Blessed Christmas

I received a pleasant surprise on the eve of Jesus' birth. There was a call from my condominium concierge, informing me that I had a package from Santa.

Thinking she was joking about Santa, I went down to collect it.

The package was in a Macy's shopping bag with a red ribbon. Written on a star-shaped card was my name, unit number and Santa?

I am keeping this card to compare the handwriting of my friends where I will undertake a crash course on graphology to narrow down the 'suspects'. So to Santa, beware! I am coming after you to unveil you (smile).

Inside the package was a nativity set where I displayed on top of my TV which faced my bed so that I would sleep and wake to it.

The nativity set is a good reminder of God's love.

Thank you, Santa (whoever you are)!

Christmas lightup at NYC, Dec 12-14

I had never been to the Big Apple during Christmas season nor took pictures of it at night.

On Dec 12, I was guided by Tom, an ex-New Yorker, to walk along Fifth Avenue where Lord & Taylor had wonderful, traditional window displays. As I did not like to use flash because of the harsh light effect on subjects and the light bouncing off the window, I had set my aperture to F3.5 and shutter speed to 1/20 seconds.

It did not help that I did not have a tripod and fellow viewers were walking into my view and looking at the displays too. Timing was essence.

The star-war effect was taught to me by Charles where I set my shutter speed to 1/20 seconds and twisted my zoom lens while capturing a Christmas tree.

At Rockefeller Center, there was a sea of people gathered at the Rockefeller Plaza where angels with trumpets drew your attention to the eight-ton, 72-foot Norway spruce in the center. Below the gigantic Christmas tree were people skating at the Rockefeller Ice Rink. Opposite to the tree, snowflakes danced to a tune on the facade of Saks Fifth Avenue. Bare trees around the rink were adorned with lighting, adding to the Christmas mood.





Thereafter, we proceeded to Times Square where I had a "light" overload. Lighted billboards, advertising musicals, brands, etc, were on every corner. We also went inside a M & M's store that had three floors of merchandise related to M & M's such as towels, mugs, jewelery, etc, and of course, chocolate.

The next day, we passed by Central Park Zoo which used to be free. The giant 'web' was the roof of a pavilion in the park.

My hand was frozen and painful at the end of the day when I took New Jersey cityscape from Manhattan pier. The wind made the cold unbearable.

Overall, I enjoyed this trip, having a deeper insight to life in NYC since I would not have ventured to tour the less-touristy places on my own.

Christmas at NYC photo album.

Stretching your dollars

In this bad economic time, thriftiness is a virtue. Here are some ways to lower the grocery bill by changing our daily habits.

Toiletries come in different containers and shapes. For example, a pump bottle would need a certain minimum volume of liquid to dispense. In the first picture, I found there was still about 1 cm of moisturizer left which could not be dispensed. By cutting the bottle, I was amazed at the number of times I could apply with the remaining moisturizer. Do cover the opening with a Saran wrap to prevent evaporation.

The next picture was my shower gel bottle. Because of its viscosity, most of the shower gel would adhere on the inner wall before reaching the opening. By inverting the bottle, all the gel would be collected at the opening. To get the last bit out, you could dilute the gel with a tiny volume of water. Similarly, you could dilute shampoo and conditioner with water.

The third picture depicted a rolled up toothpaste tube. Squeezing along and rolling up the tube as you used helped to consolidate the paste for easy squeezing as recommended on the tube.

The last picture was my facial cleanser which I cut into half. There was still a lot left on the inner wall though I could not squeeze it out. So, invert and let gravity does its job. Remember to keep the opening folded to prevent the cleanser from drying out.

Avoid grocery shopping on an empty stomach as I found that I tend to buy more food.

Check through your home for the things running low and make a grocery list to prevent buying unnecessary things or items you already had.

Buying things in bulk or larger size is usually cheaper.

Buy items on discounts offered at supermarkets which often rotate items on sale. I often buy toiletries to store since they have no expiry date. Use coupons and mail-in-rebates.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend (Nov 27)

After celebrating my birthday with lots of eating, the next feasting occasion was Thanksgiving which followed closely behind. Thanksgiving was celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November,

I had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday where I had a East-West Thanksgiving dinner of sambal prawn, pork braised in dark soya sauce, traditional stuffed-turkey, pecan pie etc. Cecilia and Josephine co-hosted this wonderful dinner and I avoided alcohol since I had to drive back to Baltimore from Camile Drive in Potomac, MD.

On Thanksgiving, I was invited by Yih Yng to his Singaporean Thanksgiving of chicken rice, salmon sashimi, Thai-curry pork, Szechuan soup and roasted beef. His culinary skill was superb. I realized I could not gorge as much as before. Sign of aging and lack of exercise.

On Black Friday, Joe, his family, and I headed to Hagerstown Prime Outlet, armed with discount coupons printed online. We reached around 9am and collected our membership cards which we applied online. With our new membership card, we split the cost of a $5-coupon booklet.

Thereafter, I headed straight to Adidas where I spent $77 on running gears. As I was looking for a humidifier and a travel hair dryer, I went into Black and Decker. There was no sign of either item but there were lots of Jo!e products which I had been collecting. There were pans, spatulas, measuring equipments, fridge magnets, tongs, cutting board etc. After spending $65, my collection would be almost complete. Yipee.

We only left Hagerstown around closing time, clocking my record of a 12-hour shopping spree! In total, I spent about $400.

On Saturday, we met again to do grocery shopping. I had not gone to AA Supermarket or HMart since Jianshi's in-laws came one month ago. I had to replenish Thai jasmine rice, leafy vegetables, tuna steak, and Chinese dumplings. We also dropped by Sam's club. My grocery bill came up to $150. To end the day, we had a delicious dinner at Szechuan House in Lutherville.

We visited Jianshi's newborn son and went to Towson Town Center on Sunday. I just bought a facial cleanser at Nordstrom Rack as mine was running out.

After five days of driving around shopping, doing errands, and eating, I was exhausted. Life returned to normalcy today.

Patterns in the sky

These were the photos taken at DC where my theme was sky.

The first was shot at The Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, inside the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.



This was taken during dusk when the evening sun was peering through dark overcast.



The picture was blurred which is why I need a monopod.

Celebrating my birthday

I celebrated my 33rd birthday today and I am touched by the many surprises, well wishes, gifts and love I get from around the globe!

My first gift to myself was my promotion from a postdoctoral fellow to a faculty position as a research associate at Johns Hopkins University. My other satisfaction would come from publishing my influenza manuscripts.

My first surprise was on Thu, Nov 20 when my Singaporean friends wanted to give Wenmin a pre-birthday surprise. So, we gathered at her apartment corridor with a side table and a waffle maker while she emerged from the elevator. She was surprised and touched by our gesture. She kept covering her face or turning away while I took pictures of her. Then, my friends suddenly took out a photography catalog with a $100 gift card and presented to me. I was truly surprised because I did not tell them my birthday. I had thought we were only celebrating for Wenmin's.

The gift card story began on Nov 14, when Tiah Ling overheard that I was interested to buy a monopod or tripod. So, she emailed me on the pretense of seeking my advice on which to buy. Instead, I told her it would depend on how she would use it. I was very 'politically correct'. Thus, she got nothing out of me and decided to get the gift card.

My friends from France, one studying in Germany, and my best friends and Godson in Singapore emailed, skyped or left well wishes on Facebook. My young nephews, Anselm and Maximus, called and sang to me the animal birthday song which they learned from the movie Madagascar. This is the lyrics: Happy birthday to you. You live in a zoo. You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too. Listening to their innocent voices singing this song brought a big smile on me.

I also had a delicious dim sum lunch yesterday when I 'dragged' Tom to Silver Spring. It helped to satisfy part of my food craving that I had built up over two years away from Singapore. Also, I got my bath scale which I had wanted to buy. I am putting on weight as I have put off going to gym and eating out often.

On Sunday evening, Vladimir, Dijana and I had gone for a walk around Loyola College. On our back, Vladimir treated me to dinner at Petit Louis Bistro, a French restaurant, at 4800 Roland Avenue. The restaurant was cozy with a fireplace, food was delicious and the prices were reasonable.

I had a restful sleep with my stomach stuffed with good food from Sunday.

This afternoon, Wenmin passed by my lab to give me a card, Cape Cod potato chips and M&M's (R) Premiums Triple Chocolate. After watching the program Unwrapped on the Food Network, I had been searching high and low for this brand to try out the salt and vinegar flavored potato chip. Now, I know where to get them.

As for today's dinner at Szechuan House Corporation at 1427 York Rd, Shiying, Clive, Tiah Ling and Yih Yng sacrificed their studying time to accompany me even though they had final exam tomorrow. Food was delightful and the company was fun. Shiying casually mentioned to the waitress that it was my birthday today. After clearing our table, I was wondering why it had taken so long for the waitress to come out with the fortune cookies. When she emerged, she was carrying a cake and sang the normal birthday song. It was an ice cream cake on the house. Life is full of surprises.

Counting my blessings

Lady Luck began smiling at me when I won a ticket lottery for the musical, Wicked, which saved me $65 on Oct 23.

Recently, I won my bid for "Basic Economics" by Thomas Sowell on eBay, saving only $2.22. Though the saving was little, it was better than none in this bad economic time. This was my second attempt at bidding for something and won.

In time of job retrenchment and high jobless rate, I have a choice of two good positions for my career.

Paraphrasing Thomas Sowell "Life does not ask what we want but offers us choices."

Capturing autumn colors in Baltimore City

Initially, my Singaporean friends had intended to take pictures of fall along Skyline Drive in Virginia. However, no one was interested to drive 6 hours just to take the pictures.

So, I decided to cycle around Baltimore City since there would always be subjects to capture if I looked hard enough. It would also serve to showcase Baltimore's charms, which coincidentally is one of Baltimore's slogans, called Charm City. Unfortunately, most of the trees had shed their leaves by the last weekend due to wind and rain. I had to find trees with leaves and not just branches.

My hunt took me to Guilford Avenue where colorful row houses lined the street and Jones Falls Trail with the arc waterfall, reminding me of Niagara Falls on a much smaller scale.

As the sun set earlier at 5pm, my last shots were along Roland Ave where the golden rays illuminated a line of trees with yellow leaves. The driveway was covered with fallen leaves which left a deep impression of the beautiful colors of red, orange and yellow.

Baltimore fall pictures.

USA Presidential Election 2008

I considered myself fortunately to witness a historic presidential election during my stay in USA. The political scene and campaigning is different from back home.

I especially get a kick out of watching Saturday Night Live Presidential Bashing where politicians are the butt of jokes. Politicians were game to play along with the acts. The political freedom here is truly something.

Way to go for electing an African-American to be president. Change for the better is on the horizon.

A 'clip' on my Achilles

After experiencing a nagging pain around my right heel in June, I have not been running since then.

I limp slightly when I wake up each morning, and my right heel hurts if I run or even do a brisk walk. After resting for three months, the pain was still there. I finally consulted with my doctor who referred me to a podiatrist at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

My appointment was on Election Day, Nov 4 2008. As I filled up their questionnaire online, I could arrive 10 minutes prior to appointment in contrast to 30 minutes and the specialist kept thanking me for filling it online. Strange.

I had to wear a lead gonad shield to protect my heirloom from x ray during three exposures.

Instead of developing the films, x rays were downloaded to a computer where I saw some bone growing around my Achilles tendon, thus restricting my movements. My diagnosis was Achilles tendinitis.

His advice was to stretch my calf muscle four times daily to compensate for the shortening of the Achilles tendon.

My advice: Warm up before running and down after running. Living with it is troublesome.

Fatten up before visiting the Windy City, Chicago

After completing my first draft of my manuscript on Oct 21, a deadline which I gave myself, I went for a vacation in Chicago, Illinois. As I had been working on it for months, I needed a break so I could revise it after this trip with comments from my supervisors.

On Oct 22 (Wed), I nearly missed my flight as I had forgotten to check the schedule for the MARC train. My flight was to depart at 9.21 am and I was still not check-in at 8.30 am. It did not helped that the train was traveling slower than usual because of a delay ahead!

Upon reaching the Baltimore-Washington International Airport Station, there were only two cabs in sight. I intended to hail the first cab but the money-minded driver said he would not take me and told me to wait for the free shuttle to the terminal. Shortly, another passenger came and he took off, earning $55. How I knew he earned $55 was because I had to listen to the second cab driver complaining that I should have sat in the first cab, without telling him where I was going. Initially, he also said that he was not going to take me. I told him I would pay him $20 for the short trip to the terminal and he relented. After he had cooled down, we chatted about the weather and where I came from. He seemed to be a nice guy; he was just irritated by the work ethics of the first cab driver.

Due to security rule concerning fluids on flights, I had wanted to check-in my haversack but was told that the gate was closed. After getting my boarding pass, I ran quickly towards security, inquiring a Transportation Security Administration officer if I could bring my tubes of moisturizers and a used bottle of Cepacol spray for relief of sore throat. She said they were fine after checking them but I did not zip up the side pocket containing the fluids and passed my haversack through the x-ray machine. There was a fluid alert after my haversack went through and the officers checked that they were less than 3 ounces (100 ml).

After security clearance, I 'flew' to my departure gate and arrived in the nick of time. It was boarding my section. During the 2-hour flight, I read up a Chicago 2000 travel guidebook on places-of-interest and transportation maps, hoping nothing big had changed.

On arrival at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, I gained 1 hour because Chicago is in the central time zone. The airport had five terminals and I had to navigate through the big maze to take the blue line subway. Thinking I would hop on and off the public transportation a lot, so I bought a 3-day visitor pass ($12). It took about 50 minutes to Downtown.

I headed towards Chicago Cultural Center which was a former public library but is now a cultural center and has a visitor information center. The interior design is beaux-arts style and the 38-foot dome in the Preston Bradley Hall is the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome, worth an estimated $35 million. Music lovers can attend free concerts during weekdays at 12.15pm.

From the visitor center, I chose a river architecture cruise along Chicago River where a certified guide gave anecdotes of tall skyscrapers along the river. The wind was chilly. Behind me in the background is Sears Tower (with two poles).

While walking along the street, I noticed staircases leading down. I decided to investigate and saw it was a separate 'world' of streets and garages, lit by lamps. There was a bum who saw me taking pictures and headed toward me. I fled up the stairs before he came near to me.

I also saw Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate at the Millennium Park. I liked his work after seeing them at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art. People were amazed at the visual effects standing under the Cloud Gate. Other interesting features include the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, BP Bridge, The Crown Fountain and The Lurie Garden.

At dusk, I had intended to go up Sears Tower to take pictures of sunset. My plan was upset when I was held up, having to go through Sears Tower presentation. It is the tallest building in the Northern Hemisphere and the third tallest building in the world. The sun had set when I was at the Skydeck. I tried my best to capture the twilight with Chicago lit up while holding my breath to prevent blurring.

I checked in to my hotel around 9.30 pm and was exhausted. My cough was worse after a grueling day of sight-seeing and the cold air. I had caught a cold in the freezing water after my intermediate white water kayaking trip on Oct 19.

Early next morning, I had complimentary breakfast at my hotel. I set out around 8 am which was too early for any attraction to be opened. I decided to walk from Diversey Parkway towards Downtown.

First in the list was Lincoln Park where I visited The Notebaert Nature Museum which had a free admission for that day. It had environmental exhibits catered toward children. However, I enjoyed taking pictures of butterflies in the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven.

Next, I visited the Lincoln Park Zoo which is free and opens 365 days. The animal exhibits are good, considering it is free. I managed to see wolves up close since I did not see any during my Yellowstone trip. Bald eagles were within camera shot. I detoured to the Lincoln Park Conservatory which houses tropical palms and ferns before finishing the 35-acres zoo.

Some of Chicago’s most expensive real estate and and most historic architecture can be found in the neighborhoods of State Parkway, Lake Shore Drive, and Astor Street, nicknamed The Gold Coast. Residents living along Lake Shore Drive could have a good view of the stupendous Lake Michigan.

There were actually choppy waves in the lake which resembled those at sea. The water was cold and wind was strong.

Thereafter, I walked along the Magnificent Mile, akin to New York's Fifth Avenue. I also visited John Hancock Observatory since I did not take pictures of Chicago at daylight. Visitors could also drop by the Old Water Tower and Pumping Station to inquire at another visitor information center.


As the weather forecast for Thursday night would be raining, I did not want to wander in the rain or stayed at my hotel. So, I thought of catching the musical, Wicked in the evening. I traveled to Ford Oriental Theater three times. First, when I wanted to buy the ticket; but at $90, I was not keen. The cashier told me I could enter for a lucky draw at 5.30 pm where a pair of tickets at $25 could be won. Second time, I turned up for the lucky draw after completing my Magnificent Mile tour. I was the second winner and this was my second win in 32 years. Between then and the show, I wanted to try the deep-dish pizza for dinner. I walked towards Pizzeria Uno where I had to wait 1 hour for the pizza to be cooked because of its thickness. I had to settle for McDonald's.

I was impressed by the elaborate interior design of Ford Theater and was taken aback when I entered the hall. It had long drapes of velvet curtains and richly ornamented walls, chairs, etc. Forty winners of the lucky draw got to sit on the two front middle rows of the theater where I could even see the mole on an actress. I enjoyed the story of how the Wicked Witch became 'wicked' with reference to the Wizard of Oz story. It was raining when the musical ended.

On Friday Oct 24, I went to Navy Pier which is a great place for kids to hang out. With plenty of time to spare, I tried to have the famous deep dish pizza. There was no long line like the previous night and I sat at the bar counter. I was recommended the express personal pizza which took 25 minutes. The depth measured about 1.5 inches.

Thereafter, I visited Grant Park where the Buckingham Fountain was under renovation. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Art Institute of Chicago which houses a good collection of famous works like Van Gogh's. The paperweight collection was colorful and intricately designed.

I had wanted to taste home food when I saw the Penang Restaurant in Chinatown. However, it ran out of business and I ate at a Chinese restaurant.

Overall, I was impressed by the architecture of Chicago and the good transportation system. The weather was chilly. It is best to fatten up so as not be blown away by wind and to insulate against the cold in the Windy City.

Butterflies pictures.

Chicago pictures.

Great Falls from a different perspective

Last year around October, I visited Great Falls and from the trail, I saw people kayaking rapids. I secretly wished I could be on the rapids though I thought it was dangerous.
By a twist of fate, one year later on Oct 19, Sun 2008, I was on an intermediate white water kayaking trip on the Potomac River.

It was a cold Sunday and we each put on a wet suit, a splash jacket, a personal flotation device, a skirt and a helmet.

We had to carry our kayaks over some distance since the launch site was far away from the parking lots.

Before heading out to the river, we practiced rolling and none was successful on our first attempt. We were not used to the bulk and the water was freezing cold.

As I head out onto the river from an eddy, my kayak was caught by the current and I flipped. I tried to roll but was unsuccessful. I had to wet exit. It was embarrassing to be the first to wet exit on the trip.

After getting back into the kayak, I started to enjoy the scenery and saw hikers looking down at us from the trail. It was a different view, looking up at them from the river.

Great Falls pictures.

Boston, The Walking City. July 18-21

I am catching up with my postings since I had not been updating regularly for the past few months.

As my Ph.D. supervisor was working at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, I thought of visiting him and passing him my hard-bound thesis to him for mentoring me. It was also a chance for me to visit Boston.

He offered me his place to stay during my visit. It was located 5 minutes from where he worked. I arrived in Boston on July 21, Friday and took The Boston Subway, known as T to Longwood Station. I alighted at The Government Center to transfer from blue line to green line. Instead, I crossed to the opposite platform and took the blue line heading back towards the airport. I snapped out of my daze and jostled with the evening commute back to Longwood. That was when I learned about the inbound and outbound directions with reference to Downtown.

I also met my ex-colleagues who were currently working with my Ph.D. supervisor. I was given a tour of his laboratory by Guanglan. Thereafter, all of us went to Legal Seafood for dinner. I did my homework to check out which restaurants in Boston offered the best seafood and their chef's specialties. I ordered grilled swordfish and clam chowder. This was my first time eating swordfish and I found the meat tasteless. The clam chowder had a smooth texture and creamy taste which I wolfed down happily. For dessert, I had Boston cream pie which was rich but palatable. By the time we finished dinner, it was passed midnight as we were seated only around 10pm.

The next day, Guanglan and I went along The Freedom Trail which took us to Bunker Hill, USS Constitution, and graveyards etc. I noticed there were stones and pebbles placed on the tombstones of famous persons such as Samuel Adams. I wondered if this was an American culture.

At Little Italy, we had beer to cool down as the temperature was over 100 degree Fahrenheit that day. I even deliberately got drenched from a fountain. Thereafter, we proceeded towards Union Square Plaza where there was a farmer market selling fresh and cheap produce. I was tempted to buy a punnet of strawberries but the thought of carrying it around squashed the idea.

The trail also led us to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, bustling with street vendors, shoppers and tourists. We passed by Old State House, the State House with the expensive golden dome and finally to Boston Common.

Thereafter, Guanglan treated me to ginger stirred-fried lobsters, goat stew and a plate of greens which cost only $60. It was cheap for the quantity and quality of the food.

On July 20, I toured alone and went to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Fans were buying merchandise from the sports store and touring the stadium. Then, I passed by the Emerald Necklace, which is one of the oldest series of public parks and parkways, where city dwellers can get a respite from hectic lifestyle to garden or enjoy greenery. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who also designed New York's Central Park.

To have a better look of Greater Boston, I went up the Skywalk Observatory located at Prudential Tower with an amazing 360 degree views. I could see Massachusetts Institute of Technology across the Charles River, Fenway Park, the Emerald Necklace, and Downtown.

Coming down from the observatory, I went to the shopping belt of Boston located along Newbury Street. High end stores include Gucci, Chanel and Burberry. I went into Northface to look at the prices for a kick. Visitors interested in sculptures can proceed to Commonwealth Avenue which is a mall of 14 sculptures.

For dinner, I went to B&G Oysters Restaurant where I had half a dozen of raw oysters ($2.50 each) and bacon-wrapped cod. The oysters were smooth and did not smell which was worth the price. The bacon-wrapped cod was perfectly baked and delicious!

On my last day, I went on a 3-hour whale-watch cruise where I saw whales for the first time. There were three minke whales, a mother and its calves. It was awesome to watch them swimming along our ship and diving underneath it. The wind was chilling and even though it was cloudy, I got tanned after the trip.

I also took a quick tour of Harvard main campus where I took a picture with the statue of John Harvard. His left shoe was shining from visitors rubbing it. It was rumored that students peed on it which I thought not possible unless someone was standing on a ladder. Next was Massachusetts Institute of Technology when it started to rain when I reached there.

To wrap up this great trip, I went to Penang Restaurant in Chinatown for comfort food where the waiter had to remind me that I had ordered more than enough for a person. I remembered ordering chicken satay, yong tau foo curry, beef rendang and chendol.

Boston pictures available here.

Conquering rapids

Since my last white water kayaking trip in April, I had been looking forward to beginning of school term in falls as JHU Outdoor Pursuits would be organizing trips again.

I signed up for the beginners' trip on Sep 14 where we kayaked along Violet's Lock. It was the same river I went to for my first kayaking trip.

As safety was paramount in this sports, I went for my rolling session. I remembered that I was able to roll with the kayak model called Pop and practiced in it. I succeeded in rolling eight out of ten times which helped to boost my confidence for the trip. However, I still felt the need to have someone watching over me before I rolled.

The weather on Sunday was perfect. In fact, it was hot and dry as compared to the cold and rainy conditions for my previous two trips. I was able to paddle straight as opposed to the first trip where I was heading left and right except straight. I had learned to control my paddling strokes and use my hip to control the direction I desired.

There was one section of the river where we could practice surfing because of a big hole. A hole is usually formed behind boulders where water is circulated. In order to get to the hole, I had to pass fast flowing current. As I did not tilt my kayak towards downstream, my kayak caught the current and I went down under.

Not feeling panic and refusing to do a wet exit, I went to the starting position of rolling over. With one swipe of the paddle, I got myself upright and was feeling high from 'self-rescuing' myself. Undeterred from my failure, I tried one more time but failed. This time round, after attempting thrice, I could not roll over and drank a lot of Potomac River water. One of the kayak leader did a T-rescue. I was coughing badly after letting some water entered my trachea and my throat as of today, Sep 25, still feels weird. (I was coughing badly for two weeks before this trip and I am not a hypochondriac).

Along one stretch, I T-rescued a fellow participant who had capsized unexpectedly. Fortunately, I saw him since no one was around.

At the last stretch of the trip, I too capsized and tried to roll but failed. I was trying to hold on to the riverbed rocks with one hand and the other to the paddle so that the leaders would not have to retrieve it downstream. I could feel the river current swiping me downstream. After being rescued once again, my hands suffered several small cuts from the rocks.

It was fun and great to be able to roll in rapids but I would need more practice to perfect it. I am considering on the next beginner's trip which is on Oct 5 but it clashes with the river rafting trip I am organizing.

Hooray, my Nikon D70S camera is back in action

After my Yellowstone trip in June 2008, I found there were black specks on every picture I took. Being a perfectionist and a detailed guy, I was upset at the specks marring the pictures, especially of clear, blue skies. This made me uninterested to take pictures till I got rid of those specks.

Since I had two lenses, I tried to determine where the specks could be by switching lenses. Alas, the specks appeared on the exact spots which meant they were inside the camera body.

I sent my camera twice to Nikon Servicing Center (NSC). For the first time, I sent my camera body but they shipped back without doing anything. For the second round, I sent both my camera body and newly bought zoom lens where they replaced some components of the lens. However, the specks were still there.

I was frustrated and felt cheated even though I printed out a picture indicating the locations of the specks.

During my last trip to New York City, I met a guy at The Top of The Rock where I asked him to help me take pictures of me with The Empire State Building. I approached him since he was carrying a Nikon camera too. He asked if he could change the manual settings on my camera. That was my sign to ask him if he could help me identify what was happening to my camera.

He said if there were black spots, then the sensor needed cleaning. For greenish spots, the problem was fungal. He also said any camera repair shop could clean the sensor after I mentioned sending to NSC.

Not willing to be disappointed by NSC again, I searched the internet and found an independent authorized Nikon repair service center. I called them up and was given an estimate of $45 to clean the sensor.

After sending the body to Illinois, I was getting worried when I did not get any phone from them after three business days. Thinking to call them the next day, I got a letter of repair estimate on the same evening. I was shocked to see the bill. It cost $115 plus $12 shipping.

I called the next day to complain why there was so much discrepancy between what was quoted to me and on the letter. There were services which I did not requested such as auto-focusing adjustment, TTL flash etc. After resolving the amount, it was settled at $45 plus $12 delivery.

Just when I thought I should be getting my camera back, it arrived on the same night. I wasted no time to take pictures and check for specks.

I was elated to find the major specks gone from viewing the LCD screen. I would need to transfer to a computer screen to scrutinize the cleaning but I am upbeat about it.

Striking off another "things-to-do-before-I-die" list: Tandem skydiving on 9/21/08

I guess I am not the only one interested to skydive at least once in life. In fact, I think it is a cliche but who cares. For example, in the movie "The Bucket List" starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, one of their wish lists included skydiving.

I had to skydive before I have no guts left and major life commitments prevent me from doing such a risky sports.

The drop zone I went to was Freefall Adventures, located in New Jersey. I was surprised to see a crowd already filling up waiver forms before the official opening hour at 9 am.

There were at least eight pages of waiver form I had to sign and initial, agreeing not to sue if some mishap were to occur to me. I found one item amusing but realistic where I had to fill in any distinguish marks since it meant that my corpse had to be identified by someone.

Participants also need to view a short video clip, emphasizing on the risks involved in skydiving and a longer section on the thrills of skydiving.

I decided to include a video package to capture my first tandem skydiving for memory sake. My senses would be overstimulated from an adrenaline rush.

Rob was my tandem instructor who had 17,000 jumps under his belt and started skydiving since 16. My video cameraman was also called Rob.

After gearing up, we were taught how to exit from the plane, adopt the free fall position by arching the hip, landing with bended knees juxtaposed, and most importantly, pulling the cord to release the parachute at about 5000 feet or the instructor would pull the cord.

The aircraft we boarded had a rectangular, transparent door where I had a good view of things getting tiny since I sat closed to it. I got more nervous as the plane ascended higher. I was having second thought on why I had committed myself to jumping out of a plane at 13,000 feet. I had to psych myself that my life was in good hands.

When we reached an altitude of about 13,000 feet, the door was opened. Rob, the cameraman was the first to jump. I did not have the chance to hesitate since Rob, my instructor, was pushing me towards the door. My heart was in my mouth when we leaped from the plane. I felt I was committing suicide. You could see I opened my mouth during the exit (second photo).

I remembered seeing the clear, blue sky before flipping back to see Earth. As I wanted to feel the full effect of free falling, I was dressed in shorts and a long sleeve with a t-shirt over it. The temperature was cold. We were falling at a rate of approximately 100 feet/second for about 60 s. During this time, Rob was filming and taking pictures of me where I did the Superman's pose and breast stroke or mahjong pose. I was also supposed to hold on to him where we spun around for video taking. I felt a tremendous force pulling us apart when we locked our hands. Rob, my instructor, was spontaneous and posed with me.

I was enjoying the rush of free falling and was shouting away. My mouth dried up quickly when I opened it. The force of the wind was so great that it created folds on my thighs and cheeks.

Oblivious of time and height, Rob pushed my left hand towards my face and I saw the altimeter's needle at 5,000 feet graduation. Conditioned from the safety training, I pulled the cord at my right hip.

The sudden slowing down by the opened parachute caused me to swing up and I could feel the strain around my thighs where I was strapped.

Thereafter, Rob, the cameraman proceeded towards the landing zone to get ready to take my landing shots while I admired the scenery from above.

I had to blow my ears because of the pressure built up from free falling and my voice was coarse from shouting with excitement.

Rob did some maneuvering of the chute where we spun around and I felt the strain again.

Instead of landing on both feet, my left foot got the impact. It was painful but I was uninjured.

The one-minute of free falling was awesome, thrilling, and exhilarating. I would consider jumping again if I have spare cash.

The Last Lecture

After reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch during my travel to New York City this past weekend, I was motivated to think positively. My life is not bad at all. (I am undergoing a period of searching and maturing as I am wrapping up my life chapter as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University.)

Suffering from the certain death sentence of pancreatic cancer, he concentrated on living life to the fullest. The book is a very practical and optimistic way of leaving behind a living legacy, not only to his children but to those seeking fulfillment in life.

Conquering Old Rag Trail, Shenandoah National Park, VA

I went on a hike along Old Rag Circuit at Shenandoah National Park, VA with a group of Singaporeans on Aug 16. This was a physically demanding hike which required climbing, stretching, hopping and balancing to get to the summit of Old Rag Mountain (3291 ft/1003 m). People suffering from acrophobia should be aware that part of the trail runs along cliff edges.

We decided to tackle the challenging part of the hike first, taking Ridge Trail by following the blue markers and returning along Weakley Hollow Fire Road to the Old Rag parking area.

An average of 5.5 hours with half an hour lunch along a 8.8-mile trail took us about 7.5 hours instead as we were busy taking pictures of us scrambling up large boulders and squeezing through crevices, tunnels and caves. I had a good laugh at the poses we did at various parts of the hike. There were crane pose, crouching tiger pose, and Charlie's Angels pose by three guys among others.

We were fortunate to see a black bear on the trail. It looked skinny and I hope it would be fatter in time for its hibernation during winter.

The panoramic views at the summit was well worth the muscle aches and blister I endured. Eagles were hovering high in the sky, catching the wind beneath their wings. I could see rolling mountains touching the horizon. It was very peaceful to sit on the precipice with cool, soothing wind blowing and admiring at the picturesque landscape.

Pictures along Old Rag Circuit Hike.