Beyond Disneyland: Winter Park

Just cooked a dinner of Rendang Beef, Laksa noodles and Hainanese Chicken rice for my host and her family... and they loved it :)

I shopped for the ingredients at the local Spanish supermarket, trying to decipher through some of the spanish words and scouring the place for rare asian stuff like noodles. When i returned home, i brought out the seasoning packets and instructions, thought up a "Divide and Conquer" strategy and dealt with each dish one at a time haha. After an hour of cleaning and boiling and steaming and frying, dinner was ready :D

Turns out Kim and Josh really liked the Rendang Beef i made, and they loved how spicy it was! The Hainanese rice was not as strongly flavoured, as i'd used too much rice... But i did leave them the seasoning so they could try it again. Anyway, it was my first time cooking and i'm glad i managed to cook the full course of dishes satisfactorily. Huzzah!

JoAnne did the entire cleaning up though. I always end up talking to Josh after dinner and forgetting to help her in washing!

Hmm there is just so much to blog about, and so little time... today I'd been to Winter Park near Orlando, where there was the annual Sidewalk Art Festival happening now, and i had an amazing time talking to some artists. It was much more open, expansive and warmer than the one in San Francisco then! I really had the chance to sit down and just talk to the artists, listen about their experiences and their philosophy in life.

I love what Mike Lightcap, a glass carver, told me:

Find something you like, kid, and do something amazing with it!

Other really memorable quotes i remember:

Love is a color only the blind can see.

Just to share some pics... (asked for permission, of course)

They have some amazing artists from all over the U.S come down here, and it feels so magical that they all share the same passion for beauty, for the expression of life! Will fill in more thoughts later.

I took a trip down to the Morse Museum too, there's some interesting art and history there. Will leave off here with a secretly taken shot of the chapel exhibit inside!

My First Couchsurfing Experience

These past few days have been really tiring, what with long hours of exploring, queueing and taking rides in Universal Studio and Disney World! But i feel so much more like i want to talk about my first couchsurfing experience so far, with JoAnne in Orlando, FL.

There can hardly be a person who can make me feel so comfortable as JoAnne, with her friendliness and openness to sharing. She fetched me from the airport, gave me a tour around the neighbourhood, then we shopped for groceries and we made macaroni with chili broth together for dinner :) There's tons of things we talked about (i especially loved her narration of her near-elopement to Woodstock!), and I wish i could talk more with her after my theme park visits end tomorrow!

In the meantime, i had an unforgettable meeting with her two French frens, Izzy and her partner Indy. They were her first couchsurfers a couple of months back, and were sleeping over for a night, in the guest room with me. The interesting thing was that Izzy knew very little English, so i dug out some of my French from aeons ago and introduced myself haha. Afterwards we used facebook to chat, and I'd copy and paste whatever i wanted to say from Google Translate. After awhile, she commented that my French was very good...and then she burst out laughing when i showed her i was using Google :p

Talked with Indy after that, and when i told him i was going to Germany, he shared about it some. It was funny and interesting... later on the lights were turned off and i wished them "Bonne Nuit", while they returned a "Wan3 An1"... then, having suddenly remembered, Izzy whispered "Gute Nacht!"

And we all laughed.

~~~

The next day, JoAnne told me about the amazing love story of Izzy and Indy's relationship. Turns out they were a couple during school days, and then Indy wanted to go to Paris to work. But Izzy refused to move...so they broke up and went their separate ways. Years passed, and Indy worked in various countries, Australia etc, but he just "couldn't stop thinking about her". Eventually, 13 whole years later, he went back to France, reconnected with her...and they've been together since :)

Now that's what i call romance.

Pennsylvania - Land of the Wilds

I never tire of snow. How could anyone? Nothing can be quite as pure, beautiful, serene... with a different appeal in a different time, place.

As we ventured up north, through long frosted highways and snow-topped conifer forests, the weather had palpably grown chillier. We went into Erie, a typical American town serving as a stopover destination for road trips to or from Canada, New York, Chicago etc. Lake Erie was beautiful, and it was a fun place to get into the snowy mood and start throwing some snowballs :)

"Why are we standing out in the cold, dude!"

We began on Route 6 -

Named by National Geographic as "One of America's most scenic drives", US Route 6 in Pennsylvania is the heart of the American Dream. This magical and tranquil highway along Pennsylvania's northern tier is 400 plus miles of history and heritage, linking small towns, generations of people and wondrous sights often forgotten.

Farms and ranches dotted the landscape, with yellowish stalks buried under the snow; it won't be till Spring arrives before the melts fertilize the land and give life to the greenery again.

The best part of road trips are spontaneous, off-the-beaten-track detours that lead us into new places and adventures! One of our favourite ones was to stop by (illegally?) Kinzua Dam, a restricted dam that gave spectacular views of the river and the Allegheny reservoir. All the guards were off for their winter vacations, woohoo!

And then, descending upon frozen Treasure Lake the next day, trudging through the snowy ice carefully, making snow angels, and praying not to fall into the deep, icy waters underneath! There was never a more beautiful moment when the snow flakes trickled, no, floated down on us like a silver misting, or a sugary coat.

Summer homes lay deserted on the shores beyond... we crossed the lake and explored them in the full excitement of trespassing haha.

Kudos to ZY for being such a fun driver with a great sense of intuition and bringing us to lovely spots. He drove so well, too, that we couldn't help but fall asleep in the car! Anyway, will add more later.

Returning back to Pittsburgh, i joined in a party with ZY's housemate Tracy, then had my last supper with the Lost Skies, and bid everyone goodbye. It was a wonderful, different second leg in my journey, one that forged new friendships and beautiful memories.

Farewell...Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh, the City of Steel.

No time for blogging - just a couple of pics!

Touched down in Pittsburgh, PA. It was great meeting up with ZY, and he got me comfortably settled in, then introduced me to local housemates Sky and Lost. (I call them the Lost Skies) Lovely house, i especially like reading in front of the "fireplace" radiator.

ZY may be the perfect tour guide/ambassador for Carnegie Mellon! Highly observant and knowledgeable, he led me around the grounds of its beautiful, modern campus on the back of his hand. Chokeful of culture, really fascinating.

It was cold, and it drizzled. No better weather for museums! The Carnegie Museum of the Arts and Natural History were a stone's throw away, and a wonderful place to explore. They have works from prehistoric times to the modern; from ancient hieroglyphics to minimalist paintings. Follow a docent, or go it alone in exploring art through the passage of time.

My favourite exhibit: Desniansky Raion, 2007 by Cyprien Gaillard. A video running 29 minutes long, showcasing architecture in a strange, spectacular fashion. Poignant and very unsettling - you'll understand when you watch it.

Not forgetting, the current exhibition of the season: Andrey Avinoff - in Pursuit of Beauty. He was previously director of Carnegie Institute and artist, explorer, scientist. Very interesting perspective into his inner life and thoughts, yet leaving much room for imagination. I met a docent guiding her artist friend along, M and J. We had a fascinating discussion about the interpretation of his artworks - but it was definitely way above my head haha.

Dinner at Burgatory, with Zy's friends HaoYee, Vincent and Darryl. Great-tasting but ultimately sinful burgers, and watch out for the hard liquor-ed shakes! They're sure to bring you somewhere nasty - to the depths of pburgatory perhaps.

For awhile now, it seems like God wants me to visit museums and gain knowledge. It just won't stop RAINING. And what better place to gain new knowledge than the Cathedral of Learning, one of University of Pittsburgh's campuses. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a religion dedicated to learning? Rather than, you know, eternal life and stuff. Very, very beautiful building with a gothic feel to it. Its Nationality Classrooms gave me some of my most enriching experiences here in Pittsburgh - it definitely deserves a patient, attentive walkthrough to glean much intimate knowledge about myriad cultures. Each room represents the culture of a nation, with matching decor, architecture et al that tell a fascinating story of history and society. They can be used for normal university classes too, wow.

Be greeted by the symphonies of Joseph Haydn as you step into the Baroque magnificence of the Austrian room. Learn about the peaceful marriage strategy of the House of Habsburg - Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria, nube! (Wars may be led by others - you, happy Austria, marry!)

Or get a feel of Ukrainian hospitality in its warm-bodied decor, embodied in the Slavic saying, "Gość w dom, Bóg w dom. " (When a guest enters the house, God enters the home).

I love how the Welsh room ended off with a romantic rendition of its humble, poetic culture.

To be born Welsh
is to be born privileged.
Not with a silver spoon in your mouth,
But music in your blood
And poetry in your soul.

Thousand points apiece if you can identify which culture the rooms belong to!

It continued to pour chillingly as I made my way downtown, climbing buses, asking for directions and running across bridges. I found my way to the Andy Warhol museum... home of the father of Pop Art and alumni of CMU.

Late at night, my first magical moment with snow... wish i'll never forget this moment.

And this marks the end of the urban trail in Pittsburgh... time for the wilderness of Pennsylvania! Heading off for a roadtrip across Pennsylvania with ZY and Lost, ranging across scenic Route 6.