USA trip day 5(16 May) - Start of Road trip

Day 5 (Start of Road Trip to the Western South)

Woke up at 8.30am. Ate scrambled eggs and almond muffins made by
kingmond for breakfast. We then made pigs in a blanket. And continued
packing our bags for the trip. Left for the road trip at 11am. Headed
for portland.

Kingmond drove out of town. Went past pendleton (had an underground
city for the illegal activities during the prohibition period where
alot of things were banned like alcohol, and the Chinese lived in one
part of it) and john day dam. The long stretch had alot of windmills
on hilltops. And went past tom Dallas dam.

Left the highway and entered hood river town. Visited the wal mart
there at hood river. Aunt may bought a fm tuner for music players and
a red duffel bag.

On the way we passed by bonneville dam, one of the the bigger dams.
Aunt may brought min min and da gu to that place to count fish
(sturgeon center)

Took a stop at multnomah falls for sightseeing at 3.30pm. Continued on
journey to Portland at 4pm.

Went to trout-dale to gas up (at flying j). In Oregon state, the law
doesn't allow for self service, due to fear that drivers will leave
without paying.

Continued on the road to washougal (aunt may's friend david's place),
on the way was a jam due to merging lanes and road works. We also saw
volcano mount st Helens (erupted 18 may, 1980, blew off 1300 feet of
it's top away, killing 57 people) in the distance, one of the taller
moutains in the area (the top is covered with ice).

Stopped over in ihop international house of pancakes for a quick
dinner. We ate pancakes, fried beef steak with sunny side up eggs, and
chicken strips, appetiser onion rings materella sticks, ministralni
soup.

And I learnt about tipping at restaurants. if you use credit card, the
tipping is in the receipt. You will have your bill, and you decide on
the tip amount, and write the final amount in the next line. And the
restaurant will use your credit card information to charge the final
amount to your card.

In Washington state, hitch-hiking is permitted.

Finally we headed to eastern side of camas-washougal area, along
marble road and along the Columbia river. We were to stay overnight at
David Eugene valaer's place on top of the ridgeline. Mile post 23,
turn left into marble road.

Once we reached, we saw a cop car by the house, and found out from
David that it was his son's car, who got it at a cop car sale. David
came out from
his office, and then showed us around his house, which had plenty of
antiques and china furniture. He likes and appreciates the arts and
craftmanship of the artists. His sons sam and solomon had a room which
had their prized hunts, includes bear hides, boar, tiger, an a few
others. He showed us his vault, and even the german ww2 uniform which
he found. His daughters Sydney and .... Had a room with lots of stuff
about horses, and dolls. The girls take care of the horses. There are
3 of them, one of them called Shiloh. So along with the horses came a
barn with 4 cubicles, 1 extra for expansion, but he wants to keep them
at 3. He then showed us his yellow airplane which he kept in his
workshop. He then took everyone of except aunt may on a short flight.
For mine, he did side rotations, both left and right, upside down,
hard corners at low banks, the snap (which causes planes to lose
control for a while) and even allowed me to control the plane for a
short while (with the paddles and control gears). He pulled a max 4Gs
with the plane, and that feeling was so much cooler than being on a
roller coaster! He eventually landed on his lawn runway (which I
didn't believe at the beginning, as it was that visible from the
house, until he pulled out the plane from the workshop). We headed to
do shooting with a 2.2mm rifle (to shoot at metal targets), and then a
5.56mm short rifle (used for police ops, with laser pointers for night
firing). After we told him that in Singapore possession of any
ammunition can get one into jail for 7 years, then he showed us his
stash in his plane workshop (even had a shotgun bullet).

We then went into the living room for a chat, and he found out what we
were doing, plus what he did in the past. He got 4 degrees in total,
did 3 in 4 years, and then invested and led his company as CEO. Now he
has/had 3 companies.

Then after which, his family came back from a youth theatre rehearsal
for the church. We met and chit chatted, and then we were showed our
rooms. We got to sleep in his office, while aunt may got the guest room.


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USA trip day 4 (15 May)

Day 4

Woke up at 8am to prepared for bike ride with uncle wes. Ate cereals
for breakfast.

Uncle wes drove us to his bike shop (allegro) nearby, and we got for
him new tights, jersey (with the bike shop's name on it, and too bad
they didn't give him a discount for that), and gloves. We rented the
two road bikes for 45 USD, which was at a discount from 50 USD.

So we headed out (with my DSLR slung over my backl) to uncle wes' standard cycling route out into the
countryside. The initial part was pretty steep, with gradual ups and
downs. And we took a right turn to extend our ride by 4 miles (2 fro
and 2 back, with the first part upslope, but none of us knew it was
uphill, and Seumas was trying to figure out which gear would suit the
upclimb, an whether his rear tire had less pressure, and I tried to
reason out that the road was rockier than usual, so it ws tough to
paddle fast. In the end on our way back, we were crusing really fast
and comfortably.

By the time we finished. It was past noon, and we returned the bike
back to the shop. Then we headed to the bank of America for uncle wes
to draw money (200 USD) for his San Francisco trip on Wednesday. We
met a motorcross guy with his baby daughter, I requested to take a
picture of his cute daughter, and ask for his email. We headed for the
farmer's market afterwhich, and it was quite crowded, for a drink
(strawberry lemonade).

We went home for lunch. Lunch was chicken rice cooked by aunt may. It
was delectable!

Steve and Nan Chi came over shortly after lunch, and they ate aunt
may's chicken rice as well. Pam came over right after Steve and nan
chi (they invited us over for dinner at 6.30pm).

Uncle wes then sent us to find kingmond at his hairdresser. He was at
this hairdressing saloon called beehive. It was on the second floor
above starbucks in downtown walla walla. He paid 25 bucks for it, not
bad a haircut!

After leaving the saloon, we didn't know what to do there in downtown,
so we headed for home. And I had the chance to practice on the car for
the journey back home. First thing that Seumas reminded mr was that
the signal was on the left side of the steering wheel, instead of the
right. Immediately I had to make a right turn, and the front wipers
came on. And kingmond reminded me about the cross road junction where
one has to stop and then check for traffic, and if necessary, to give
way. Essentially, the vehicle that arrives at the junction has the
right of way. This defintely saves on traffic lights, and is a rather
fine way for courtesy on the road.

Visited aunt pam's place at 3.30pm to find uncle tom (who was doing
their yard). She offered her Free form fruit tart with bird's custard
sauce, and microwaved it. When we saw uncle tom, he just came out from
the shower. We found out more about tom and pam's 6 week planned trip
to Bangkok, singapore and hong kong. But due to recent continuous
conflicts in Bangkok, they have to make amendments to it. Pam also
gave me two of her knitted clothings (a scarf and a beanie, both made
of wool). It was really sweet of her. Pam then sent us back home on
her yellow jeep.

We then continued our packing for thr road trip (esp the baggage and
other essential items like maps).

At 6.30pm we headed for Steve and nan chi's place for dinner. Aunt may
requested a detour to acquire an extension cord for 3 pin plugs, with
the earth wire hole. When we arrived at their house, we walked thru
the backyard and admired their garden, the ba choi that nan chi
planted. Aunt may could not figure out how to plant them and make them
grow. Steve came out to greet us and showed us around his garden. We
even saw a rabbit eating their grass. Healthy. What happened to the
carrots?

We eventually met nan chi and kelly. They were busy preparing burger
ingredients for everyone to make. There were exactly enough beef
platter for everyone, and burger breads, mayonaise, BBQ sauce,
lettuce, tomatos, and cheese. There were chips and corn too. We ate
outside by the pool, which shawn previously left is mark there in the
pool years ago.

When night came, the moon came out. A cresent actually. And I decided
to take a photo of it. Nan chi noticed it and the star beside it,
which was Venus. It was awesome just to see those two side by side.

Before leaving, we visited their rv, which is like a caravan, that
they use about 10 days a year. It was a decent vehicle, though it runs
8 miles per gallon. That's rather ineficient fuel consumption! I also
borrowed a tripod from Steve to take a steady photo of the moon.

We got back before 10pm, and about 11 odd, shiloh came over to
kingmond's room, and popped by the living room to find aunt may. She
probably just wanted to wish everyone a safe journey. Her mother's a
professional photographer, so she is also into it, and has a flickr
account.

After she left, kingmond played on my iPod, while Seumas uploaded
photos into facebook. We eventually tried to solve crossword
puzzles from the news bulletin. And we resorted to Internet and
crossword haven to assist.


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USA trip day 3 (14 May)

Day 3

Left home at 9.45am

Went to the car workshop to check if aunt may's car parts have
arrived. But it hasn't arrived.

Went on the highway to towards Uni Idaho. Places we went past were
Dixie, Waitsburg, Dayton (stopover for a phone call, ice cream, and
pizza), and eventually Colfax to see aunt may's relatives (at eddy's
Chinese American restaurant). Met uncle Wallas and uncle leong and
kingmond's grandaunt.

And we passed by Pullman (where Washington state university is, and
where kingmond's uncle eddy was a prof before opening his restaurant),
and final point is at Moscow idaho, where kingmond's college is.

Visited the office depot supermart, and aunt may bought a laptop
casing 'built' brand. Entered the university of Idaho, and found out
that the university has a steam plant.

Picked kingmond up to eat lunch at jack in a box. Had burger cheese
and fries. After which we went to the entrance of the college and took
pictures. Then entered kingmond's bunk, met shawn. We walked around
his college, took pictures of the commons and visted nick at his
apartment. Entered the bookstore a street down to view the college's
apparel and other gifts.

And we met kingmond's dad who came to fetch most of kingmond's stuff
back. He came with his wagon and wife.

Finally for dinner we ate at eddy's. Fried rice, sweet and sour pork,
almond chicken, fried noodles. Big portions. And met aunty mae, who
can speak good chinese.

Thing to note: colfax newspaper is on a piece of paper, two pages,
with classified adverts, local news, classified, recruitment, church
announcements.

Visited kingmond's grandparents in walla walla, just to say hello.


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USA trip day 2 (13 May)

Day 2 (13may)

Woke up at 5am. Watch tv channel 'c-span' with uncle wes. The news channel had a discussion about USA defence budget. He was watching tv and eating cereals. Went back to sleep for a short while, and decided to have breakfast and shower at 6
plus. Ate bread with peanut butter, and cereal, plus a cup of grape
juice.

Went out around the house to take photos, and took a short walk out to
the junction near walla walla high school.

After lunch (we had porridge with meat floss, and chicken wings), we
went out to see aunt may's previous houses (southview drive, by the
country club), visited a yard sale, checked out tom and pam's place
(unfortunately, they weren't at home), headed for the departmental
stores (macy's - biggest store in walla walla) and checked out the
sizes of the levi's pants and realised that the prices were like 34.99
USD! Oakleys cost like 110 USD! (met a Chinese national and Malaysian
who lived in Singapore woodlands), visited supermarkets and bought
dounuts, bought asparagus (each large packet costs 10 USD) from the
gardeners, met aunt may's house cleaners at the supermarket safeway
(there were 4 of them, mexicans, really friendly!), followed aunt may
to jacobi's restaurant to meet her friend (who introduced about mlm,
using his company acn, endorsed by donald trump, but aunt may rejected
it after listening to him, saying it's not her kind of job), test
drive on aunt may's car by myself and seumas at a nearby church, went
to wash car on our own at a power wash station, and finally went back
home (and met Brenda, mum of alex and maddy, alex's is in uni Brit
Columbia).

And dinner was rice with pork asparagus and chicken thigh. had a long
chat over dinner, about life in Singapore, college stuff..

Found out more about the hybrid car system, especially the prius.

Then went to shower 10.45pm. Sleep followed.


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USA trip day 1 (12 May)

US trip Day 1 (12 may)

After not sleeping the entire night before the flight, it was rather
difficult to remain awake and not yawn before boarding the plane. My
dad was unusually naggy during the check-in and breakfast. He kept
telling me that I should have a small sling pouch to keep all the
important items. My mum responded by saying that I'm carrying such a bulky camera, and
Seumas could be of help too. But I guess it's up to individual's
preference regarding how he wants to utilise his bags and items,
taking into consideration the way one secures his passport and other
items, so that one would not cause unnecessary trouble

Anyway, the flight to hong kong went smoothly, and I ate chicken
congee for breakfast, while Seumas had some chicken stew and mash
potato.

We arrived around noon at hong kong international airport, and I
contacted aunt may through skype. Attempted to call her using skype,
but the connection was rather poor due to weak wi-fi connectivity. In
the end, she called my mobile thinking I was still in Singapore. And
dear me picked the phonecall up knowing that it could be her on the
other side, costing me auto-roaming charges which I think were not
necessary.

Security checks in transit were not as stringent as I thought. The
usual scanning of bags using this x-ray machines, and the physical bag-
checks before entering the plane.

Before entering the 1405hrs flight, we grabbed a simple lunch at
popeyes. Ordered 2 piece chicken and 2 one scoop cones of ben n jerry
ice cream. Total cost was 13 USD (or 92 HKD) at the poor exchange rate
of 1 USD to 7.1 HKD.

Afternoon tea break on the long 14 hour flight to San francisco was
beef stew with mash potato for myself. Seumas had something else, which both of us cannot remember.

Cool stuff on the plane: They have a universal PowerPoint to each
economy seat. I could charge my iPhone with it. And I did.

Arrived smoothly at San Francisco airport. Weather bright and sunny.
Took the wrong form to clear immigration. We had the white immigration
form which is for visitors with visas, but we were under the visa
waiver programme, so the form had Tj be green instead. The lady at the
custom was affable, and she warmly welcomed us to US.

After taking our luggages, we headed for the domestic flight area. En
route, a lady by the counter called for us to go over, and asked what
airline we were looking for, and told us that it was 2 min from where
we were. She then took out pieces of paper to show that we could
donate to charity for some children's aid. And I whisked out 10 USD
without hesistation and donated, partly to just walk away without
looking at her again. Some part of me felt that it was rather
impulsive, and I wasn't really thinking rationally. I'm on this trip with
a budget, and ought to spend wisely. So let that be one kind deed, and
the next time i'll put in some thought first before reaching for my
pocket.

Reached aunt may's place around 2100hrs (walla walla time). Took 2
photos and emailed them to my parents. Ate bak ku teh with rice for
supper. Awesome! The taste is heavenly! :)

And I love her house. Huge, homely, well-designed by uncle wes!


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Learning is a continuous process. It should never stop, and it doesn't.

And I thank God for sending someone to remind me that I should continue learning, and be receptive to people's feedback. It is time that I gear up for my studies, and not be so laidback.

What I've learnt today is that once you're involved in something, knowingly or unknowingly, you have to take charge and create an objective to achieve.

Logistics is not an area I'm in charge of, but because I was involved in the briefing of the logistics team, I was expected to coordinate and get something out of it. So what happened was that I went in without a plan, allowed suggestions to linger in the air, and some of the group members were venturing to fairyland. So one of the members came up to me and explained the situation, that it was horrible to not control the situation and get the desired outcome (which is to assign and dedicate work to the respective members). The groupd eventually came up with a plan, but it was through some of the member's initiative.

Thus it is imperative to plan the framework of discussion well before entering any discussion, as time is of the essence.

Hm, feels quite good to be back on the thinking and working sphere, though the process of being given feedback was not so pleasant. But I'm appreciative and thankful =)