Road Trip: Day Three

I have flown through Denver dozens of times and once had to spend the night due to a flight delay. However, I have never really BEEN to Denver (or Colorado in general!) So finally I made it. For real. I had a meal downtown and walked around the 16th street mall. So, now what do I have to say about Colorado?

1. They are worse drivers than CA, NV, UT or WY (but better than LA or FL!).
2. It is warmer here than in all the other states I have been through (the record was NV at -1 degree; it is in the 30s in CO)
3. There are a lot of bums downtown.
4. The mountains are BEAUTIFUL!!! but Denver is not as close to them as I thought it was.
5. There are a ton of towns with the name "springs" in the name. 

Also, let's not forget Wyoming. I thought it was flat; it is not. There are mountains and rolling hills both! It is beautiful. I only just skimmed the bottom edge of it, but I can't wait to come back when it is warmer and I have more time and go hiking, see Yellowstone, climb the Tetons and explore!

Today's stats:
Favorite license plate so far: Wyoming
Highest point: 8,640 feet
Number of pumps of chocolate in my Venti mocha this morning: 3
License plate from farthest away state: Alaska! My first one ever! (does anyone else play this game?) 2nd place: Florida (that guy must be freezing up here!)
Cost of parking for two hours in downtown Denver: $2.00
Miles remaining: 700

A couple of questions for you, readers: Have you ever taken a road trip? If so, where? What is your favorite place? And where's the coldest place you have ever been? The highest?

Today's trip: Rock Springs, WY to Denver, CO (a little bit of a detour to Denver, but I heard it was worth it)

Here are today's pictures. I noticed I have a lot of "road" shots, but hey, it IS a "road trip"!!! These were all taken in Wyoming. There is no snow in Colorado so I wasn't as photo crazy. 

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Take Long Walks With Pinay Girls on the Zambales Coast

If you have no idea of where to take Pinay girls out on a date then we have the best place for you. No romantic getaway can equal what the beautiful shores of the Zambales coast has to offer.

The Zambales coast is one of the longest and most untouched shorelines this part of the Island of Luzon. It is just a few hours away from Manila and is very accessible through a lot of modes of transportation. This coastal area offers a great mix of mountain ranges and pristine beaches still teeming with natural beauty.

First stop would be the coast of Pandaquit. This town offers a long shoreline with fishing villages. The best thing about this shoreline is you can rent one of the boats available and get a ride to the beautiful and untouched Capones and Camera Islands.

Capones island has great diving and surfing sites for visitors. The islands offer untouched natural shorelines and also one of the best beach resort in Capones Island. You are sure to get a great paradise getaway with your date here.

Going North you will find the provincial capital of Iba. There are a lot of resorts to visit here like the Ocean View Beach House in Balintog Amungan. The resort is a crescent beach surrounded by reefs on both sides. You can even rent out the resort for yourself and your date so you can get some alone time together.

Further North you will be getting to the towns of Palauig, Masinioc and Santa Cruz with extensive saltworks. There are a lot of resorts and beaches in the southern end of Dasol Bay. There are also two islands accessible from Dasol Bay by hiring a small boat. One of those islands is Hermana Mayor Island which is also known as "Miss Universe Island". The photo shoots for the Miss Universe Pageant in 1979 where done here and much of the islands natural beauty is untouched unto this day. There are no hotels in the island giving you a truly untouched resort.

Experience the best of the Philipines from the busy streets of Manila to the scenery of idyllic tourists spots. Discover the dramatic beauty and culture of Filipina Girls and everything else about the Filipinos.

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Great conductors of the 20TH century EMI VOL.4 - John Barbirolli

CD1 [76:17]

Wagner: Die Meistersinger: Prelude to Act 1
London Symphony Orchestra; Abbey Road Studios, London; September 1969

Elgar: 'Enigma' Variations
Hallé Orchestra; Free Trade Hall, Manchester; June 1956

Ravel: Ma Mère l'oye - Suite
Hallé Orchestra; Free Trade Hall, Manchester; May 1957

Mahler: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (opening)

CD2 [73:20]

Mahler: Symphony No.2 'Resurrection' (conclusion)
Helen Donath (soprano) & Birgit Finnilä (mezzo-soprano)/Südfunk-Chor, Chor der Staatlichen Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart/Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart; Liederhalle, Stuttgart (Live); April 1970

Puccini: Madama Butterfly: Conclusion to Act 1 (Love duet)
Renata Scotto (Butterfly) & Carlo Bergonzi (Pinkerton)/Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma; Teatro dell'Opera, Rome; August 1966



THE BIOGRAPHY - SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI (1899-1970)
Born in London of Italian-French parents, Sir John Barbirolli trained as a cellist and played in theatre and café orchestras before joining the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood in 1916. His conducting career began with the formation of his own orchestra in 1924, and between 1926 and 1933 he was active as an opera conductor at Covent Garden and elsewhere. Orchestral appointments followed: with the Scottish Orchestra (1933-6), the New York Philharmonic (1936-42), the Hallé Orchestra (1943-70) and the Houston Symphony (1961-67). Barbirolli was a guest conductor with many of the world's leading orchestras and was especially admired as an interpreter of the music of Mahler, Sibelius, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Puccini and Verdi. He made many outstanding recordings, including the complete Brahms and Sibelius symphonies, operas by Verdi and Puccini and much English repertoire.
THE RECORDINGS
This compilation is a representative selection of composers closely associated with Barbirolli - Elgar, Ravel, Mahler, Puccini and Wagner. The stereo recording of Mahler's Second Symphony dates from 1970, the last year of Barbirolli's life. The conductor never recorded the 'Resurrection' Symphony commercially, so the inclusion of this live performance from Stuttgart is a major event for collectors. The Hallé recording of Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations (from 1956) has long been considered the finest of his recorded performances of the work, though a later recording (with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1962) tended at first to overshadow it. Wagner's Overture to Die Meistersinger from 1969 has not been available on CD before. The extract from Barbirolli's famous Madama Butterfly (made in Rome in 1966) is a highlight from one of the regrettably few complete operas he recorded.


http://www.fileserve.com/file/GrDXmTk
http://www.fileserve.com/file/NnHeEEe

http://www.fileserve.com/file/V9kSGFj 

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Moving On

It is with heartbreaking sadness and hopeful optimism that I announce that we will be moving to Dallas, Texas from my beloved Southern California (of which I am a native).  My husband's job is taking us there.


We spent a year-and-a-half looking for homes, and when we finally got this short sale after months of painstakingly wishing and waiting, we were thrilled.

I had eight months to decorate everything in my head, including planning our renovation on a budget, envisioning furniture placement, repurposing existing furniture, and selling the rest.


Here is our newly painted home.

We were so anxious to move in that we were able to accomplish what we didn't think was possible: to remodel the entire house in 10 days!  This included demo; new flooring on the first floor; baseboards; renovating the kitchen; replacing the carpet upstairs; ripping out the carpet/vinyl and putting travertine & tile in the laundry room, master bathroom and upstairs guest bathroom; new hardware & door knobs; painting the entire interior; as well as many other details.


It will be incredibly hard to leave our dream home in Orange County and my family and friends who are nearby in San Diego.


My inspiration is Robert and Cortney Novogratz of 9 by Design fame.  They are husband and wife self-taught designers who purchase unconventional spaces and perform multi-million dollar renovations.  Their properties are gorgeous and perfectly styled--they move in their seven children--put their house on the market, only to do it all over again, and make their next property even better.  They now do this with cameras following them for their Bravo television show.  If they can do this with seven kids (7!), being followed by a camera crew, I can surely start over in Dallas.

images via Sixx Design

It feels like a daunting task, but it will be exciting to eventually (hopefully sooner than later) have a new home to renovate, decorate, and furnish, which I hope will be equally exhilarating and satisfying.

P.S.  Even though we are moving, I will still be continuing our home tour in the following weeks.

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Mohamed Zakaria - Double biceps

After one week of absence, I'm back with this amazing double biceps shot of Mohamed Zakaria.
This guy is a real muscle god. Enjoy!

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MORGAN ASTE 01/02

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http://ping.fm/EYMIK Seeks surveys doers

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Road Trip: Day Two

I woke up, walked outside, and my nostrils froze together. Once I checked the weather, I realized it was because it was below zero outside. Luckily it was not snowing anymore, but the roads were a little icy at the beginning. I went from Elko, NV to Rock Springs, WY today.

A few stats:
Number of White Pickup Trucks spotted: 456 (thats just an estimate)
Cost of full breakfast, including large coffee (at crappy casino cafe): $6.00
Number of times it snowed: 3
Average duration of snowstorm: 1 minute
Top Speed Limit: 75 mph
Number of states crossed: 3

Here are a few photos from today! I love the way everything looks covered with snow. It is white + another color. California was "black"; Nevada is yellow, Utah is red. I mostly drove through Wyoming in the dark, so I will have to think about that more tomorrow.

Elko, NV

near Wendover, Utah

near Skull Valley, UT

near Skull Valley, UT

near Skull Valley, UT

Salt Lake Marina, UT

I am having a great time listening to bad 80s music, singing at the top of my lungs and contemplating life as I stare at the back of the big rig in front of me. Tomorrow I will head towards Denver after exploring what Wyoming has to offer (it is surprisingly NOT flat, like I pictured!)

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Mount Hua is one of the "Five Sacred Mountains" of China.

Mount Hua is located in the Shaanxi Province, about 100 kilometres east of the city of Xi'an, near the city Huayin. Hua was historically the location of several influential Taoist temples, and was known as a centre for the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts.

Minibuses that go direct to the town just north of the mountain regularly leave from near the Xi'an main train station. The Hua Shan train station is about 25 km to the east of the mountain. A cable car to near the North Peak is available from the east entrance to the area. Thousands of steps have been cut into the rock in order to facilitate ascending and descending.

Pilgrims tie red ribbons to the trees outside of the taoist temple. Recently-married locals will climb to the summits to add a lock the chains to symbolize their everlasting love. A similar practice is done on the Great Wall.

Rumours of deadliness

Rumours of the south peak being the most dangerous hiking trail on earth seem to have risen from a story put on the web page of a person called Rick Archer with the title "The Deadly Huashan Hiking Trail". The author claims it was written by an American couple who visited the trail in 2003.

The origin of the story is not known and is assumed by many Hua Shan visitors to be purely fictional. The spread and popularity of the story was aided by many videos showing the most dangerous parts of the trail.

In 2008 the website author was faced with criticism on the authenticity of the story[4], who in turn answered: "I wrote absolutely everything based on accounts I found on the Internet (some of which gave contradictory information)." "At the time, I never expected this particular page would be an Internet darling for thousands of Huashan fans.".

Thus, the story bears similarities to the KiddofSpeed story which rose big attention on the net until it was revealed to be fantasy, except for the fact that Rick Archer hasn't tried to benefit financially from the story on his site.

Nevertheless, it should be noted, that even though Hua Shan stairs are a popular tourist attraction and safety equipment is provided and obligatory, the trail is still risky due to strong winds, changing weather conditions and the physical condition required to pass some parts of the trail.

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Open to new things? Wish to make some money try out http://ping.fm/nLNTx

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Bob Mangler has died.

http://www.bsiarchivalhistory.org/BSI_Archival_History/Gas-Bag.html

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Monday Escapes

I know there are Travel Tuesdays, but I prefer Monday Escapes.  A little bit of wanderlust to start off the week is a welcome distraction. 

Here is this week’s Monday Escape.

It’s morning.  There are no airports, so you had to take a ferry here from a nearby island.  You are on a white sand beach, with palm trees that practically touch the ocean shore.  With your snorkeling gear on, you take a guided underwater tour.   It’s hours before anybody will be heading to the beach, so there is not a soul around (except your fellow travel buddies), and you never even had to leave the States (well, technically that is) to get here.

Images via Travelmoon

It’s Trunk Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

There is so much going on this week, I wish it was possible to dream myself on to this beach immediately.  Updates to come...

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