Alcatraz

Alcatraz was named by a Spanish Explorer, it means "Island of the Pelicans". I'm sure you know this place, it has a pop-culture name - The Rock, ring a bell ? It's a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay, you can take a boat that leaves from Pier 33, near the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.





Alcatraz used to serve the region with a lighthouse, later it became a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963. When it became a national recreation area in 1986, it was listed as a National Historic Landmark.






Since it is isolated in the middle of the bay, surrounded by freezing waters and strong sea currents, it has the ideal criteria that made it the best choice for holding captives by the U.S. Army.






The prison population at Alcatraz was made up of inmates who had histories of unmanageable behavior or escape attempts, and high-profile inmates who had been receiving special privileges because of their public status.






They served very simple food here :






The photos of infamous inmates.




Have you watched "Prison Break" ? If you did, this would look familiar to you ;o)




Most escapees never made it to land, and usually turned back to be rescued from the freezing waters. Those who failed to turn back died because of the cold water.






The main corridor of the cell house was named "Broadway" by the inmates, and the cells along this passageway were considered the least desirable in the prison.



We spent around half day for this trip, then we were back to the Fishermen's Wharf for a hot clam chowder soup :)

My first eBay adventure

I have been reading Jenny's blog with information on eBay for the past 3 months, I think I'm her last reader to register for an eBay account, (just end of last month). So then last week, I finally started selling my first 2 items from my closet, you would have guess what they are :)





But no they are not mini skirts !! They are a pair of jeans & a blouse.

Immediately 2 person asked for the type of jeans cos I forgot to mention the model, provided feedback to them but they just watch it & not bidding :(

Then few days ago someone put a bid on the blouse, I was sooooooooo excited that day. But the excitement subsided as it stayed quiet after that, now I'm waiting for the bid to end and hopefully it's a genuine buyer :) What's your first item sold or bought in eBay (if you still remember) ?

National Air & Space Museum

A museum in Washington D.C. & the only museum that we have visited there. It has the largest collection of aircraft & spacecraft in the world. It is also a research center for planetary science, history, science & technology of aviation & spaceflight, etc.





Almost all space and aircraft on display are originals or backup crafts to the originals.





We were given only a half hour here, including getting a bio break :( (Remember I mentioned in my Washinton D.C. post that we were following a tour ?)





So what we did there were basically taking some pictures, & make sure we go around the whole museum in half hour's time.





Lesson learn from this trip, never follow a tour if you can. It was not fun at all, & was quite wasteful since we don't get enough time to explore what we like.





If I have a chance, would like to visit this place again, since there are other museums here that we didn't get to go at that time, back in 2003.

KuanHoong dot com

In KuanHoong dot com, you can find many
"WHAT IS" the new technologies, gadgets & online tools, &
"HOW TO" tips including how to use many different online tools, how to make money online, how to improve blog traffic, and many other tips in blogging and make money online, etc.


I came across KuanHoong's name in JennyHow dot com, and noticed that his comment were sharp & funny at times. So after a while I started to visit his blog, I found that he offers many useful tools & tips to help people in making money online, I learn a great deal from reading his blog.


Although I only know him through reading his post, I have an impression that KuanHoong is an interesting person who know how to have fun (the segway ride), enjoy life (spend USD10 for a watermelon), release stress (singing) & appreciate the beauty in life (a flower lover), besides being a very good technology blogger.


If you would like to find out more about making money online or at home, here are the top 5 posts that you shouldn't miss :
5 simple steps to drive traffics to your blog from Twitter
Tips for Make Money Online with Google AdSense Part 2
3 simple ways to drive more traffics from Flickr
Submit your site to get traffics and make money online
Make Money Online with AuctionAds


Personally I like most of his non-technology related posts :
Are you a flower lover?
One watermelon for USD10
Weekend at Nagoya, Japan
The Histchhiker guide to Nagoya, Japan
Tanabata Festival


Right now, KuanHoong is offering a USD100 contest for reviewing his blog, the duration is 3rd July - 2nd August 2007. It's only another 2 weeks+ left, do check out the Rules of Review here, hurry up :-)

Corning Museum of Glass

The museum is located in Corning, New York. It's a place that allows you to explore every facet of glasses. It's also home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of glass where it has more than 45,000 glass objects, spanning 3,500 years of glass making history !!!





The galleries contain objects representing every country and historical period in which glass making has been practiced. Can you imagine this ? It started off with only 2,000 objects & two staff members !!!



This is a portrait of a man blowing glass :




It has a library with the mission to acquire everything published on the subject of glass, in every format and language. There are more than 300,000 items that includes publications in more than 40 languages.



One of the product made of glass :



It also has a Studio that offers beginning to advanced glassblowing and cold working classes that are held throughout the year. The Studio also provides a half-hour Make Your Own Glass workshops for Museum visitors, as well as group glassmaking experiences. Both include activities appropriate for children as young as three-years-old !



A creative-looking chair :



The museum was founded in 1950 by the Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated), and continue to exist as a non-profit institution that preserves and expands the world's understanding of glass.



A tower sculpture that consists of 600 glass bowls :





Below are a few more objects made of glass :










And finally, if you don't have time to join the workshop, you can simply experience the demonstration of their Hot Glass Show :)

First Birthday

Tristan turned 1 year old 2 weeks ago. It feels like he was just born not long ago ... 2 friends asked me sometime ago if my life took on a new meaning, I didn't realize that until recently. I guess it's because we have more interaction now, as he can understand me more & express himself better now.






He now has 3 front teeth, 2 at the bottom & one on top. He doesn't know how to walk without support yet and doesn't talk our language, he will say "papa" or "mom mom" but it has no meaning to him yet. He would imitate some of the words we speak, mostly not accurate, but he can imitate "burp" quite well, surprisingly.





He knows that "no" means he can't put the thing onto his mouth, he'll look at me first and if I didn't say no, there goes the thing to his mouth.


That night, we let him taste a tiny bit of this cake without the chocolate, as we don't want him to develop sweet tooth.





He received 3 birthday gift, a Nike sandal from hubby's friend Lai Jing, an alphabet learning school bus from his aunt, and a red envelope from his grandparent. His dad bought him an education plan, and me, only the Secret Recipe cake. BUT, I got him a car seat, a potty, some handkerchiefs, a pair of shoes, 3 pajamas, a growth chart, a xylophone, and a wooden puzzle from last week's shopping, I just love to shop for his stuff LoL

Washington D.C.

It was in 2003 when we visited this place, and it was drizzling so we only took a few pictures ...
Washington D.C. is the capital city of USA. "D.C." stands for District of Columbia. (The city is named after George Washington).


The U.S. Capital.


There are many memorials, monuments & museums in D.C, but we were given very limited time for each site because we were following a tour, we did't get the chance to visit the White House too :(



Lincoln Memorial.




Jefferson Memorial.


It was raining & the sky was so dark, this was our best shot ... & the one we took for Washington Monument was very blurry, too bad, can't share it here ... To sum up, this trip was merely looking at what's out there that the tour guide brought us to & took some pictures for memory, it felt like taking instant noodle :(

8 Random Facts ?

I was tagged by Shantanu to tell people 8 random facts about myself.

It took me a while to come out with this list (which I hope won't bore you to death) :

1. I love Dark Chocolate, Desert, Coffee & Beer.
2. I cried really hard after I was forced to get my long hair cut at 8 years old.
3. I went into a shock during one of my blood withdrawal, which I thought I was going to die.
4. I used to work in United States for 4 years.
5. I slapped a classmate at Standard 6 & felt sorry until now.
6. I hate to go for an interview.
7. I have an adorable 1-year old baby boy now.
8. I had been addicted to blogging since I started, but had to cut back recently due to lack of sleep ;o)





It took me ages to come out with the following list :

Jenny's Ebay Chronicle
Jerry's Lab
KuanHoong's dot com
Jamy's Kopitiam
Dede's Diary
Emila's Illustration
Alex's Selfhelp Spot
Cool Insider's Cool Insights

Ladies & Gentlemen in the above list, would you like to share your 8 random facts about yourself with us ? If you do, don't forget to tag another 8 person to do the same thing ya :)

Empire State Building

The 102-storey skyscraper in New York. It remained the tallest skyscraper in the world for a record of 41 years, & was surpassed by the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1972.





The building actually has its own zip code !!! & approximately 20,000 employees work in the building every day ........




The 86th floor observation deck offers a 360-degree views of the city, it's so dense looking down to the surrounding. The amazing thing is that it took us less than a minute to get up there smoothly.




The Statue of Liberty can be seen here, it was far out there, below my blog URL, you may be able to see it in the next picture with the zoom.




Hope you can see it, the tiny bit in the middle of the picture below :




& this is the lobby's entrance that features the building with an aluminum relief :


The building was featured in movies like King Kong, Independence Day, Sleepless in Seattle etc. This is definitely a must-visit building if you are going to New York :)