Good Bye Bill Gates

Bill Gates is finally saying good bye to all of us...not dead...but retired

[who is Bill Gates? Oh, he hate to eat Apple; and although he is rich, his house has Micro-size Windows which is very Soft...]

This post is meant for my appreciation for him and his products, which has changed my life forever.

And thanks his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for sponsoring BBC World Service Radio in Ann Arbor so that I can listen to news to make me sleepy if I'm still not sleepy at 2am...

A crazy trip to Sandusky!

June 19 7:30pm, the crazy journey began...

Our destination: Sandusky...huh? what a dusty sandy small town...
5 persons: DK KS SW YL + me
Transportation: my beloved Amtrak + our legs + cabs

First, we took Amtrak thruway bus from Ann Arbor to Toledo. And the bus has many nice LCD screen playing the 1930's black and white movie...can you guess the movie? It's called "Nothing"...

From Toledo we took the Shore Line Limited toward Sandusky! Yay! And we arrived at around 5am!

With no maps in hand, we start our walking in the quiet little town...and suddenly we saw a 7-11 and then just went in to sight-seeing :) then we kept on moving...and we saw lots of churches...and then Merry Go Round Museum! weird museum...

and we keep on moving and finally we reached the lake side! The great Erie Lake and we found a weird creature...After we (forget to mention we're Fantastic 4 and an Incredible big Hulk) defeated the weird creature , we saw the beautiful sunrise...

And we walked again...until the Incredible Hulk feel so hungry he was busy looking for food...and he finally smelled a McDonald's 100 miles away and yay! We had our breakfast!After having breakfast, everyone just pengsan... except me...

Then after I rescued them we continued our journey...now already 9am...we walked from 5am to 9am!!! without any map.

Then we called a cab to cross the causeway to reach a place where the diet Cheddar cheese is made...and do you know diet cheddar has a shortened name? It's called Cedar! Imagine diet Coca-Cola being called Oca-Ola... [rubbish]

Actually we were heading to Cedar Point! the best amusement park in the planet!

Oh please don't think the Snoopy themed amusement park is just childish...the rides in the park are the best in the world!

So, among the 5 persons, we are divided into 3 categories: DK & I am the true fanatics, SW & KS are "this one ok, this one cannot" category, and YL is our professional back pack guard who safeguarding our back packs because he just had 1 or 2 rides throughout the day...

Oh I never imagined there are so many thrill rides in Cedar Point and I just can't describe how satisfied, how exciting, how crazy the rides were...just simply the best experience in my life!

We (which mean DK & I) started with Demon Drop where we dropped from 131 feet in 6 secs .. and then the thrill never end until the last minute! Ok let me describe some of the best:

Wicked Twister:
the tallest and fastest double-twisting impulse roller coaster in the world

3..2...1...and sprinted toward the sky! WAH!









Sky Hawk:
You kick the sky at 125 feet high in the sky!
And just superb when you being brought down from the highest point!










Maverick:
a new ride built in 2007 that has double launch!
With a drop at 95 degree angle it was just WAH!











Millennium Force:
"Standing a breathtaking 310 feet into the air, this "giga-coaster" will take thrill-seekers on an incredible 92-mph journey along 6,595 feet of track that winds its way through the center of the park, crosses a lagoon and dives onto an island."

We rode this during the night and it was really exciting to drop from that height!!!

And many more thrilling rides such as MaxAir, Magnum. Raptor etc etc...I finally had my dream come true! there was nothing else I want to do in US except trying all these crazy rides!

And we kept the best part to our final minutes in the park! It's the Top Thrill Dragster!!!

The tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world!!

"Riders begin their epic journey aboard this whopping 42-story screamer by securing themselves into ultra-cool trains that resemble top fuel dragsters. The train then moves into a "starting line" position, where it is launched forward, reaching 120 mph in approximately four seconds. The train then zooms straight up the 420-foot-tall hill on track that rotates 90 degrees, crests the coaster's apex and then free falls back to Earth. But hold on, this isn't your father's roller coaster. As the train races 400 feet to the ground, the track twists an unbelievable 270 degrees – what a rush! Riders then return to the station to begin regaling their friends with stories of the greatest ride of their lives"

Imagine 120mph (200km/h) in 4 seconds! and we did it twice consecutively! and WAHHH!

Now get the feeling!

That ended our day in Cedar Point and it was already 10:45pm

But the journey has not ended! We called a cab back to Amtrak train station...and called sandusky Police to open the Amtrak waiting room for us. Yes, it's the police who has the key for the station...Before the police came, there were 4 kids who strayed in the midnight coming to us say we are from Tokyo, Japan... and I told them my name is Michael...

Then the kids went away to search for some other new friend to chat...and the police came and we got into the waiting room to wait for our Amtrak train which was scheduled at 4:55am...

While asleep, 2 African American females came in and chatted loudly and loudly and just disturbing my sleep...they were not waiting for trains and I have no idea who they are...and they left not long after...weird

And at 4:55am we were wide awake waiting the train to arrive but yet again...delay! OH I have experienced so many times in my previous trip [link]...it's a norm...so ok...and finally it came after 1 hour and 40 minutes behind schedule...

And finally we arrived Ann Arbor at 10am.

Wah...what a trip!

yay I'm proud of myself!

After 20 years of infinite attempts, I finally made a Guinness World Record! Not Malaysia Book of Record because that's so cacat, I can simply eat 100 packs nasi lemak and claim I'm the king of nasi lemak, no fun... But this is world record!!!

So let me show off the certificate ok
First I must 'thank you' my parents, my family, my friends, my enemies...no I don't have enemies, my cats, my squirrels, myself and of course,
my Pooh...,
don't judge him as a dumb smiling poo...he beat the firefox!

and also 'thank you' you for sharing my proud moment!

*this is a really lamp post...oh not lamp post, I mean lame post...

Free! Please take one

There's nothing worth living in United States except one thing. You can live here without spending any money...because everything is FREE!

So far I've got free snacks, coffee, cereals, lotion etc etc etc for free! with no terms and conditions applied.

here are some of them...and more to come
How to get them free? go [here] to check out!

You may think those are just small little sample...not really...

I got this 10pcs LightScribe DVD+R worth $15 for free! Wah! I can start lightscribing!
They love to give away free stuffs and I can get free stuffs. So it's win-win :)

Best Employee of the Year! ...and a top SECRET! please don't tell anyone

So today I officially received a Michigan hat (with real gold"M") as compliment of 2008 Best Employee of The Year in Dining Hall category!!

What a great day!

Ok that was a lie...

In fact today was the first day I started to work (or to be trained) in dining hall and that hat is to be given to every employee...

But anyway I'm on my way to win the prize because I've done so many tasks today without causing any troubles.

First, I walked around like a supervisor to check out whether everything was in order...
ie to learn the working of dining hall...

Then I replaced a juice container in the juice machine...

Then I was the "food runner" wh0 ran here and there and in and out just to get the foods to the counter...

After a while I became the server who gave people chicken breast...

And I was upgraded to dishroom afterward...

So how's the dishroom? Oh I finally found the place where foods stolen from Africa are stored (or disposed)! Woo...what a strategic place as nobody will ever think that Michigan has a secret mission: to steal food from Africa and dispose it to nowhere (or somewhere)...

You can see plates and bowls of fully uneaten foods to be thrown into a mysterious state of the art machine which turn those foods to nothing...I wonder if they have a mission call: "send the foods to Mars for humankind's future nevermind the people in Africa now"?

And I wonder if they are trying to experiment whether mars has gravity or not because I saw a big red apple being thrown into the machine...oh no! then the future human have to learn Newton's 4th Law!!!! (4th law says the energy and mass of apple in Mars is still retaining the energy and mass it has in Earth, so it is still an apple...)

Actually I'm the one threw it...but I couldn't save it because they are so many people watching and I can't risk the chance to change the future...if the future Newton (in Mars) can't have the apple drop to his head he won't discover the 4th law...and humankind will be doomed...
and don't forget the employee award!

So after 2.5 hours my job is done!

And with that, I'm a fully trained employee and looking forward next mission! (wonder if they have any more?)

About change

As mentioned in previous post: Change

So what's change?

Is it better to change?

Judge yourself :)


























image credit: venukb

:) haha

Petrol naik harga, so how? protest?

Recently there's petrol price hike in Malaysia (in case you don't know).

Beside Malaysia, India also did the same thing on the same day...co-incidence?

So why suddenly petrol price raised from rm1.92 to rm2.70 and diesel from rm1.58 to rm2.58? Government revamped the fuel subsidies policy! Not only Msia & India, Indonesia and Taiwan also reduced the subsidies. Judging the recent global high fuel price, it's a change that inevitable for Malaysia...(like the change that we Americans can believe in Obama...just for comparison :)

To view my opinions on this issue just go [here]. A post that shares same views.

I lazy to type here...

or [here]

actually same....

by the way, petrol naik harga, cars turun harga la...I can't drive a USD18,000 All new 2009 Camry back to Malaysia...

Blue screen of death!!!!

This is the infamous blue screen of death aka BSOD!! If you never heard of and never encountered, well you are just lucky...what is it?? It's a norm in Windows, when it feels it's tired of listening to your command, it just go BLUE!

So it happened during my physics lab today...just after my partner and I finished collecting data and done some calculations...pop! BSOD! Wah, long time never had BSOD but now it comes out!

Oh no...all data gone...the lab PC is network base and no data will be saved after restart...

so how? so our lecturer just copied data and calculations from other group for us :) and we untung a a bit because the group calculated more than us so I have to thanks the windows XP :)

If you want to try how is BSOD without really having BSOD, go [here]

Reflection . Future . Life

When a person reach a point of his life, it's inevitable to look back at the past...

looking back the my past 20 year, it's a long journey.

Well, some people have plans until the day they feel it's time for eternity sleep (some even decide where to sleep I think)...some people have no plans for life at all...but there's one thing for sure: plans can never be followed 100%; not even 99.99%

In my life, there's many unexpected journeys...I really did a lot beyond my imagination.

Born in a kampung surrounded by padi, now in University of Michigan pursuing my dreams (is it my dreams?), it is not planned...and much of the times I have no plans :)

My memories of the past is still vivid in my life...

story telling time!
at kindergarten, I'm just an extraordinary normal kid...learning and knowing friends...

And as little child, there's nothing to worried about; it's so carefree...and all those afternoons after school playing with siblings and friends around the residential area...and I never really pressing hard to study...and my parents never gave even tiny pressure on academics...and then to primary school.

And for no reasons I've been selected as school prefect and class monitor...And I know I'm not the "tough" disciplinarian so I've done my jobs pretty well with the Mr Good Guy image.

And then life continues...in secondary school. at first admitted to a newly built school but the study environment was terrible...and if I did not decide to switch to GBS...maybe I've ended up as a billionaire now, who knows :)

The most anticipated class was PE...all classes can be cancelled but PE! and I enjoyed playing football every second even though I'm damn cacat at it.

Maybe it's just DNA, I'm not the talkative guy, I'm not outgoing etc, and maybe people have perceived me as a nerd or an introvert person...whatever, I'm just being myself, I'm not a nerd, I don't really study, I love outdoor activities, I love to be friend with others, I am Unique...

And growing older, on top of being the elder brother of two sisters, I've learned responsibilities. Though my 1st sister & I always quarrel and I always kacau my 2nd sister and never shown as a caring brother, I do care about them; and I must say I'm a home guy who just enjoy go back to home for unexplainable reasons. Home is warm...

I've gained invaluable experiences after elected as the St John Ambulance President in school; that's one of the toughest responsibilities. Imagine you are the leader for an active uniform body not only in school but involved in community. Through interaction with all the officers I've learnt; through all those competitions I'm proud; through leading I'm braver. And there's no other greatest moments after emerged as national first-aid competition champion team and received the Grand Prior highest honor for cadet...

and I was at the turning point of life: after SPM.

Form 6 was my only option after rejected both Matrikulasi and JPA before JPA accepted the appeal.

INTEC was another milestone in my life. With no intention to involve in any clubs , it ended up I being the VP for IE Club. Besides, the 1.5 years was a spiritual journey for me when I finally rediscovered Buddhism.

The path from INTEC to Michigan was a real crazy experience...but I'm happy with my decision to come here and I'm on my way to become the weird plant biologist...

20 years, it's just like yesterday, but yet it is so far away; there's sweet memories, but also evil deeds that I wish I could have not done...but we can never go back, and I bet you won't go back even there's time machine, there's no way we can alter the past to be better...there's no perfect life, we just need to acknowledge the past and keep moving.

People always say life is short; not really. When you live to the fullest, you live to be happy and contentious, life is just nice; learn to enjoy.

drink a cup of coffee, listen to music, admiring the views from windows; or go for a trip, take a break, life is enjoyable...

that's just my view of life. Life is to enjoy, live my way of life...and be happy

So relax huh? How to achieve in life?...no need to work? Don't worry, we can achieve because we believe we can.

Michigan squirrel

Aren't squirrels cute? I just don't know why they are cuter than you...but that's the reality...

squirrels are running everywhere in Ann Arbor, and it's such happy moments when I see them and try to approach them but when they act stupid and ignore me then I chase after them...




And squirrels remind me of one special animal: cat!

is

Why? Because squirrels are so ubiquitous here...just like cats in Malaysia...

And let me introduce Nutty!

The candy-loving tree friend in Happy Tree Friends! And they are extremely cute...before it turns out to be bloodyful-not-cute...

So that's squirrels...

Bicycle & Motorcycle & Oh...Memories!

I have a driving license for car, motorcycle and also bicycle...

Frankly, I NEVER drive a car after I passed the driving test...oh yeah...I drove once trying my family's new Avanza (drive a round in my taman) and that's all...the reason: I love motorcycle and bicycle!


There are thousands interesting experiences to share but let's start with a story long long time ago...

Ok, my first bike accident...I have a vivid memory of this event because it happened in my favorite small town called Tanjung Sepat. Since I was small I always anticipating to go back my mom's kampung to visit grandparents and had fun with cousins...miss all those wonderful times...[out of topic la!]...Ok, the accident: My 表哥 gave me a ride and he bumped to a bumper and lost balance and I fell to road...and I remember it took me a very long time before the bruises on my knees disappeared...that was like 4YO

Then this is very funny! About 5or6YO...I crashed a motorcycle! Really! and there was one piece of blue plastic fallen from the motorcycle...and imagined I was riding a miniature bike and my sister ran beside me and I never saw the motorcycle coming from the corner and just banged into its side...and then I have no idea somehow I just got away like that...and this time I'm safe and sound...real Crazy...

Oh...it's so fun riding a bike and I just love riding it around my taman (taman = residential area)

When time passes, eveything changes...so then I have a motorcycle!

Interesting...I was watching my motorcycle banged into a Mercedez Benz by a friend who's trying it out...Ouch...my shiny black Modenas...and it slightly crashed the rear bumper of the mercedez which belonged to our boss! (we were working in a restaurant then...and the incident happened right in front the restaurant...luckily he didn't discover at that time...) and my motorcycle was amazingly tough...it survived with only a few scratches...and from then onward I never let anyone else ride my motorcycle.

and second accident...this was thrilling!
I was enjoying my ride and about to reach a junction...and suddenly I felt a strong force stroke from my right and then a man was thrown infront of me! at that seconds I was totally numbed...and his motorcycle was smashed and pieces falling off after colliding to my motorcycle...the only feeling I had then was the strain I felt on my arms which firmly holding the motorcycle handle...It was a really strong force and somehow i'm holding my motorcycle right at the spot without being thrown...the guy walked up...damn him holding a phone and continued to talk to his friend "I involve in accident la...call you later"! (the accident happened because he came from the opposite side of a one way road!) and I asked about his condition and he seems ok...[he really "fly" from his motorcycle, truth]

Apparently it was his fault so I tried to negotiate with him about compensation but then he denied to have any money and seeing his poor motorcycle I just let it be la...I spent RM70+ to replaced the front "fork" which suffered from misalignment....and some pain in my arms for few days. And I am still wondering how could I hold my motorcycle so firmly. Superman? Perhaps.

Universal truth: motorcycle is not that comfartable as car but I just love it because it's convenient to start, no parking hassle, can park anywhere including kaki lima...can squeeze through traffic jam etc...

but one biggest disadvantage: OH NO Please Don't RAIN!


It's freezing cold to ride in rain!!! and it's such a trouble...and always after I washed my motorcycle to shiny black it rains the next day and became dirty again...

Oh there's one more horrible experience when riding my motorcycle back to my home...it was a wonderful afternoon (so don't expect a ghost riding with me) and I fetched my sister back from friend's house...and when I turned into a road, 2 guys on another motorcycle who look like "stupid barbarians mat rempit bodoh otak sial tak siuman" started horning at us and intimidating us...and even fircely asked us to "berhenti...aku suruh awak henti! henti" (STOP right here) and kept closer to us...and I looked around for any vehicles in sight but to no avail. And I knew whatever they want I won't stop! And I stared at them like I don't care and keep speeding++++
and just fled those 2 idiots who had nothing better to do...at least go eat shit ma. Should have taken down their no. for police report...
and I seems pretty tough huh...actually I trembled after I reach home...what an encounter!

So if you want to ride motorcycle? after considering my cases you may consider to abandon your plan...

But other than that it was really a convenient transportation...

wait...I still have a story about bicycle, here's the link to it...in my old friendster blog :)
http://fong_5_5.blogs.friendster.com/fowarding/2007/09/im_cycling_to_i.html

and a motorcycle story. You can see the photo of my shiny black motorcyle!
http://fongforward.blogspot.com/2007/12/oh-o-tire-puncture.html
which is the first post on wah! live for fun.

My next bicycle story: riding around Malaysia! My dream! And I really thought of riding from Shah Alam to Melaka...but now ended in Michigan...or else 99.9% done that already...

I have green fingers

Today I received a certificate from Mayor for making his city flowerful.


Oh it was the first community work I've involved since I came here and usually I'm not keen on doing community works but flower + green = my favorites so I signed up at the second I received an email about the event!

And I never knew my friends were joining until the day before the event. Great:)

The tasks were easy...

First we got a green T-shirt and dispatched to designated location.
I love green!

Second we listened the instructions from the gardener...and introduced to petunia and another flower which it's not aunt Petunia's favorite flower so I forget its name...

So this is petunia


Third we dig holes and put in the plants...not blossomed like the photo shown above...but soon ;)

Finally we want to make the flowers happy by giving them cocoa aka chocolate...they love chocolate as much as we do! It was aromatic chocolaty smells in the flower beds when we poured in cocoa shell mulch.
and all done!

Hmmm...then we walked back to the gathering point and had drinks and pizzas...Instead of using
the city council used this
to put the iced drinks...wah...

So next time if you passed by here....

And happily ever after!

oh my dear friend

In the world, there are human beings. Out of so many people in the world, there are some we known as friends. Among the friends, there's always some friends which are very special. So this post is dedicated to a friend of mine who has interesting characters :)

He is certainly not the average Joe or average Abu Ah Meng Muthu, but he's above average.

Sometimes, you can find him "funny" but sometimes it can be irritating...

Let's see why he's so special...

When he sneezes, he says the room is overloaded with CO2, and he is very sensitive to it! Great, Al Gore can hire him to be the atmosphere CO2 detector.

And my friend is always hungry. And when he's hungry, he'll ask me: I'm so hungry...are you hungry?
Ok, imagine that's almost every second when he's with me...

But he's a concerning person... he always think of other people when he feels tired, dizzy, sleepy, hot/cold etc etc....yep, and he feels tired, dizzy, sleepy, hot/ cold every day, and almost everyday headache...
Some examples of his wise words:
1. I never sleep well last night, now so sleepy, want to get some sleep later...are you sleepy?
2. Wo, my head feels dizzy...I can't stand looking at screen too long
3. Wah, my skin is so dry, see yours

While we are enjoying the movie , he suddenly says: so hungry, are you hungry?
Oh your God, I say no! And he just go grab some snacks...

So every time when he's going to ask me those type of questions, I have an absolute answer: NO!

He: Are you hungry?
Me: NO! (even sometimes a bit hungry)

He: Do you feel the room is stuffy?
Me: NO!

He: Wah, it's so cold now...I'm trembling~~~Do you feel cold?
Me: NO! (in fact it's not that cold)

He: Huh...now I feel damn tired, don't you feel tired as well?
Me: NO! (why should I? I sleep so well last night...)

and...

Me: We go to mamak stall @ 11pm later ok?
He: Ok sure!
when almost 11pm...
Me: Let's go!
He: Oh I feel pening la...want to get some rest...
Me: ok...

But when he says he want to get some sleep early because he's tired, he's watching online TV @ 2am...

He's just a special guy to me...because he never wear shorts...and doesn't has any kind of shorts...and he wears slacks or jeans all day long...and all night long...

And I told you he's very concerning...so after every exam, test and quiz, he'll ask around for other people's score, either in person or online or phone...and even his scores are very good he never satisfied. Haha at least we never in same course/class so he never asks me...but I think others will be terrified by his overwhelming "what you get for the test ha?"

If you are curious who's him, I just tell you la...he is Pak Liong Peng...never heard? Never mind, you probably don't know him...
I've asked permission to publish his name. so no offense to him. And by the way, he's from Korea but I think he doesn't know Pak Ji Sung or Hyun Bin or TVXQ...

And he's quite worried about everything, especially worried that he can't go back Korea because he forget how to speak Korean after many years staying in Malaysia...

So, this is how friends lighten our lives! Hope he is with me in Michigan now...

disclaimers: above statements are all true except 2 elements. Name of the real person is never faked, so to unprotect his privacy. If you are Pak Liong Peng but the descriptions don't match you, it's not you. But if you are pak Liong Peng but feel like the descriptions don't match you but you know me because I know you, it is you. There's possibilities many people having same name. But please inform me if you are whoever Pak Liong Peng and found uncomfartable with my post.

Late for class...

For the first time in my life, I overslept and was late for the first class meeting of the new semester!

For some of you it's quite a norm but it was the FIRST time in my life I never wake up in time to get to class!

Alarm rang @8.30am but then just dozed off...and when I' was enjoying my dream suddenly my roommate called me up @ 10:04am and OH NO! My class starts @10am!

(*actually my roommate knew I'm having class @10 and he also has class @ 10 but only woke me up when he's ready to go...and the reason he woke me up only @10:04 = he thought I'm already out but obviously I was still at my bed, and he definitely couldn't have not seen me in bed because he must have seen me because he must pass by my room to go in & out to his room...confused? )


Then although it was late, I still arranged my bedsheet before rushing to bathroom to get my face washed and messy hair combed. I must keep my room tidy all the time, regardless rain or sunny, snow or sandstorm, day or night, left or right.

And with empty stomach I ran to Dennison Building which is 10 minutes away. And since I never went to the lecture room before, more time was wasted searching for the room...

And finally @ 10:21, I slowly turned the door knob and get into the lecture room as quiet as possible but to discover my professor was in front the lecture room and glanced at me...for a short while....ok...then I just grabbed a seat and sit down and pretended as though I was there since 10am...

But late only mah...in It's not really a big deal...there are a few more people later than me and just came in like it's their home...

But that's just not me...so this post is the first warning letter to myself! No more late for class. (although I skipped all the ungraded discussion sessions for CHEM210 last semester because it's @ the very early 8am...)

[Update] so far never late :)

Another Amazing Adventure @ America

This will be a very very long post...to save your time, just read the summary

Summary: I went to Washington DC, Philadelphia, UPenn, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh with a friend. Then I came back. The end.

Long story: A journey that confirmed & planned just a few days before the journey. After the finals, with limited money left, but with my enthusiasm of travel, I agreed with Sharon's invitation for a trip.

A backpack, a small one, but everything for 5 days' needs are fully loaded. A journey begins! in an beautiful evening, from a small town of Ann Arbor.

Holding my Amtrak tickets, eagerly waiting for first train. Upon announcement, we went out the station and discovered that a bus is waiting for us...not a train! Huh? Ok...thruway ticket = bus. A bus bring us from a train station to another train station to board a train...

Oh...it was Wednesday April 23 9pm. And we were heading to Toledo!

@April 24 12:30am, a delayed train finally arrived

And first time stepped in Amtrak, Capitol Limited.

Yeah, @ 7am I finally woke up. But actually I was awake most of the night...susah tidur
then I felt something strange...the train was at halt!

Why huh? but at least it stopped beside so at least could see the river flows with beautiful sun hanging(?) on the sky, with flowers blossom in the spring...

And 1 hour passed...finally announcement was made and the delayed was due to a freight train...ok. Then 2 hours passed! What, still not moving!

And finally! after they realized we were bored with the scenery, the train moved! Hurray! But wait a second! the train was moving backward!!! HUH? ok...they are so considerable they reversed the train so we can have different scenery...(real situation: the train reversed to change track, u'll know why later)

Then after almost 2.5 hours. We were moving forward again! And finally we saw the freight train moving @ 5mile per hour beside us...no wonder...but I wonder why they never changed the track earlier to pass the turtle train...

And after so much delay, we arrived in Washington DC @ 4pm!

And in the limited 5 hours (3 hours stolen by Amtrak), we walked to so many places:

following sequence: Union station > US Capitol > US Botanical Garden > The National Mall > Washington Monument > Thomas Jefferson Memorial > Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial > Lincoln Memorial > Bush Memorial...wait! where got?! > Vietnam Veteran Memorial > The White House > Chinatown > Verizon Center >McDonald > Amtrak to Philly!

And actually I met bush at the White House! and I kicked him! and I just left safe & sound...you know, the bush...not that Bush...

But actually I almost detained in Guantanamo Bay with Harold & Kumar because I left my bag unattended while taking photos...luckily I was wearing a green shirt so the police officer thought I'm just a Greenpeace member and ask me not to demonstrate in front of the White House, but the green house...with Al Gore the ex-Vice President to promote reduction of green house gases...what the craps I'm writing??
*the red words are truth [never leave your bag unattended, esp near bush and never pretend to be a terrorist, or else you'll be treated as terrorist]

Next, @12:00am April 25, Philly


@Philly I stayed in Ryan's room while Sharon in Yie Lyn's. And while they were busy preparing for finals we were having our holiday...

The first morning was just amazing :) while I was in bathroom looking at mirror wondering why I have so many pimples, a sweet girl walked in and I was stunned for a moment, and I "Hi" and she "Hi" back and basically I forget what I did while she washed hand and then "bye"...ok, it's Upenn, coed dorm...

And that started my first day (April 25) in Philly! With City Pass, We've ventured more places in Philly than our friends in Upenn did :) [2 days vs 2 semesters]


So, places we went: 30th St Station > Upenn > Franklin Institute > National Constitution Center > Reading Terminal Market > See the bell > Penn's Landing > Columbus Memorial >Korean War Memorial > Vietnam War Memorial > Chili's > Independence Visitor Center > Tour Philly with double decker bus > Eastern State Penitentiary (a really nice jail) > Philly the American 1st Zoo > Banana Leaf Malaysia Restaurant (nice foods) > A Hong Kong Restaurant or bubble tea & duck rice! oh I wonder why Americans don't eat duck but eat turkey > lots of parks > New Jersey (Adventure Aquarium) > See Rutgers @ Camden! + etc etc

And the last hour in Philly+NJ was truly an amazing race! We were across the bridge in New Jersey @ 11:45am @ Adventure Aquarium. Our Amtrak @12:42pm. One hour, enough la. But after we farewell with penguins, we discovered that the next NJ Riverlink train come @ only 12:18pm/ what! That'll be very late! We need to get to WalterRand Transit Center, 8th St Station before 30th St Station!

click to experience the journey!

Wah! After the amazing journey, goodbye Philly!

But the real journey is not ended!

Next: Pittsburgh!

@8:30pm April 27, we arrived in a quiet city of Pittsburgh. The streets are just empty at night and the only opened eatery was McDonald (again...)

At the scary place it's better to wait in the station until next train to Toledo to take bus, again...

And @ 8:30am April 28, back to Ann Arbor!

Wah...next adventure: New York!