Meet Mr Flowerpot & Mr Leafy...
With more than a foot of snow in our backyard, Lu Lei decided that we should attempt to build our very own snowman. As you can see, we ended up with 2.

HOW TO BUILD A SNOWMAN
What you need:
1. a foot or more of fresh, undisturbed and sticky texture snow on the ground (temp should be about 0 degrees celsius)
2. 2 slightly curved twigs or buttons for the eyes
3. a longer curved twig for the mouth (to give him a smiley look)
4. a short straight twig for the nose or a carrot
5. 2 branches for the arms
6. more twigs or buttons to either give a buttoned shirt look or one with chinese buttons
6. some yellow leaves left over from autumn for the hair or a pail as hat

What you need to do:
1. gather some snow on the ground into a small ball
2. start rolling the ball around the undisturbed fresh snow causing it to snowball.
3. roll your snowball around till it gets to the preferred size or till it gets too heavy to push. Ball should be rolled around from left to right and front to back to prevent it from being cylindrical in shape
4. start on the second snowball, this time smaller. Make sure it is not bigger than you can lift it as you will need to set it on top of the first bigger snowball as the head.
5. start to sculpt the "man" by using a circular motion around head and body to get the round shape.
6. fix the eyes, nose, mouth, arms and buttons
7. fix the leaves on the head
8. set the pail just slightly askew on the head

VOILA! your very own snowman in your backyard!

WINTER WONDERLAND -it has been reported in the news that total snow fall in Dec last year was only 0.8 inches compared to this year's Dec to date of 25 inches of snow and winter has not even officially started yet! (The official start date of winter is this Xmas weekend). We have never experienced winter conditions of this sort (Lu Lei rarely had such problems back in his hometown even though temperatures there average at -20degrees in the winter months) and till now have not even equipped ourselves with a shovel. By the time we realised how bad it is, shovels have been sold out in the few shops we visited. By hook or by crook, we intend to get one this weekend!!

WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA or DC as it is often called is the capital of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia and Maryland. The city is named after George Washington and houses the centres of all 3 branches of the US government as well as HQs for both international and national institutions like World Bank and IMF.

Distance 440 miles Flight time: 1 hr 10mins

Lu Lei was there for a 5 day Cell Biology conference and I tagged along as a tourist. While Lu Lei was at his talks all day, I took the opportunity to check out the sights and sounds of DC. It is a well organised and small city (I moved around on foot). I encountered familiar looking official buildings at almost every turn.



Presi"The White House is the oldest public building in DC and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most famous address in the US. Here every the chief executive." - extracted from a White House information signboard

dent, except George Washington has conducted the government of the Nation. Since 1792, the White House has become symbolic of the American Presidency throughout the world. While the Capitol represents the freedom and ideals of the Nation, the White House stands for the power and statesmanship of

Washington Monument & Lincoln Memorial
Washington Monument is a US Presidential Monument constructed to commemorate George Washington. It was officially opened in 1888 and was the tallest structure in the world till the Eiffle Tower was completed in Paris, France.

The reflection of the Washington Monument can be seen in the Reflecting pool that extends towards Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln Memorial was built to honour Abraham Lincoln.

The stone inscription in front of the National World War II Memorial read:
"HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN ONE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FATHER THE OTHER THE NINETEENTH CENTURY PRESERVER OF OUR NATION WE HONOUR THOSE TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICANS WHO TOOK UP THE STRUGGLE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND MADE THE SACRIFICES TO PERPETUATE THE GIFT OF OUR FOREFATHERS ENTRUSTED TO US A NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND JUSTICE"

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

New Haven is the 2nd/3rd largest town of the state of Connecticut but is best known as the home of Yale University.

Distance : 135 miles Drive time : 2 hrs 30 mins
Our main purpose of visit was for Lu Lei to meet up with his University buddy Liao Jun. He recommended for us to try Frank Pepe reputed to serve the "best pizza in the world". We have included a picture of the takeaway box that has the address for future reference.

Liao Jun took us on a short walking tour around Yale University. It is the 3rd oldest institution of higher education in the US and is a member of the Ivy League. Buildings are historic and made for a pleasant and educational tour. We also passed by a silent black building which I was told is the HQ of Yale's secret society of Skull and Bones. It is one of the oldest student secret societies in the US. Skull and Bones is notorious for its secrecy. Member George W. Bush described his experience as "so secret we can't talk about it."

New York trip #2 : Oct 2007
This was a short weekend trip to celebrate my birthday. As usual, we had very little time, basically only 1.5 full days in NYC. We decided to spend half a day at the world famous Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was huge definitely an eye opening experience. You have to see it to believe the number of things they have collected from all over the world from past civilisations that we can only read and imagine about now. It is awe-inspiring to think about the magnitude of their accomplishments in the past without the modernisation that we know and rely on today.

Our Autumn weekend outings to Spofford Lake and Larz Anderson Park. Autumn is my favourite season of the year. I love the sunny yet cool (however this season has been quite chilly, I wonder if this is a sign of harsh winter to come...) days. Most of all I love the colours it brings.

Oct 1st 2006 - a year ago to the day, was our first day here in Boston. This day is very special to us. Both Lu Lei and myself have been reminiscing event by event what happened from the tearful departure a yr ago, 30th Sept to how we finally got settled in our new apartment and in our jobs. It certainly was exhausting both emotionally and physically but together we managed to adjust and make a life for ourselves here in the US...far away from home and our loved ones. Even though we are thousands of miles away and 12 hours apart, we have never lacked for emotional support from our friends and family back home. To this, we are eternally grateful....THANK YOU!

Old Sturbridge Village

Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Central MA. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village where we came face-to-face with the past. It was an extremely educational afternoon for us. We were exposed in real life to how people back then lived their day to day lives. The people there in Old Sturbridge Village, actually live very similar to how it was back then, they ate the same food, worked with the same tools (or at least as close as can possibly be), used the same methods to farm, produce tools and utensils etc. It was highly enlightening and enjoyable.



Check out this video I took at the farm...for some reason both the cows and the sheep got very excited everytime the barn door opens. Its as if they know that there is something good behind. As soon as they hear the door open they all rush towards the door and when they realise its not for them, they roam off disappointed.

Last night of stargazing in Yellowstone...

Grand Teton National Park - has a range of mountains with 6 different summits topping 12,000 feet. The Tetons are the youngest mountains in the Rockies, less than 10 million years old (versus 60 million yrs for the nearby Wind River Mountains).

Scenic Yellowstone - on our last day, we left the car, brought our cameras and lugged the tripod to take a hike up the hills and across vast meadows. Though our excitement was overshadowed by fears of encountering a bear along the way and the impending thunderstorm, the beauty of the land before us was breathtaking and pictures did not do it all justice.

WILDLIFE - VIEWING. Yellowstone provided a marvelous natural setting in which to view bison elk, moose, wolves, coyotes, antelopes, bears and other wild animals. We found the easiest way view wild life was to watch for the brake lights of the cars in front, the cars pulled half off the road and cameras, binoculars and fingers all pointed in one direction. Inevitably, we found one animal after another munching away trying to remain oblivious to the chaos surrounding it.

Because of the constant parade of visitors and the lack of hunting, many of Yellowstone's animals appear to almost ignore the presence of people. But there are signs put up everywhere to warn one and all that though the animals appear tame, they really are wild and are dangerous. It is recommended that we should stay at least 25 yards away fm bison and elks and at least 100yards away from bears.

These were the animals that we were lucky enough to see. Here is a brief description of what they are:

Bears: Grizzly weighs about 200-700 pounds whereas the Black bear about 135-315 pounds. They are agile animals and can run up to 45miles per hr.

Bison: is also called a buffalo are animals of the grasslands. They feed primarily on grasses and sedges. Males can weigh as much as 2000 pounds. They can be aggressive and can run faster than humans.

Elk: are members of the deer family. The Male weighs about 700 pounds and stand abt 5 ft at the shoulder.

Moose: At 900 pounds and 7 feet tall, a bull moose is the largest member of the deer family in Yellowstone. Both sexes have a long muzzle, beard-like bell and dark brown colour that distinguishes moose fm deer and elk. Male moose have antlers which are flat and shaped like a hand and can grow to be 5 feet fm tip to tip. They are very shy animals and like to be in places where they can easily camouflage themselves. It was really hard to get a good picture of them.

Yellowstone is famous for Geysers, the 300 in the park makes up at least 60% of the world's geysers. This easily makes it the largest and most diverse collection in existence. This is one of the hottest places on the planet with heat flows more than 60 times the global average.

As we walked around the boiling hot springs and geysers, we could feel the heat coming fm them in the hot summer day. If you think it all sounds dangerous, it is, there were many signs put up to warn all visitors that the surface around many of the hot springs and geysers are very thin and people have been killed or seriously injured by falling through into the boiling water. We had to make sure we stayed on the designated boardwalk areas and obeyed all the "keep off" signs.

You will notice that the hot springs pictured here are particularly colourful. The colours fm the hot springs in Yellowstone come from algae and bacteria thriving in the heat of the water. They are highly temperature-specific and help create the distinct bands of colours around many of the hot springs. Of particular interest is a bacterium dwelling in the hot spring, from which, an enzyme, Taq, was extracted and ultimately revolutionized molecular biology.

However, above 88C, even these hot water bacteria and algae cannot survive, so the hottest springs appear a deep blue. The deep blue indicates the hottest spot of the spring.



Old Faithful Geyser is easily the most visited geyser in the world. Its not the tallest nor the most frequently erupting geyser in Yellowstone but it provides a great show. This famous geyser erupts once every 92 minutes.



Sawmill Geyser, check out the violent eruptions of boiling water, everyone got wet walking past it.

If ever a place deserved the term "Wonderland", it would have to be the northwest corner of Wyoming. In this spectacularly scenic region lies the world's oldest and perhaps its best-loved national park.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, established in 1872, it is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs. The terrain is a mix of open sagebrush-covered valleys, plateaus, deep canyons, alpine meadows and rocky summits. Yellowstone river is the largest high-elevation lake in North America.

Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world, and the 33rd largest lake on Earth. Great Salt Lake has no outlet besides evaporation so the depth depends on precipitation. It has very high salinity, far saltier than sea water. Because of its unusually high salt concentration, most people can easily float in the lake as a result of the higher density of the water, particularly in the saltier north arm of the lake.

Antelope Island is the largest of 10 islands in the Great Salt Lake.

We took a week off from work before summer ends to visit the West side of the US. We decided on Salt Lake city and Yellowstone National Park. It was a vacation that we will never forget. Though the sun and heat was unbearably scorching even for me born and bred in tropical Singapore, the scenery and experience was unlike anything we had ever come across. Its someplace we would love to go back to again....

distance - Boston to Salt Lake City : 2,361 miles

distance -Salt Lake City - Yellowstone National Park : 358 miles

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake, or its initials, S.L.C. It was originally known as Great Salt Lake City. Spectacularly set at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains at an elevation of 4330 ft, it is the headquarters of the Mormon Church and was the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Great Salt Lake and the impressive architecture and culture of the Mormon Temple are the 2 most famous attractions.

Mormon Temple and views from University of Utah

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Located only minutes from the bustle of downtown Boston, the Blue Hills Reservation provides a green oasis in an urban environment. We went on a hike with some Singaporeans we met that work and live in Boston and a visitor fm Memphis.

We reached the park's highest pt at 635 ft,which provided a panoramic view from the stone tower on the Great Blue. Patriots in the past used Great Blue as a lookout during the Revolutionary War, lighting beacons up here to warn of any British attack.

We had perfect weather, fantastic company and all-in a great afternoon...

photo courtesy of Kian Yung View of Boston city centre, the tallest being Prudential building...photo by Lu Lei

1st Stop....photo courtesy of Kian YungContinuing on....photo by Lu Lei

Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States of America. It is the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 20,784 as of the 2000 census. Portsmouth is a civilized little seaside city of bridges, brick, and seagulls, and quite a little gem.

...and on our way back home...look wat we found in one of the carparks...A DOG DRIVER!!

Roaming around the back alleys where there were a few "lobster killing" huts. check out the display of the various tools used..

A true vacation spot...

Rockport is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. Rockport is located approximately 35 miles northeast of Boston at the tip of the Cape Ann peninsula. It is directly east of Gloucester Massachusetts and surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.

Rockport is famous for its granite quarries. By the beginning of the 19th century, the first granite quarries were developed, and by the 1830s, Rockport granite was being shipped to cities and towns throughout the East Coast of the United States.
Distance: 43miles / 1 hr 10 mins


We had lunch at this quaint little hot dog shop - TOP DOG. They claim that they sell the BEST hot dogs in this side of America. I enjoyed the environment more than the food...

..and then there was the authentic Austrian apple strudel...

and how can we resist Rockport's homemade ice cream....

and ELEPHANT'S EARS??...i guess when you are hungry..anything goes...