NostalgiaAnakMami: 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

San-Antonio Downtown - LoneStar p.4

11/4/2011
Spend the rest of the day walking around downtown San Antonio - Visited The Alamo and La Villita

The Alamo is a historical place. It was a chapel found by the Spanish, then it was used as a fort even as a hospital, when the Mexican took over. During the Texas Revolution (revolution of Texas colonists to be independent from the Mexican), the Battle of the Alamo happened in 1836. In this battle, the Mexican won, but not long after that, the Texan won in the Battle of San Jacinto (a month after battle of alamo). The battle of Alamo still left a big impact to the Texan, as they were hit hard during the battle but it remains as a symbol to heroism and bravery.

More story of the Alamo over the years (here)

around The Alamo

On that day, there were having U.S. Army Staff Ride at the Alamo plaza. Kept myself entertained for a while.

La Villita is a cultural and arts village. Most of the shops / stalls were closed on that day. First two pictures on top is from La Villita. Bottom left (Riverwalk area), Bottom right (one of the Shops along the streets).

I took this Ripley's adventure package, consisting of 3 "adventures". One is more like a small exhibition, then there's this ride inspired from Tomb Rider, which i sucked at. I didnt get to shoot the ghosts. Then the other one is a haunted house. Ouh wow...i really enjoyed the haunted house @ Rumah hantu. Menjadi sangat. Anyway, the scariest part was that I went alone into the haunted house, and yes.... it was scaryyyy.... I didnt really scream though :)) coz I like to control macho like dat maa...

Went back to hotel and check out at about 1pm+
Around 1.45pm, I was back at the SA Greyhound bus station and my bus was suppose to be at 2ish. For some unknown reasons, we were told the bus was delayed.... but being stranded at the bus station for a few hours, I kinda sense there were no buses really moving for some of the scheduled time. Ampeh punya Greyhound. Bagus lagi transnasional... buweekk!

The bus was on its way from mexico, so maybe going pass the border took longer time, thus the delay? Dont know... Informed Eli that I was going to be late. Kinda sad, as we thought we would have more time to spend together... Geeshh...

Finally at about 6pm+, the bus finally... Gladly hop into it... only to find the bus was not in its best days. Smelt funny, and felt quite stuffy. The Tv on the bus was playing black&white mexican soap... Layan saja lah.... Took random pics along the way.

Reached Houston at 8.15pm.
Aaaah legaa....

After that long tiring wait & journey, it was heartwarming to look at a beautiful familiar face.
Waaa... so great to see Eli.

:-)

Friday, February 24, 2012

San Antonio River Cruise... LoneStar p.3

Texas continued...

Second day in San Antonio... morning.... took the first boat ride...
San Antonio River-Cruise

Here are the pics along the river.... cruising :-)

the Mall by the river

Statue of Saint Antonio- the Saint.
(San Antonio was named for Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is on June 13, when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691-Wikipedia).

Continue Cruising....

Lone-Star -Part 2 (San Antonio)

Before going down to Texas, I did some research about San Antonio. Most importantly, I need to have a map!!! Haha... oh yah, the google map! Refering to my bus itinerary and hotel booking, I had some rough idea how I were to move around.

I got my hotel thru Hotwire.com, as this is one of the services that offer cheap but fairly good accommodation, of course depending on the criteria we choose on the website.

The trick is... in most transcations, you won't know which Hotel you will be assigned to, only the area the hotel is and type of hotel i.e. budget / 3stars / 5stars, and price. But for certain places, i think sometimes they do reveal the name of the hotel first. Since Eli gave a good recommendation for this site, I booked with that. I got a nice hotel, but a bit of a walking distance from the center of attraction (The RiverWalk area). Huhu, I had to go with that, since hotels in the hearts of SA is dem expensive.

After payment made (online), The hotel was revealed, Holiday Inn (without breakfast). Ok. Walking distance from my bus station (Greyhound Express) = 1.2 miles.
Hmmm dat sounds do-able, "walk-able"... right? Ok wait... 1.2 miles is around 2km? Opps... Erk...ok la, DO-ABLE lah kot :P I told myself.

A: Greyhound Station

B: Holiday Inn Express

my preJourney uncle-google-map

Haha... Looking at the map - quite a number of blocks away. Since Im not a fan of cab/taxi, I knew I would walk!

Arrived SA around 4.20pm.

Started walking.... with my big lappy bag (dat has both my lappy and dslr in it), my luggage bag (a carry-on luggage-sized trolley bag).... and this is the most bijak one --> Heels :-)) a comfy heels but Heels nonetheless.. smarta**! ahahaha

Jalan punya jalan.......

geesh.. the map mmg penipu gk aar... jauh gk! :)) Dan sampaiiii!! and Room! trus la lompat dan landing... PENAT!!

Reason to love Hotwire:

so much space... but all alone! -_-'

Rested a while... called my friends to inform them I arrived safely.... refresh... solat.... then.. ok.. time to jalan-jalan! Packed light... and walked to Market Square.

In the map above (in between Dolorasa and W Commerce St, opposite N Santa Rosa Ave)

This place has very strong Mexican influence.Most of the things here are Mexican, even the people (mexican heritage). For a while there, I really felt like I was in Mexico.

One good thing about travelling is... culture.

And this place obviously doesnt lack that.

Observing people.... walking pass the crowded market....

But, I didnt make too much contact with people, or unnecessary conversations.

1. young lady singing a spanish song (she got great vocal)

2. around Market Square

3. market square indoor.... they were having some performances by kids

4. the bridge concert - outdoor concert, well... under a overhead bridge...

Did some Mini shopping... mostly keychains and magnets.

Then, it was getting dark, so I went back to the hotel....

After Isya', I went out.. to the Riverwalk area.

Nice Lighting around the River area... tadaaa:

There's RiverBoat Ride..... but I just missed the last boat.. and decided to do it next morning. better on daytime, more things to see maa.

So I just walked along the riverwalk....

Went in some shops... window shopping....magnet shopping :P

simply... enjoying the night breeze.

HAHAHHAHAHAHA

GANAS SAUCES!!!

It was almost 11,
Not even the time for Cinderella to go back... but it was for me!
but on my way back to my hotel.... bumped into this...

Ya Ya OK....

I got cha hint... go back early before I turn into a pumpkin or tomato rite....

Ok....

So back I went... walking in lightspeed.... and as soon as I got in my room... Kebooom!

Open laptop, upload pictures, went online.. duh!

Ok... I really needed my beauty sleeeeepp badly... and need energy to go jalan-jalan next day...

sO.....

Zzzzzzzzz

Saturday, February 4, 2012

My Lone-Star Adventure - Part 1

TEXAS... (2011)

... one of the states in USA that has its own remarkable identity (known as the Lone Star State). Is it a common touristy state? I'm not sure... maybe not so much, compared to NY,DC,CA..

Well, my visit to Texas was not really a touristy one either. I went there to visit my friends... 2 of them in 2 different cities of Texas. I brought along my laptop and work, and stayed with Elen for 3 days... and we didnt really go out. It was my 3rd month in the US, and I was quite homesick, so it was very therapeutic to see familiar "homey" faces.

From Charlotte to Dallas: Transit in Atlanta (AirTran)

then back from Houston, direct flight to Charlotte. (US Airways)

Another friend, Eli, lived in Houston (now pindah dah)... While I was speaking to Eli about the arrangement to go there, since I planned to take the bus ride, she did suggest I make a de-tour to San Antonio, maybe a few hours stop, but I was not quite confident to go sightseeing all by myself. She told me it's safe to travel... and later suggested one night stay if I want to have a better look of that place, maybe if she might be able to arrange to come over if her husband were to be on leave. After series of phone calls, I needed to confirm and buy my tickets... so assuming it's okay, and thinking of the possibility of her coming over, I bought a ticket from Dallas to San Antonio, and from San Antonio to Houston on the next day. But, later it was confirmed she can't come over... and I was like.... erk... Miscommunication 101... Ok.... "I'm going to San Antonio all by myself?" For someone who is not really a risk taker, this is even a shock to myself.

Travelled with Greyhound Bus

Bus Ride from Dallas (from Richardson)... they stopped in Waco, and Austin on the way

Bus Ride from San Antonio, straight to Houston (but the bus was delayed for 3 hours) :|| !!

I asked myself a few times.... How confident am I? How good am I in learning my ways in new places? How strong am I to face obstacles that might come along the way? I decided to go ahead... I did pray, Du'a a lot that everything will go smoothly.

One day adventure... a Lone Ranger in the Lone-star State...

So... ok... let's go break a leg.

A small town known as Richardson, next to Plano. Took the bus from here, then to Dallas city (half an hour)....

It was Sunday. Some big cities in the US.... they are kinda dead on weekends. (same goes with Charlotte downtown). So yaa... it feels like "I am Legend" movie set :P

I had 1 hour + in Dallas... so I just walked around some streets to get some shots

I am Legend movie set... Will Smith in the car (according to my fantasy) :P

"I am a stranger traveling from the East, seeking that which is lost....
I am a stranger traveling from the West, it is I whom you seek...." (movie dialog :P)

Ok... walking back to the Greyhound Station....

This street is near memorial JFK (didnt know it was just next to the red building). He was shot 2 blocks from here.

Ok...
Hop on the bus

real cow aar????

no laa... this one oni real maa...

Hehe... Good decision to take the bus... get to see the views...

Waco:

Continue the journey...

Cowboy Hatsss.... waaa...nakk

5 hours bus ride....
I reached San Antonio around 5pm....
:-)

So basically what I did in Plano (Elen place), was.... cook, eat, chat, and do work. Haha...
Love the chat part...... It's been years since I last met her, or had time to really talk to her...
I missed her so much.... so it was so so great to see her, and her family :-)

Thank you elen... for having me :*

End of part 1... yeehaw!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Online or offline buddies?

When I was in states, I missed-out some events that happened kat tanah tumpah ayaq. Tapi dengan adanya internet, (ok, facebook ler tuhh), macam sentiasa akan dapat update di samping YahooMsg, Skype, Blogs dan email. Just 3years back, not many of my friends and I used/had Facebook. But of course those were the days when Friendster ruled, and even that, Friendster trend came only at the end of my undergraduate final year .

Before that, campus life was free from social networking sites (well... almost. The trend was beginning back then with forum sites and forum groups, but wasnt a major hype). Anyway...Those were the days. It seemed nice and simpler come to think of it now. I'm glad that I have experienced campus life without too much of this internet-based chaotic world.

But can u imagine if right now, we dont have all these social networking services? (lets not imagine time before internet, it just seemed too long ago, unlikely and prehistoric :P). Imagine we have internet but without social networking (SN).

If until now, lets say we have internet and smartphones that connects to internet, but online social networking were unheard of, how would it be? Haha... Hey, of course lah we would be just fine, we will survive just fine, ye dok :)) Btw, even at present, not everyone is connected to internet frequently, and not everyone registered to SN kan....

Speaking in general, for regular users of SN... how would it be like without SN?
On postive note,

Don't have to think of having to update our activities (status), or not thinking of what our frens (or even anon/strangers) have to say about our life described OnLy in words n pictures.
Not as much judgements... or get affected by judgments when dat happen
More privacy in life, which, is very important....not having this medium, u wont be tempted to showcase every single thing you do, or some information that was supposed to be private. Temptation is evil... they seduce you :)) Haha
Your phones wont be buzzing all the time with updates (for mobile SN users)
Spend more time with real people in front of you rather than eyes locked to the laptop/phone screeen... (Or: keep on tweeeeting / checking phone for updates when u are suppose to spend quality time with someone who is right in front of you. This scenario can vary from a date, lepak-lepak or even family bonding time)
We won't be so nosy or kaypoh-chi as well... of other people's life. HAHAHA.

But then...

most likely... you wont keep in touch with your friends as much. Once you finish school/college, you will move on.... and keeping in touch would be hard n tedious.
When u are far from home (outstation/overseas), you depend on direct communicati like phone, email, online chat/call (but with SN, i.e. I can log in to facebook and get many updates from many people at one go)
How to share pictures taken especially with those who are in those pictures with u? email em? pheww...such a hassle.
where to channel ur narciscism...(bila time tgh syok sendiri) and sudden excitement? Not sure if this is 'healthy' though, hahaha... but ouh well... :P
When u have things/ events to share, whether initiating it or found one that your friends would be happy to join.... should I call them one by one? ok.. maybe I can use email... but still..

(bab-bab list nie, mesti ada byk lagi... just throwing in some)

I do miss the times when I had 'less-online' life. At the same time,being online is just as important for me.

Recently, I did try to deactivate my facebook.... and that lasted for 21days! Wow.... it was so liberating. I almost didnt want to activate back my facebook.

But, one of the strongest reason to go back was: the contacts. Some of them, I only have fb as the bridge to connect us. That shows how I rely on such services too much. What would happen if one day, Facebook (since its the most widely used SN) goes haywire, and decided to go down? Haha like wat Friendster did... tiba-tiba jadi gamesite, and all data was wiped-out, even their blogsites.

Do you have a backup contact of your friends that you interact with, through FB? I do have some friends who I interact with frequently in facebook, but I dont have their handphone numbers, or email address... especially those who are not geographically near. (so, ok I have to make effort to have some other options). I dont really have online friends who I don't know in real life... so somehow I can find them eventually... as long as I know at least one or few of the mutual friends' contacts. But I did have a few online friends back then... from early blogging years and then added to friendster. So when friendster decided to "evolve", some friendships end up dead... (just like how dinosaurs died with evolution :P)

Kesimpulannya... no matter how fun and trendy SN is.... its so unpredictable, who knows if this december 2012, facebook decides to commit suicide? jeng jeng

Kesimpulannya lagi... dont rely on it too much. Make sure we have backup or other ways to contact a friend, if that friend matters to you :-) If u have time and opportunities, make time to meet friends offline too :D and most importantly dont get stuck with being more online while doing so :P

sekian :D