Hiking Up the Table Mountain

So, I came here to conduct a sales training on my product, and the sales guys work on the US hours, which means I got most of the day-time of a working day free to do to do sight-seeing! This is too good to be true. :) Well, then what's next? Climb the Table Mountain.

It's not an easy hike, a straight-up-and-down path similar to the half-dome hike of Yosemite.

It's not safe to hike alone in South Africa. So, my driver hired me a professional body guard who is taking a break from all the fun of protecting the Indian governors, or American senators of his troublesome families, as such.

Interesting looking plants along the way.

What A Wonderful Place!

The stunning coastline, the horrifying stories of the blood diamonds, the rich culture and facinating personalities of the locals, the conflicting mix of luxurious life styple of the whites vs. the stuggles of the local Africans, ....all of that and more, simply makes the hinterland of South Africa mysterious, attractive, more so than ever, while I was on my flight over to Cape Town.

The 30-hr-plus flight from San Francisco to Cape Town is beyond nuts. If one can suffer through that, the brighter sight emerges as soon as the plan landed, and as soon as the beautiful table mountain appears in sight on the way leaving the airport.

Laying down on the couch outside of the porch of the hotel and looking out into the ocearn. Listening to the random conversions from 3 blond African girls chatting about what's wrong or simply what's not wrong with the last boyfriend....And, sipping on a glass of nicely chilled African local chadonny and fresh salad. Oh, well, finally, it's the vacation time. :)

Safari! Cape Town!! Ready!!!

Bed? Made!
Room? Cleaned!
Plants? Watered!
Passport? In the bag!
Coconuthead? Gathered! One!
Cameras? Packed! Two!
Hat? Shoveled in! Three!
Cute Outfits? Finally nailed down! More than enough!

Hmm...Seems like I am ready to fly over to South Africa today. Excited, a tiny bit nervous, or, maybe I am simply thrilled. :)

I wish dad were here with me on this adventure trip. He would be so excited! Everytime I go on a trip, I remember how dad had always encouraged me to see the world with my own eyes and experience the life with my own heart.

Dad was often a little jealous that mom and I had so much to talk, or gossip in his own words. He once joked that if he were not with us one day, would we ever miss him? The truth is that there is not a single day passing by without us talking about him over the phone and missing him dearly in our hearts. :)

Running Buddies

Every Saturday morning, or most of the Saturday mornings, we run together at the shoreline park. Aren't we cool or what?! :)

August - A Torent of Hard Aspects?

Alright, someone predicted that a few, more than just a couple, my major astrology signs are locked into some horrific, definant, dead-battle fight dominance in August, as a result, I will feel challenged in almost every direction. If someone tells me that, I would roll my eye balls, just like what I usually do when hearing something rediculous.

However, at the month end, I cannot help thinking there may be some truth to that crazy prediction. Life has been challenging this month for sure, with all the travels, more travels coming up, work being behind inspite of all the late hours....

It feels nice to get an opportunity to stay home, listening to some music, drink a cup of coffee and packing for the next trip... The sound of dryer running upstairs makes the home cozy and relaxing....

Visiting Washiongton DC

Summer in the Bay Area this year is quite lame. Disappointed with the grey sky almost every single morning, especially recently. How much I wish we could have one of those true summer days when we actually sweat under the sun?! So, I escaped to Washington DC for some heat, but only find out how nice and cook the weather in the bay area is.

DC almost makes me feel like walking in the garden, beautiful, relaxing...And, of course, piping hot during the summer. No wonder they got icecream shops all over the place.

Yosemite - Visiting The Giant Sequoias of the Tuolumne Grve

Sequoias? Yeah!!!

Big, gigantic trees, lovely wild flowers, fresh smells of the woods...What a wonderful morning!

Why visit Tuolume Grove? Because the entire hike to the grove is downhill (for the first half). And the grove itself contains a couple dozen mature Giant Sequoias, including one you can walk through. It's called "the Tunnel Tree".

Yosemite - Getting Up to The Half Dome

Wanted to take on the challenge to climb the Half Dome again. A few years back, when I first climbed the Half Dome, although I did make all the way up there, I had a totally horrible time. So, this time, I want to see whether I could do better. Ha, ha..... Hope for a good start.

Feeling good....This time maybe at least I could get up to the little Yosemite.

Too proud to get to this far.

Don't think I wanted to climb that last 200 feet. It is totally crazy and suicidal. Take a rest at the bottom of the Half Dome. Good enough for today.

Yosemite- The View of The Half Dome

The view of the Half Dome from the Olmsted Point.

The view of the Half Dome from the Glacier Point.