saya telah berada di dalam bas. Tapi bas ini takkan bergerak hingga penuh penumpangnya. Saya terpaksa menunggu selama 1 jam lebih untuk itu. Kalau nak cepat, kenalah naik Unser, kena tunggu 7 orang saja. Tapi saya tak berani sebab saya hanya seorang saja ke sana. So, tunggu lah.. sambil tunggu sambil bersembang dengan penumpang2 yang lain. Penduduk di sini hanya memanggil gunung yang tertinggi di Malaysia sebagai "Gunung" sahaja. Kalau ditanya, cakaplah "Mau ke Gunung".

Kanak-kanak yang menaiki bas ini akan dapat plastik setiap seorang, kiranya mereka mau muntah. Hehehe.. it's going to be a very long ride to Ranau kids...

Tiba di Taman Negara Kinabalu lebih kurang pukul 11 pagi. Sayang sekali kabus sudah naik ke atas dan menutupi Gunung Kinabalu. Saya pun terus masuk ke kedai mencari poskad yang ada Gunung tanpa kabus.

Sayang Kinabalu disebalik awan

Macam ni pun boleh lah.

Agak kecewa, saya pun pergi berjalan2 menerokai Taman Kinabalu, ikut trek-trek hutan yang pendek, masuk ke dalam galeri dan muzium serta ke Taman Botani. Cadangnya nak habiskan masa, mana tau mungkin petang2 sat lagi kabus akan hilang jua.

Saya masuk hutan....

Anak sungai. Sejuk sampai kebas kaki.

Saya jalan2 di tepi jalan, dan jumpa rafflesia.

Jumpa Rafflesia yang terbesar disitu.

Saya masuk ke dalam galeri dan muzium.

NOPE! Chuck Testa!

Saya bersiar2 ikut Jalan Kinabalu, pusing satu round, jumpa pokok seri pagi yang besar-besar. Terfikir saya, dulu sering jumpa bunga seri pagi dirumah pada setiap pagi, tapi sekarang jarang sangat. Mungkinkah sebab suhu sekarang sudah panas? Di Gunung seri pagi kembang hingga ke tengah hari...

Seri pagi yang kembang di tengah hari.

Saya pun pergi makan dan minum teh panas di tempat ini (lupa pula namanya) yang menyediakan buffet tengah hari pada kadar RM50.45. Saya pun makan lah sebanyak-banyak yang saya mampu.

Jam menunjukkan pukul 4 ptg. Kabus masih lagi enggan beredar, malah kadang-kala mega mendung datang menjenguk. Risau saya kalau-kalau tiba-tiba hujan lebat turun, kerana ia mungkin akan menyukarkan saya pulang ke KK. Maka saya pun buat keputusan untuk pulang.


Pemandangan gunung-ganang dari Taman Kinabalu. Sayuuuppp sahaja.

Cabaran perjalanan pulang sama seperti perjalanan untuk datang. Menunggu kenderaan untuk penuh. Kali ini saya menaiki Unser untuk turun. Saya tunggu dekat satu jam juga dengan pemandu saya. Sambil menunggu, sambil bersembang hal2 geography, sejarah, gossip2 artis Sabah, tempat2 menarik di sini dan sebagainya. Better to get to know your driver than have an awkward long drive home.

Singgah sebentar di tepi jalan. Nampak air terjun keluar dari gunung dibelakang saya.

Friday, 30 September 2011

Aku Dibawah Bayu (2)

Sunday is a special day because it's Gaya Market Day (Pasar Gaya). Went there early, 8 am and the place was already packed! I was greeted by a crowd gathering at the entrance of the market looking at a stall giving opportunities to people to take pictures with a giant snakes. Those kids (pic below) are very brave in doing so.

You can see a lot of people selling various wierd and wonderful stuff. Apart from souvenirs and food (that's sold everywhere, everyday), one compelling theme was the selling of animals. If you're an animal activist, maybe you have to close both eyes. It's normal to see a cage full of puppies, chickens, cats, etc.

Birds, Ikan Laga, a large snake, cute puppies in a basket.

Penat jalan, rehat kat sini

As I was walking down Gaya Road, a faint memory came into mind... was thinking to myself, "this place reminds me of Las Ramblas in Barcelona..." Gaya Market stretches long into the end of the road. There's a water fountain in the middle break.

long stretch of road filled with stalls

The stalls are reiteration of the same stuff, over and over again. But you never get tired of looking at the things these people are selling. Once in a while, there's a unique stall selling different thing from others.


Sea shells are sold not by the sea shore. An uncle demonstrating his skills, flower seeds, plants and souvenir magnets and thingamabobs.

This is Gaya Street during the market (top) and after it's done (bottom).

Later that day, I went to see wet market next to the promenade. A lot of pictures, but mostly with me blocking the view, I should seriously stop doing that.

Zzzzz....

Saw these youths sleeping of fish boxes shielded from the hot sun by a large umbrella.They must've been knackered after hauling large fishes like these ones below...

Goreng pon sodap.

It wasn't long when the sun started to set. After all Sabah is 'technically' 1 hr ahead of Msia, but if you read history books, you know our leaders agreed to synchronise the clock between Semenanjung and West Malaysia. A visit to Kota Kinabalu is not complete if you do not walk down the Promenade during sunset.

Mostly people sit at the edge of the barrier to enjoy the sunset. Seriously, I think it's a tragedy waiting to happen. A child might fall off the edge into the water. The authorities should quickly finish their work, place fences and put more chairs.

People throw a line or two trying to catch fish here, despite the warning sign painted on the ground. Well, who cares?

Last but not least, spotted a solitary child sitting by himself on a boat enjoying the sunset (or maybe just waiting for his parents to come and fetch him home).

Thursday, 29 September 2011

Aku Dibawah Bayu

This week I'm away. Been sending automated post since Saturday. Currently using internet from free Wi-Fi areas, typically OldTown. Thanks OldTown. I miss my camera. Brought along my old compact from 5 years ago. Taking pictures seems to lost its purpose with a small compact. Anyways, here are a couple of favorites:

Promenade has a Merlin (sans beard and magic staff)

Senjakala yang melarutkan.

Should have seen the later version of sunset. Dark, fiery, bloody red. Alas, the camera's battery 'kong-ed'.

One good thing about a compact is it's easy to take picture of yourself. Was really tricky to do that with a DSLR, now there's a 'Self-Potrait' mode. hehehe..


.... meroyan foto.

After looking at this and many more photos of me in it, I think it's better if I stop ruining the beautiful sceneries by inserting my face in each picture!

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Bidding farewell to a loyal companion

I just sold my trusty DSLR camera to a dear friend. It's a bitter sweet feeling letting the camera go. It feels surreal knowing that the camerabag is empty.

The DSLR is my loyal travel companion. It's the first thing that I pack when I'm leaving to some place. For Godsakes, it has its own special bag (which Yuna complimented as nice and cool when I met her the other day). That camera was like my extended limb during my travels. I decided to buy a dslr two weeks before I left for India. That was its first maiden journey with me. From then on, we went to many places and continents together. India, China, Denmark, Brunei, United States and many other local destinations together. The greatest time I had with the dslr was when I mounted it on a telescope that was the size of a large bucket and captured images of the moon. Even staying idle at home, we had great times experimenting with lighting and taking stills.

Time to move on onto greater things. I will still be taking pictures, but from a smaller and simpler camera. Maybe I'll get a new dslr body (I still have the prime lens, zoom lens and flash unit with me), but not so soon. There are other things that's more important now.

Goodbye dslr. I hope your new owner will take good care of you and fully utilise you like I did, ot maybe even better.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, 29 May 2011

USA Road Trip: Purdue University, West Lafayette

... We landed in LA around 7pm and waited around the airport till next morning. There was no point of booking a hotel room since our first flight was at 6 am and technically we had to be at the airport again at 3-4 am in the morning.

LA airport, no matter if it's one of the busiest airport in the world, is NOT like KLIA, which I think is more comfortable and convenient for transit passengers.

The next morning came and we flew to Chicago. Our host, my dear brother, picked us up and we went straight for brunch... halal KFC. They have GRILLED chicken for those who opt not to have their meal fully dipped in cooking oil. A much more healthier choice.

Then we were on our way to our next stop. Get more chicken, the raw ones. The kids have planned for a barbeque.

Next stop, straight to the chicken shop

And the next following stop, Chicago's Mosque. Mosques abroad, seldom looks like any regular mosque in Malaysia. They're either a large house or an apartment. This one looks like a large house. Unfortunately for me, the sister's room was closed (and the mosque not always open), so had to ask help from a local brother. He brought us to a nearby muslim restaurant and said we could pray there. May Allah bless him.

Now we are finally on the road to West Lafayette, where my brother studied.

Caught a glimpse of Chicago (later about chicago)

After 2.5 hrs of driving (btw, roads and highways are far different from PLUS highway, we should be lucky that PLUS highway is the way it is. But that's another story).

We finally reached the apartment.

The following day when everyone's battery is fully charged. My brother took us out to show his place. Purdue University. We were lucky that day the temperature outside was 85'F (exercise: please convert to 'C) and that was one of the few days where we don't need to wear more than 1 layer of clothes.

Purdue University is located in West Lafayette, just right next to the city of Layatte. Both are separated by a river called the Wabash River. The name Purdue University was given in honour of Mr John Purdue, who donated his land to build a university, which was founded in 1869. I was thinking to myself, surely banyak pahala dia dapat kalau dia muslim.

We went in and out of building structures, sat on the lawn, took a glimpse of the library and went to the student union. One thing about the student union (otherwise called Memorial Union) is that place is nice. Nothing like Cardiff's where every corner reeks of spilled beer. Or UM/USM's that looks like a half finished building. (Selamba je kutuk). This one is like a museum, they even have information counter that has a person waiting there to help. And there are stores like Starbucks, cafes, bowling alleys, locker rooms, computer store that sells Apple products. And Purdue is not the only one place that has a rocking Student Union, I've been to other 3-4 uni's and they're like that as well. Pergh!

Alright, now a Pop Quiz...

"Who was the first person to step foot on the moon?"

This guy, Neil Armstrong.

Guess where he got his aeronautical engineering degree from? Purdue University.

It got me thinking, They sent an aeronautical engineer off to the moon. While we send a doctor/model/entrepreneur off to visit space. That's a big difference.

Just sayin' yo.

But in all due respect to Dr, the experiments he did out of this world was related to medicine (although I wonder how much is it related to his area of expertise?). Can I get a progress report on how that research is going Dr? Well, it's my money too. I paid my taxes.

These pictures are from the inside and outside of the school of Aeronautical Engineering that produces about a dozen of astronauts that went to space. Looking at it's track record, no doubt it is a great Engineering school.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Went to the Electrical Engineering school,

which somehow confuses me. Why? It's because the walking halls are decked with the works from Ansel Adams (he's only the MOST renowned landscape photographer!!) and also mind tricks images, like the bat-dove image below. It made me wonder if this is is an art school or an engineering school?

Bottom right is a picture of the earth from space signed by Armstrong to his friend "To Carl, share our view of Earth. Hope you see it personally some day. -Neil."

Walked around the campus.

Which was an open campus. It was so big, I think it occupied most of West Lafayette. There was a school that had all these affirmations made on a plaque and were placed on the ground.

This is a story about the bell tower. There's a superstition going around among the students that if you walked underneath the bell tower while it rang (or tolled), that person will not graduate. You can bet people get pretty nervous walking next to the tower, especially students ;)

The (in)famous Bell Tower.

A visit to the football stadium.

The students there associated themselves with the university sports team. Sports is big in the states. They even have leagues for universities. And all students like, pledge themselves for their universities football or basketball team that is has became something like a tradition. This is one thing I find different from UK. The only team most people associate with over the pond are fancy football teams like, oh you know... Man U. lol.

Ross-Ade Stadium.

Purdue has two mascots The Boilermaker Special (which is the train) and Purdue Pete (a boilermaker). What is a 'boilermaker'? It's is a monicker given decades ago by journalist to these group of students, and they took it as a complement. Now Purdue students recognises themselves as Boilers.

Scenes around the stadium.

A boilermaker is the hardworking humble man who builds and molds metals to create a sturdy structure. Back in the days, engineering studies meant having to do hands-on work like that.

A humble hard working boilermaker and the moon which a Boilermaker went to set foot on ;)

Okay, one last picture.. This is a special one, because it's one of my favorite (among all shared here). I love the long summer days especially in the evening where the sun still lingers and it gives that dreamy golden hue in the sky.

Which one is your favorite story or picture?