Lights are back liao.... Quickly went to bathe.... just in case the lights go out again... after bathing... water still hot... so went to wash my hair.... reverse of standard procedure... was super afraid tmr morning blackout again... then my hair will look super gross....
well... all is done.... lights are back for the past 20mins.... ending the 2.5hr saga... can go blow hair and sleep liao....
good nitez.... zzzz.....
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Blackout in Taipei
I am now in a hotel room in Taipei, Taiwan... Sitting in the dark... Supported only the light from my laptop screen..... Typing this blog entry....
Blackout.... in Taipei...
The whole HsinYi area is in darkness. My hotel and the buildings around us are all in darkness. It all started with a strange rumbling sound that lasted for about 10secs and then everything when black. Went to the corridor to check on my colleagues. All the same thing... My colleague in the room beside me was still in the bathe and I could hear the water running... Cold water he says... bathed in the dark... dressed in the dark.... Then we chatted for about 5 mins... the fire alarm sounded.... what the hell... an ang moh came out and went down the emergency stairway. We ran back to our rooms... grabbed our essentials and siam. Went to the emergency stairway... everyone was walking down.... very surprisingly... in a very orderly manner... an indian guy beside me brought both his laptops but no shoes.... ??? walked all the way down from the 13th floor... the smoke smell starting to get reeeaaallllll bad....
Reached the ground floor.... and a small gathering with our colleagues... Some colleagues half asleep.... some came down in their sleeping wear....
Found out from the building pple that the sub-station in Taipei has done down... reason unknown... how long it take to start up... unknown... all they know is that the whole area is dark... the best part is... after the substation went down... the building's generator started up... which explains the rumbling i think... but after about 5 mins... it short circuited due to long period of inactivity and started giving out smoke.... which explains the bad smell and the fire alarm... hahahaha....
So we went back to our room after 20mins.... and now i am sitting here in the dark typing this entry.... with only the light from my laptop and cellphone... no aircon... lucky can open a bit of the window... still got some air... can hear the policemen blowing whistles, directing traffic on the streets below... fire engines sirens wailing down the streets...
57% left of my laptop battery... 1hr more to go before total darkness...
Blackout.... in Taipei...
The whole HsinYi area is in darkness. My hotel and the buildings around us are all in darkness. It all started with a strange rumbling sound that lasted for about 10secs and then everything when black. Went to the corridor to check on my colleagues. All the same thing... My colleague in the room beside me was still in the bathe and I could hear the water running... Cold water he says... bathed in the dark... dressed in the dark.... Then we chatted for about 5 mins... the fire alarm sounded.... what the hell... an ang moh came out and went down the emergency stairway. We ran back to our rooms... grabbed our essentials and siam. Went to the emergency stairway... everyone was walking down.... very surprisingly... in a very orderly manner... an indian guy beside me brought both his laptops but no shoes.... ??? walked all the way down from the 13th floor... the smoke smell starting to get reeeaaallllll bad....
Reached the ground floor.... and a small gathering with our colleagues... Some colleagues half asleep.... some came down in their sleeping wear....
Found out from the building pple that the sub-station in Taipei has done down... reason unknown... how long it take to start up... unknown... all they know is that the whole area is dark... the best part is... after the substation went down... the building's generator started up... which explains the rumbling i think... but after about 5 mins... it short circuited due to long period of inactivity and started giving out smoke.... which explains the bad smell and the fire alarm... hahahaha....
So we went back to our room after 20mins.... and now i am sitting here in the dark typing this entry.... with only the light from my laptop and cellphone... no aircon... lucky can open a bit of the window... still got some air... can hear the policemen blowing whistles, directing traffic on the streets below... fire engines sirens wailing down the streets...
57% left of my laptop battery... 1hr more to go before total darkness...
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Eeewwww.....
The road on the way to the lighthouse was lining the forest. I had a great shock of my life when I saw what was on the trees just beside us or above our heads while we walked. There were countless of them... Big.... Huge..... 10 to 15 cm in length... including the legs and all.... We even saw some transferring from tree to tree... eeewwwwww... I took this photo from my friend.... I didn't want to risk one jumping onto me while doing a macro shot...
Overlooking the Shionomisaki Lighthouse
Buses from the vistor centre were 1hr apart, we didn't want to waste time waiting 50mins for the next one, so we trekked from the vistor centre to the Shionomisaki lighthouse. It took us about 20mins to reach the lighthouse... in the hot, hot sun... On the way there, we passed by another patch of grassland, which is smaller and looks like a rest area. There was even a gazebo to relax under, some benches and even some palm trees too. Doesn't this look like Hawaii?
When we walked down to the gazebo, we found out that this extended ledge overlooked the Shionomisaki light house. The view was great and the breeze from the ocean was good. It's an ideal place for a rest area.
Turns out that this view is rated the top 100 hundred evening spots in Japan, but... we didn't manage to catch the sunset... all because of the bus system that ends at 4pm. Here's how it looks during sunset. Taken from the top sunrise/sunsets in japan.
When we walked down to the gazebo, we found out that this extended ledge overlooked the Shionomisaki light house. The view was great and the breeze from the ocean was good. It's an ideal place for a rest area.
Turns out that this view is rated the top 100 hundred evening spots in Japan, but... we didn't manage to catch the sunset... all because of the bus system that ends at 4pm. Here's how it looks during sunset. Taken from the top sunrise/sunsets in japan.
Overlooking into the Pacific Ocean
We walked across the shiba-grassland to the physical southernmost point. We went right the to the edge of the ledge to capture some photos of the Pacific Ocean. See the roundish horizon? the earth is not flat... 世界は丸いだよね。。。
There was a gift shop at the rest area and they sold "certificates" to say that you have visited the southernmost point of Honshu. We didn't want to spend 300yen on a piece of paper. So we just contented ourselves by posing and taking photos of the signboard... Heehee...
There was a gift shop at the rest area and they sold "certificates" to say that you have visited the southernmost point of Honshu. We didn't want to spend 300yen on a piece of paper. So we just contented ourselves by posing and taking photos of the signboard... Heehee...
Shionomisaki 潮岬
From Hashikui-iwa, we took a bus to Shionomisaki (潮岬). The whole bus was full of sightseers, but all local Japanese... Mostly old couples, husband and wife on a holiday, some obaasans and ojiisans, but also 1 or 2 young men armed with big photography equipment. We were still the only foreigners in the bus.
Shionomisaki (潮岬)... located at longitude 135.46 east and latitude 33.26 north in the southernmost tip of Honshu. This is the real southernmost point of Honshu (本州), Japan.
The photos show the Shionomisaki visitor centre against heavy cloud cover, taken across from the shiba-grassland (望楼の芝生).... The grassland, spanning abt 100,000 m2, starts from the southernmost tip and ends at the vistor centre, which used to be the Navy's headquarters in the olden days. Its very big and it took us about 10mins to walk across the length of the grassland. We had lunch at the visitor centre and my friend ordered whale meat ramen. Whale is くじら in Japanese, so whale meat ramen is くじらラーメン. We were at first not sure くじら means whale or dolphin and we had no choice but to ask the waitress through hand gestures. We finally confirmed that it is whale meat when my friend expressed the spouting of water from her head... Haahaa.. (dolphin is いるか in Japanese).
I like it when the weather is good... Clear blue skies and white clouds.... Ideal backdrop for scenery... BUT... the sun was horrendous that day, and both of us got badly sun-tanned...
Shionomisaki (潮岬)... located at longitude 135.46 east and latitude 33.26 north in the southernmost tip of Honshu. This is the real southernmost point of Honshu (本州), Japan.
The photos show the Shionomisaki visitor centre against heavy cloud cover, taken across from the shiba-grassland (望楼の芝生).... The grassland, spanning abt 100,000 m2, starts from the southernmost tip and ends at the vistor centre, which used to be the Navy's headquarters in the olden days. Its very big and it took us about 10mins to walk across the length of the grassland. We had lunch at the visitor centre and my friend ordered whale meat ramen. Whale is くじら in Japanese, so whale meat ramen is くじらラーメン. We were at first not sure くじら means whale or dolphin and we had no choice but to ask the waitress through hand gestures. We finally confirmed that it is whale meat when my friend expressed the spouting of water from her head... Haahaa.. (dolphin is いるか in Japanese).
I like it when the weather is good... Clear blue skies and white clouds.... Ideal backdrop for scenery... BUT... the sun was horrendous that day, and both of us got badly sun-tanned...
Monday, February 06, 2006
Hashikui-iwa Rocks 橋杭岩 Pt2
On the 3rd day, we took a train to Kushimoto (串本) and went to visit the Hashikui-iwa (橋杭岩). This was the 2nd place that we visited in the Wakayama (和歌山) prefecture. The weather was very hot that day and we got sun-burnt just by spending 1hr at this place...
Original post is here. Below are some more photos from Hashikui-iwa.
The rocks are really like an extension/ledge out into the sea... We walked all the way to the end of the boulders and just beyond the boulder, was the ocean... See how blue-green the sea is... It should be very very deep...
Original post is here. Below are some more photos from Hashikui-iwa.
The rocks are really like an extension/ledge out into the sea... We walked all the way to the end of the boulders and just beyond the boulder, was the ocean... See how blue-green the sea is... It should be very very deep...
Backlog of Photos
Today on leave at home, cos last night we prayed till very late and got caught in the heavy downpour etc... Looking through my posts in my travelogue... There's a huge backlog of photos that I need to post up here soon and also... I am only at the 3rd day of the 12-day Japan trip I took last yr Sept... Need to hurry! Also got to post photos from my cruise, my US trip, my Kuching trip... ARRRGGHHHH!
We were on the Kino-Matsushima boat cruise when I took this photo. We were near the Tai-chi area for the dolphin show which is only held once a day for the 3.30pm cruise. The dolphins were still in training, so this was like trial exposure to the crowd, sounds of clapping, etc... Looking at this photo gives me a very peaceful feeling, out at sea... nice relaxation...
After the cruise, we went back to the foot onsen at the train station to wait for the 6pm train... waited for about 2 hrs... Think japanese people really like onsen a lot... as they sat there... they keep saying kimochii. kimochii...
We were on the Kino-Matsushima boat cruise when I took this photo. We were near the Tai-chi area for the dolphin show which is only held once a day for the 3.30pm cruise. The dolphins were still in training, so this was like trial exposure to the crowd, sounds of clapping, etc... Looking at this photo gives me a very peaceful feeling, out at sea... nice relaxation...After the cruise, we went back to the foot onsen at the train station to wait for the 6pm train... waited for about 2 hrs... Think japanese people really like onsen a lot... as they sat there... they keep saying kimochii. kimochii...
Merger....
Announcement!!!
Merger of Shuumi's Squiggles and Shuumi's Travelogue is confirmed!
Too much of a bother to maintain 2 blogs... My travelogue didnt get as many hits as Squiggles did, so will consolidate everything into Squiggles and I think... It's gonna to be mainly a travelogue... All photos and ramblings from my les voyages will be posted here.
Will be transferring posts from the travelogue over here in the next few days, so please keep a look out for my travel photos!
Merger of Shuumi's Squiggles and Shuumi's Travelogue is confirmed!
Too much of a bother to maintain 2 blogs... My travelogue didnt get as many hits as Squiggles did, so will consolidate everything into Squiggles and I think... It's gonna to be mainly a travelogue... All photos and ramblings from my les voyages will be posted here.
Will be transferring posts from the travelogue over here in the next few days, so please keep a look out for my travel photos!
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