Cold and Wet Long Valentine and President's Day Weekend

Monday is the President Day so it is another holiday and a long weekend for some (including us i.e. Michael). The next public holiday will be in late May! Sucks huh? And to make this last long weekend/holiday before May even more fun, it is going to be cold and wet. We have been getting on and off nice days for the whole winter and a few storms too. This is hopefully the last storm for this winter. Of course I am thankful that we are not getting -20F or -50F but you know how much I 'love' too cold or too hot weather. And those rain. Sigh .... let me just say that if I were to get sick, it will be during rainy season.

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Tomorrow is a Valentine's Day. We don't really celebrate it but nevertheless would still wish each other on that day. I 'forbade' him from buying me flowers during this time of the year. I told him that he can buy me flowers (not that he buys me flowers too often. Men! :P) anytime of the 51 weeks in the year for half or 1/3 of the price that he would have to fork out during this 1 week period so why bother. Me stingy? Nah. Frugal? You betcha! So tomorrow, what we are going to do is have a poker day/night with some friends and neighbours. His friends of course have to ask him 10x if he knows what day it is when he invited them. They don't want him to get into trouble. I guess that is my Valentine 'gift' for my Baby. *wink*

Happy Valentine's Day my friends and have a great weekend!

2009 Winter Holiday - Yosemite National Park II

Can you see me? :P

To get this view, we had to walk through a forest-like area with slippery ice path and climb a few big boulders.

Tired after all the walking and holding on for my dear life. Walking on ice sure ain't easy!

Trying to find the best way to get pass the boulder

The icy path to get to the falls

This one looks like we're in Narnia

This is the beginning of the icy path. It was cold as hell too.

2009 Winter Holiday - Yosemite National Park I

First road sign that says Yosemite!

We have been planning for a winter holiday since middle of last year but it was supposed to be the Big Bear Mountain. But after looking at my friend's pictures when they went to Yosemite National Park, we decided that maybe that's a better place to go. It is between 5-6 hours drive from OC. So plans were made, hotel was booked, winter stuff were bought like tire chain, his winter overall, snow boots, ear muffs but we couldn't find winter boots for me. Apparently they are not easily found in this Southern California area. They have the regular Ugg boots but I wanted something more outdoor-sy type that I can go trekking in. So we decided to stop at Tulare, a town about 1-1.5 hrs to Oakhurst where our hotel is.

First stop was of course the Super Target but unfortunately they have none either. Upon asking the staff there, we were told of a Big 5 Sporting Goods store just down the road which might carry what I wanted. Since it's already middle of winter, there is really not many choices left but I found one that is easy on my eye (gotta have cute ones!) but the price listed was 85 before tax. If possible I really do not want to spend too much on something that I might use one a year. So I decided to ask one if the guys there if I could get any discount on them. He went somewhere and a few minutes later came back telling me that he could give me them for 60! Yay! So, the next time you shop and want to get a discount on non-discounted items, do not be shy. Just ask for it. You just might get it.

Once we paid for everything, it is time to continue with the drive. Michael is not the type who likes to drive too long and I am afraid of driving in the mountain areas. So he did all the driving while I am in charge of keeping track of the rest areas. Yup, that is usually my job. Id give him updates on how far away is the next rest areas should either one of us need to use the restroom or if we need to fill up the gas!

We reached Oakhurst around 1pm and the check-in time at Best Western Yosemite Gateway Inn Oakhurst was 3pm but when we went in and asked the receptionist, she said we could check-in immediately. Phew! I guess the hotel was not pack so our room is ready. Finding the room is not quite easy since the hotel consist of a few buildings up the hill. But the room is spacious. It only cost us around 80/night and they even have indoor pool. Which brings to another story. We went there all prepared with winter clothing for a rigid winter temperature only to be faced with a rather summer-like temperature. Neither one of us brought our swimming attire so we ended up having to buy them too. Sigh!

Best Western Oakhurst Lobby

Chukchansi Casino

After lunch which was chinese food for me (pretty bad) and pizza for him, we just stayed in the room. Me watching tv while he took a nap. Poor Baby. He gotta be tired after that long drive. When he woke up, we decided to cehck out the casino which was only 15 min drive from our hotel. I was rather surprised to see the parking lot packed. Can't really imagine where all those people came from. Lol! It was also very chilly at night and we were lucky that as we parked the car, there was an open-air bus or tram drove by and asked us if we needed a ride to the hotel. Very good service indeed I must say. We did not stay long at all since it was pretty boring and we had an early day the next morning but I did manage to play the Star Wars penny slots so I was happy.

The queue at the South Gate Entrance.

We started the day with breakfast of the champion aka Carl's Jr and started our journey by stopping by at the Tourist Centre just 5min up the road. The 2 older ladies manning the office were very helpful and cheerful and very happy to hear that I am from Malaysia. They wanted to talk but we had to leave and continue up to Yosemite National Park. The fee to the Park is 20 per car (7 day pass) and for motorbike is 10 each. Do keep the ticket with you because they would ask for it when you drive down.

Road to Mariposa Grove was close to traffic but you are allowed to walk in. We went to Yosemite Valley and wanted to go to Mariposa after that but by the time we get back down it was 3pm and we spent time at Mariposa, we would have to drive down to Oakhurst in completely darkness. So in the end we decided against it. Next time, definitely!

I hope you would enjoy the pictures and story on this part I of our winter holiday at Yosemite National Park. Do come back for the next post. I took lots of pictures and will try to put most of them in a few posts.

In the background is El Capitan

Gong Xi Fa Chai

Picture taken from google image

Tomorrow January 26 is a Chinese New Year and in Malaysia, it is one of the public holidays and that means a 4-day long weekend. (At least!)

So I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my chinese friends and readers a very happy and prosperous Gong Xi Fa Chai! For those who are not yet married, have fun collecting ang pows (packet money) while for those who are already married, well, it is time to give out those ang pows!

President Barack Obama - The New Kid on The Block

I wanted to write about our recent trip to the Yosemite National park but since today is the inauguration, I thought I would write about that instead. I will write about the trip next ok?

I woke up at 6.30am this morning and turned the tv on. Today is the day that Mr Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States of America and I would not want to miss it. Not that that was the reason I woke up early. That is just the normal time for me to wake up so I can help Michael get ready to work. His coffee, sodas, water and lunch.

Anyway, when I see the throng of people in front of the White House, it reminded me of the day when Prince Charles married the late Princess Diana. Don't you think so? The picture was somewhat the same with thousands of people waiting to see and millions more glued in front of the tv. It was surreal. President Obama (no more president-elect!) is likable. Like Diana was. He is rather young (for a president), so was Diana when she married Charles. He listens about things and the world, so did Diana. He is a people person and so was Diana.

Now, I am no expert in politic. Not Malaysian politics and definitely not other countries. That is why I hardly ever talk about politics. What I say and see would be from a layman's point of view. And as a layman, I see that President Obama is very likable. Nobody knows how different he is going to be from the previous ones but what he inherited is by no mean 'peanuts' problems. And boy, does he already has a lot on his plate or what? The economy is at its worst. Housing market is down and people are losing their homes. Financial market is somewhat free-falling no thanks to the greedy bast***s and the administrative that enabled them to keep being greedy bast****s that they are. Companies and businesses are closing and people are losing jobs. More and more people can't afford healthcare while the healthcare companies keep making millions of profit by charging exorbitant fees and denying healthcare to (some of) the subscribers. Then there is the Gaza situation where at least 700 civilians died including children and women. I doubt anybody inherited that much as does President Obama. Let us all pray that he would make good judgements and decisions that would be good to the majority.