So much things to do... so little time. Or is it so?

People constantly mention, or praise me: "Whoa, Kevin you are so busy" or "Kevin is always so busy". 

But what am I really busy for?
It seems to me that it is a virtue to be busy, because it seems you are productive, or achieving things. But is it really that good to be this busy?

I hope I don't lose myself in this whirlwind of activity though.

The curious incident of me, my landlady and the kitchen

I've been wanting to blog about this. Some of you might know the full story, some might only know partially - the fact that I can only cook from 8pm to 10pm everyday, but that's only the outcome and not the full story. In fact, there's a great takeaway from this exchange, and I would like to share with you.
Warning, it's pretty long.

First, let's set the environment. This is her kitchen, taken from the doorway. 

It's a pretty nice kitchen. And it has a fire stove! :D

It's a decent kitchen, with a well stocked cabinet of crockery and utensils, although her array of knives is a dismay to a Chinese xD - who needs all the paring knives, steak knives etc.

Background: Me and Shutao got an internship in Pfizer in Andover and there weren't any student hostels or apartments to rent out. In fact, this was the only room that was available in Airbnb in Andover - which is near enough to our workplace. Any further we would have to rent a car, hence being poor students we are, we didn't have much of a choice. So prior to leaving Berkeley for Andover, there was some communication between us and the landlady. She laid down some house rules, and the most relevant ones are:

Quiet Hours between 10 pm to 6 pm.  No kitchen use, no shower, or w/d use during these hours 

Room comes with light use of the kitchen and w/d.  Kitchen use is very light--you will have storage space in the frig and shelf and can use the utensils/ cookware in the kitchen.  But pretty much just light meals, cooking and complete cleanup.  Good practice to label your soaps and food.  

You supply all your own food and perishables, which include all soaps (dish, laundry) and paper goods (paper towels, napkins, toilet paper). 

Everything seems fine. Ok, we understand we have to supply our perishables - we can't be "living off" her dishwashing soap for 2 months. Ok, quiet hours are as such, we will not cook or shower after 10pm. And yep, light use of kitchen... we won't do like deep frying or cook stuff that will cause lots of fumes.

So for the first week, we cooked very basic Chinese food like stir-fried chicken and chinese cabbage with plain rice. We cooked both breakfast and dinner. Our landlady would finish her breakfast at around 7am and we'll cook from 7am - 7.30am and have breakfast before leaving for work. Nothing too fancy (anyway there isn't much "chinese" ingredients here, and initially Shutao seemed to have some 'restrictions' in food - he only liked some types of vegetables / meat and hence I was trying to accommodate. (Don't get me wrong, I'm alright with it, I'm just trying to see what he likes - and we do have some foods that we like in common - and also get to know him better. But this is out of scope of this article). 

And suddenly, we got this email (only the relevant text is shown):

Secondly, I am very discouraged about your kitchen use.  As I have explained several times you are to have only very light use of the kitchen.  Typically this means that you are in/out quickly--mostly using the kitchen for storage (refrigerator or shelf) and then quick meals.  I have explained this several times but still it seems that you have not respected this limitation.  Please, it is very important that you limit your use to my kitchen.  You have access to the kitchen but not heavy use.  

As I explained in the April 26 email, (threaded below) your room comes with" light use of the kitchen and w/d.  Kitchen use is very light--you will have storage space in the frig and shelf and can use the utensils/ cookware in the kitchen.  But pretty much just light meals, cooking and complete cleanup.  Good practice to label your soaps and food. "  I also explained this the day you moved in and several times in the past week.   Still, it is not evident that you understand what this means.  

It is considered a privilege to use the kitchen.  It is called kitchen privileges.  Full, unrestricted, unlimited use of a kitchen does not come with your room.  I know you would really want it to,and you are really working hard to have full and unrestricted access,  but it clearly does not.  Should you need full use, please feel free to seek accommodations elsewhere that better suit your needs.  I have absolutely no problem with this should you decide that you really need to have full kitchen use.  I would never want you to be unhappy here because my place does not suit your needs so please feel free to find other accommodations where you can use a kitchen fully and without restrictions.

But in the meantime, please respect the kitchen limitations that come with the house. 

We were like... wuttt? What did we do? We had been only using the kitchen when it was free - no one was currently using the kitchen. And since our landlady would usually cook and have dinner with her son every night (unless they evidently went out), we would wait until they are done before we used the kitchen. And even when we are at the kitchen, there were one or two occasions where we cooked side-by-side our housemates, and we constantly ensured that they weren't feeling obstructed. The key point was to ensure she was done and she has washed up and LEFT the kitchen before we would step inside. She would sometimes walk back in, but we already knew she had her meal.

And then 2 weeks later, this bombshell came:

Unfortunately it has not appeared that you have heeded the limited kitchen rule of the house, despite the multiple communications we have exchanged regarding kitchen privileges.   You have disregarded my notice and continue avail yourself to full, unrestricted, unlimited use of the kitchen--despite my clearly tell you that this was not part of your accommodations.   You still have the practice of waiting until no one is in the kitchen then immediately  and fully occupying it for extended lengths of time.  You have not changed your use of the kitchen at all unfortunately and as a result will have further restrictions on your privilege

Starting today, you are not to have access to  the kitchen at any time except between the hours of 8pm and 10pm.  Outside those hours and your access is only to enter/exit to retrieve or bring in food that you have stored there.  As far as you are concerned, the kitchen is primarily for storage of your food.  You can take the hours between 8pm and 10pm for food preparation.  Additionally, during the hours of 8pm-10pm others may or may not be using the kitchen so please be prepared to not not have full use of the kitchen as you may have to share it with others during that time.  Restrict your space and plan for others to be able to use it along side you at this time.

If your needs exceed this kitchen use, I am more than supportive of you finding other accommodations.  Please keep me posted about this.  In the meantime, I will ask once again that you respect the kitchen privilege I have stated above  and not disregard it.  

If you continue to disregard the limited use of the kitchen, the next step will be total kitchen privleges being taken away and you will not be allowed in at all.  All food and meals will have to be taken off the premises altogether.  

Please let me know if you have any questions or need clarification. 

And I totally couldn't take it. But I thought, there might be some misunderstanding or miscommunication. So I clarified:

I have some clarifications to make. Can you further explain on how we "fully occupy it" and "for extended lengths of time"?

 Yes, after our previous conversation, we decided to wait till the kitchen is unoccupied before we use it. We are usually the last one to use, and hence we felt that we would not be obstructing the usage of anyone else. In the morning we are the last to have breakfast / leave the house and at night we are the last one to have dinner. We thought we would not

 It is unfortunate that you have the impression we are "fully occupying" the kitchen. The only reason I could think of is while we are preparing food we do have a couple of bowls and plates of pre-cut ingredients, and that might take up some of the table space. And we have the habit of only washing up after we are done with eating our meal. So this could probably give the impression that we are obstructing the use of the kitchen to others. In fact that is far from the truth - anyone can use the kitchen while we are still in there. We will accommodate his/her needs accordingly i.e. clearing up some table space or stove space.

In fact, there were some instances where we shared the use of the kitchen with Nick, and he doesn't mind.

We feel that we have not disregarded the limited use of the kitchen. We would like to know what exactly about our actions and behavior that made you think this way about us, and we can change that.

(Glenn and Nick are the other tenants)

And then the learning moment arrived:

Hi Kevin and Shutao and thanks for your quick response.

By way of explanation, "Waiting to use the kitchen" is not considered to be light use of the kitchen while in there.  And while I appreciate that you "wait", this is not the issue.  You were doing the 'wait strategy' prior to our last conversation. This did not change your use of the kitchen at all.  

The issue is rather --You still continued to expect to use it fully and for as long as you wanted while in there.   Apparently figuring that if you were in there you had a right to do what you wanted for as long as you wanted just as long as you waited to do so.  This did not change. The point being is that you did not change the use of the kitchen.  Nothing has changed.  And while you think you do not take up a great deal of space and time, you do and you need to recognize this message.   Waiting to use it the moment someone steps out is not the issue.  It is what you do once you are in there that is in question.  And as such, further restrictions are to be made.  

The truth is that if you were indeed using the kitchen for light use- as you should be---you would not have to wait    You would have access pretty much anytime,  like every other houseguest who understands and respects the light use, including the current two houseguests Glenn and Nick.   Glenn and Nick come in/out anytime, knowing how to cooperatively use the privilege.  You have not demonstrated that you do this so thus the restricted hours have been set.  And they will continue to do this regardless of who is in the kitchen at the time as that is how light use of kitchen works.  

But for you we have to set a different course because of your insistence of continuing full and complete access.   The fact is you did not change your habits at all despite my email from May, which was an reiteration of prior communications spanning back to pre move in.   And the issue is that you perceive your use and within the limitation and it is not.  So the best way for you to cooperatively continue is to have further restrictions and that is 8pm-10pm only and with the caveat that this is shared use during this time, such as you have in the past with other houseguests.   And you may access the kitchen outside those two hours if you need to retrieve food from storage or eat an already prepared meal.   

To further clarify, this does not mean come into the kitchen for those two hours and stake it out and use it fully.  It means that it is still a quick meal preparation time when you are in/out quickly.  Please organize yourself accordingly.   My suggestion to you is to use this time in the kitchen to prepare a larger quantity of food so that you can store in refrigerator and  access  the prepared food outside the 8pm-10pm window  for subsequent meals and/or to get take out meals from local restaurants supermarkets that are already prepared .   This falls under best practices and is what most houseguests do who use the kitchen for food preparation.    I think if you find a way to cut back on your food preparation time (and space) you should be just fine.  You just gotta figure out how to reorganize yourselves so that you need to spend less time and space in the kitchen.  Logically,  if you could do this then  , you would not have a problem with this restriction.  Indeed the 2 hour window  would be considered above and beyond your privilege. 

Please email me with any further clarification you may need.  I appreciate this dialog, truly and I do want to reiterate that I think very highly of both of you.  You are really great guys but I have to restrict your use even further as I cannot nor can be expected to accommodate your current demands on the kitchen.  The restrictions stands.  8-10pm only.  Outside that time  is for quick access to the room. 

Then something clicked. There was a grave misunderstanding. Why would we want to "disregard" her? There're better things to do, and this Andover place is so rural, I wouldn't want to get kicked out of the house (well, this would probably lead to another discussion about the legality of the Airbnb contract). So I tried to communicate with her:

I think I understand the situation now.

There's some cultural ​dissonance which led to this.

 First, it seems that you define "light cooking" as a meal that's prepared and consumed in probably 30 minutes or less, with only 2 or 3 ingredients. For us, our meals consist of a little more ingredients, and we do some light frying and cooking of rice - which itself takes 20 minutes. We prepare our meals in around 20-30 minutes, and then spend about 15 minutes to consume them and another 10-15 minutes to wash/clean everything up. There's some disconnect between what we define as "meals" and how to prepare them. To us, 20-30 minutes of food preparation is pretty fast and "light", but of course we are in your home so we should change expectations accordingly.

 Second, we do not feel that we are imposing on anyone with our presence. Even with all our "pots and pans and bowls" laid out on the table, we would gladly shift them away if anyone needs the table. We are happy to accommodate anyone to cook with the stove/prepare their meals right beside us while we are also cooking.

I think you do not share a similar opinion. We wouldn't want to disregard you - we understand it's ultimately your house, but it's because we have two different perspectives on the same thing that has led to this. From what I gather, you feel uncomfortable when we are in the kitchen and you see so many bowls/plates laid out or that half the stove is being used.

 Hence, can I clarify. Let's say we want to have porridge for breakfast. Is it then possible if we prepare the porridge the night before, then in the morning we would just take it out and microwave it and consume it?

 I am not trying to put you in a bad light, I think it's just simply two different cultures. We, as foreigners, should be more forthcoming in trying to understand how you view things. I appreciate you are willing to engage in this dialogue.

And that email was sent since Jun 12, and it wasn't mentioned or brought up again. She probably didn't know how to answer, or just forgot to answer, but whatever. 

I think I pretty much explained myself in the email excerpts. Just think as a Chinese perspective; when you cook, you will first prepare all the ingredients, such as cutting vegetables, marinating the meat, beating the eggs, and also cooking the rice separately. So if you look at the kitchen, we pretty much occupy the entire table top on the stove side. I would say that's "normal". But that's only when we think we are alone. The moment someone else needs to use some of the table top - we would always ask if the person wants to cook - we will shift our stuff. Hence we never thought we were a burden.
But I think that's where we thought wrong. Firstly, the definition of light cooking is already different. I anticipated that, and I didn't want to clarify with the landlady as I didn't want to restrict myself too much. I will be shooting myself in the foot if I suggested explicit "rules" on what defines "light cooking". But I didn't expect it to be this serious.
To give you an idea on what Nick and Glenn cooked for dinner: they either cooked pasta, or made sandwiches. And they regularly cooked extra and ate pre-cooked food for dinner (so they cooked one big batch and then heat up for subsequent dinners). So that's what she meant by "light kitchen use". To me, that's simply sad. If that's the definition of normal American meals, I pity them. 

When I first received that last email, I was ranting:
1. She says she has been hosting for over a decade. I bet she has only hosted Americans, especially Americans who eat pre-cooked dinner or sandwiches as dinner - well this town is so far flung why would anyone else come here anyway.
2. Isn't she even interested in why we do things this way? Why would she immediately think of us wanting to "disregard her?" She's a professor teaching psychological science and she can't think? Like seriously. 
3. Hell, I wanted to share some of our food with her, but I think she's someone who's probably scared of Ebola or something. She likes "healthy", she's always cooking "healthy". I think she's allergic to all other oil other than olive oil. I was really impressed with her son, her son was exposed to other religions in school - one day he was talking about Buddhism and Judaism and I told him abit about Buddhism and he was so open about it. But now her son would only be "stuck" eating her food - that's so pitiful.
4. I have always been cleaning up the kitchen after my use. And I swear I always leave it cleaner than I "get" it. She doesn't seem to clean her kitchen that much too; like I could see obvious oil spots or random food pieces that dropped onto the stove. She probably doesn't notice such stuff.
5. She probably doesn't know what it's like to "share the kitchen". Well it's her kitchen anyway so she's the boss right? At least tell us explicitly when you want to use it and how long it is. Prior to that bombshell, we dare not ask her when she would be done with the kitchen - and she probably knows that we were waiting for her. There were 2 occasions where we waited till 9pm and then gave up waiting and went to nearby McDonald's to eat.
6. Sorry Ma'am, I'm not as rich as you. A regular dinner in this rich man area (someone told us Andover is a rich man place) would easily set us back by more than $10 per person - how to afford?????
7. And why haven't you replied me? Got stumped by me right? 

Obviously none of those reached her ears. These were just knee-jerk reactions and were mainly emotional. She has her reasons too, and I felt it boiled down to cultural differences - how do you define meals.

We did try to find for other areas, but as expected, this location is still the best. So we just decide to make do with it. Snacking before 8pm if we were hungry. And we sometimes cooked extra so that we could simply reheat the leftover portion for the next day's breakfast. If not, we would have buns (we went to Chinese grocer - sometimes our boss brings us to a Chinese grocer, I can't describe how great he is) or oats with milk. 

The adaptation has been going well. 8pm to 10pm for us to cook, wash up and subsequently shower (remember 10pm is silent hours) We would just cook like normal, since she has "given us" the "timeslot". Lunch on weekends is either snacks, or we would head to a nearby restaurant for a self-treat. Well, all seems well and I'm fine with this arrangement - at least for the time being.

This only makes me want to go back home sooner - so that I can start cooking whatever I want again. 

Well, this incident might only be an isolated incident. Obviously she does not represent all or most Americans, neither do my house mates. Nonetheless, it's a reminder that, not everyone might be as "open-minded" as me. They have their own pre-conceived notion that they will stick to. I have to also constantly remind myself to stay open-minded, and think of people positively. Most people won't have ill intentions, and if you are able to dig out the root cause, sometimes it's all a matter of perspective. If you just apply your own way of thinking, it may portray people in a negative light, unfairly.

Yup. Definitely one of my longest post, but thanks to the long emails. Thanks for the read!

Updates + Appreciation

Seems that my blogging mood kicks in when I'm alone, and listening to music, and again contemplating. Add in that nagging "pressure" to blog - if I expect to have readers I surely have to be expected to provide some reading materials right?

My time in the US has been nothing short of an interesting (this is probably the mildest word ever), roller coaster ride. Well, my ride probably didn't take me on 360 loop, but there definitely have been highs and downs.

Semester 1 was like a "plan for a trip one week and then go on the trip in the next, and then rinse and repeat".

Semester 2 is now "I'm gonna stay here and mug. But then so many new stuff are happening every week, but it's still primarily in Berkeley"

Maybe I'm simply old xD

I think I have talked about this before. The USD 300 dent. Just got a letter saying they (Citi) have received the claim and will be processing it. #efficiency

The International house regularly holds a "Coffee Hour" every week where residents can mingle over coffee and some snacks. It has also become a tradition where groups of residents from the same country (or region like Scandinavia) will rise to the occasion and organise a themed Coffee Hour to showcase their countries. 

And hence we had our own. It was no mean feat, and I must say I am very happy that I joined in. Was in charge of the drinks and I decided on bandung (you can see Clara adding the red colouring) and iced tea (奶茶冰), and green bean soup (haha I really love green bean soup). Yuan Ming was in charge of food and he prepared laksa and indomee (instant noodle). 

It was real great fun preparing the drinks, as we had to get utensils + borrow cambros (drink dispensers) from the dining hall + decide how to fully utilise our limited crockery and space in the kitchen.

Oh, and those cambros provided great memories of the army. And yes these also have the infamous ability to retain the smell of their previous contents even after soaping and washing.

Preparation started as early as around 3pm and the event commenced at 9pm. 

You can see that Clara is adding red colouring to make the bandung and Yuan Ming is looking for something

Sadly I couldn't find the photograph with the graduates. But this is nonetheless a nice picture of us (or rather those who came down)

This event is quite a significant milestone in many ways. Apart from the praises that we got (one of, if not the, best coffee hours ever), this event made me feel really touched by all the help rendered by my friends. Ask and you will be given. Furthermore, I am blessed to be given a responsibility, and also be able to work with fantastic people. Matthew (the smiley guy on my left) and I "lamented" that a few days up to this Singapore Coffee Hour, all in our minds were just how to execute the Coffee Hour, and once the Coffee Hour ended it really felt as if heavy weight just got lifted off our shoulders. It's not that we feel it's a burden, but it's like ... our project.
I have to thank friends for making this happen. From setting up the beautiful and elaborate decorations, to emceeing and preparing the 4D lucky draws (yes we had 4D, and we made a lottery out of it), running the various booths, providing entertainment and hospitality to all the guests and simply being there to add to the 气氛.
But 我要特别谢的是 Clara (the girl in blue in the previous photo). She was like my right-hand man. Without her I really wouldn't have been able to prepare so much drinks and so good as well. She probably doesn't know it, but she helped me take my mind off some parts of the drinks preparation.  
It was a good night.

Full DOUBLE Rainbow! Thanks to the open landscape. When you are in the countryside, this would be pretty commonplace, but nonetheless still breathtaking. Taken in Peru.

And a week ago, I was off to Peru on an Engineers Without Borders University of California - Berkeley monitoring and evaluation trip. I like how whenever people ask me for my Spring break holiday destination, and I reply "Peru", and they think I'm going hiking or Machu Pichu. But I'm actually there for "work" and of course some sightseeing - along the way to our "work place". I'm there as a technical side to collect samples and data about the water in the Peruvian communities we are working with.

Makeshift lab. Chemistry 101!

This trip meant a lot to me. It represents this affirmation by the Peru Project committee of my work that I have put into the project over the previous semester. Ok it's not like I was very outstanding or something, or maybe there were simply lack of applicants. Nonetheless, I did attend like 90% of the meetings and tried to learn and contribute as much as I could. One key tenets in my life now is appreciation and affirmation, and this is like the best way to do it. 

The infamous alpacas. Quite rare to see wild, unrestrained ones. And they are cute. But I ate alpaca steak on the 2nd day, not that fantastic though :/ (maybe expectations were too high)

This EWB has taken quite a lot of my time and energy. I put in a minimum of 2 hours a week (because I attend 2x 1 hour meetings each week), and I have to say I'm learning a lot. I've never participated in a student organisation so actively before (sorry REP Club, my hands were tied then), and it was eye-opening learning and experiencing all the behind-the-scenes and concerns that student clubs/chapters face. Then there's also the common mistakes that student clubs make and of course the benefits and joy from successfully organising events or recruiting new people. Stuff like institutional knowledge, member retention, fundraising, so many skills. But one key phrase sticks: 

"Don't be afraid to make use of people's enthusiasm, for once it dies, it is really hard to rekindle the flame". 

It's not about abusing your friends, but more of utilising this enthusiasm to get things done. It's so much more efficient and effective when people are enthusiastic. Just remember to attribute and credit the work appropriately.

Till then~

Rekindling of an old flame

"There has to be a way back."
With those last words, he put it back on the table.

--

He enjoyed the ride immensely, his imagination still flickering wild. It has been years since he enjoyed such trips into the fictional world. He enjoyed playing out the written description in his head, and watching as a 3rd person how the story plays out. 

Micro (2011), by Micheal Crichton and Richard Preston (Crichton passed away in 2008 and Preston helped to finish the manuscript)

The last of his favourite author books. Although the story was fairly predictable (Micheal Crichton style), it was still interesting to read.

--

And he looked up, the clock read 11.50pm. He spent the last 3 hours reading the book.

This would mean he had to rush his homework in the coming weekdays, adding more workload to the already busy week he has.

Worth.

Dan Brown's Inferno will be coming in roughly 2 weeks, he can't wait. Maybe he should just Amazon Prime a book in the meantime. 

Quick Moment of Reflection

Just wanted to put out some thoughts:

1. Why get jealous over "levels of friendships"?
2. Is there such thing as a "degree of friendship"?
3. So what does it mean if you are a "lesser" friend of A compared to B? Does that truly mean anything?
4. It's always good to ask "What are your considerations/concerns?", when someone comes to you (or your brain comes to you) with a dilemma. It really helps to set the context and you can make a better decision. Sometimes you will realise that your dilemma, isn't really a dilemma after all, just your brain being clouded or confused.
5. There are reasons why you are being called/approached, and of course reasons why you aren't. But the real question is, do they matter?
6. Or rather, the real deepest question is: does it really matter if you are being called/approached, or not?
7. Choose your battles wisely, but does this very act means limiting your potential, or being grounded in realism? 
8. Is perseverance a blessing, or curse?
9. A friend just told me, "Go through all the opportunities you had, the nice people you met, the work you did and the goals you worked on, the nice meals you had and the great chats you had time for in that day, and be grateful." I like to show appreciation for people, but have I appreciated myself before?
10. I think I have an ego problem - don't praise me ever. Keep the criticism coming.
11. I really respect people who can stand up for themselves / present their case in a logical manner.
12. I am really curious to know what people think about me. But can one be truly be himself, when he actually knows what people truly think about him? So if he just carries on doing "his stuff", why bother knowing or asking? And if he tries to change, is it really for the better, or simply to appease those feedback?
13. Need to go to sleep. Good night! (:

Thank you readers, my parents and my friends. Like, my many groups of friends. Notably my primary school friends, and some people who have stuck with me all the time. And I hope to find more people with whom I can still hold a lengthy, intellectual, comforting, interesting, not-awkward conversation with, even when t approaches infinity. #nerd

City of Angels and the Highway to Hell

It’s been a while (like duh) since I last blogged. Honestly, I felt really touched when people asked about my blog (eh when you going to revive it?). It always feels good to know that someone is indeed interested in your life. I shall start with the standard “updating of my life” kind of thing.

Los Angeles

(Seemingly) Artistic photo taken on the way back

 Went to LA with Matthew, Thanh and Syazana. I’m probably the “outlier” in the group – I don’t usually hang out with them. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop us from enjoying a great time by ourselves. One thing that make groups click is the synergy and spontaneity. While plans should still be made to ensure we do not waste too much time milling around, this doesn’t mean plans can’t be fluid. I must applaud them for being so spontaneous (read Syazana, queen of spontaneity) and providing so much fun. Yet, we were still able to hold some deep conversations which I appreciate a lot as well.

One thing about me planning for trips is this perpetual fear that the itinerary is too boring/tiring. I like it when people show their own desires for the trip – sometimes the word “anything” is quite irritating. I just like this “confirmation” that people are enjoying themselves and by filling the itinerary what they requested is probably the most obvious way to get this confirmation. For instance, Matthew specifically requested to take some photos of some buildings, and Syazana suggested with not coming with 3 of us to Six Flags because she didn’t feel like it. There’s the balance of compromise and assertion, and I didn’t really need to worry if I was over asserting myself and not letting my travel partners have a say in what they do.

It was an interesting trip, which saw us going to Joshua Tree Park, and staying at an AirBnb house that’s in suburbs. The 10-km hike around the Lost Horse Mine Trail is particularly interesting, but not because of the scenery – there were definitely vantage points where we saw just HUGE pieces of land with nothing but sand / rock on it (the only “structural” highlight was an abandoned mine, which was not really inspirational a little bit). What was more interesting is how we walked, and chatted, and simply spend time with each other. It’s basically: even if you are in a middle of a desert, friends (rephrase: the right friends) will make even the most mundane places / task interesting.

Probably one of the few interesting things in Hollywood
*Fanboy*

The owner of the AirBnb house was super friendly, and the accommodation was furnished beyond our expectations. Furthermore, we were allowed access to the kitchen and most of the food there was “free for all”. As it was my first time in an Airbnb, I had no expectations; but they seriously raised the bar of what Airbnb accommodation can provide. Airbnb seems like this: In giving up your freedom (privacy), you gain additional financial freedom as well as social interaction with different people from all around the world. While I don’t foresee Airbnb coming into Singapore homes anytime soon (in fact the later it launches in Singapore the worst it will get as the size of our house is inversely proportionate to time), the idea behind Airbnb is pretty simple, and effective. 

Death Valley

View from Wildrose Peak - second highest point

Death Valley trip was the last trip of the year with my room mate. It could have been the same quartet (me, my room mate Wouter, Sean and Yoshi, a Japanese) but Yoshi couldn't make it. So we got the next best "alternative", Kent, another Japanese, and to add it up Kent and Yoshi are pretty close! 

It's the longest drive, furthest destination, and highest point I have ever been while in US. Death Valley presented a new sort of "challenge" and of course more types of view. Spectacular in terms of sheer mass, and variety - from white crystalline salt to brown barren rock to green shrubs. This is in contrast with Yosemite, which had more vegetation and was more mountainous.
There are other interesting facts about Death Valley that you can read up, and hence I shall not bore you with them (irony intended). However, Death Valley is a place where either you really like it, or you will find it boring. I heard some "bad reviews" about this place, and while it is indeed not somewhere where you can have a laundry list of "things-to-do", I enjoyed myself pretty much while in Death Valley!

Pretty-sight-on-arrival. By the time we reached the motel it was dark. 

The main highlight of this trip though, wasn't the 8.4 mile hike up (add in strong winds which felt as though if you were to jump off the ground you would be displaced horizontally by the wind) but rather the extremely exciting test of wit, adaptability and skill of changing a flat tire and finding a replacement one.
Changing the tire was the simple one, in fact I was surprise as to how intuitive the task actually is. However, because the spare tire was a "doughnut" - it is meant for you to bring your car to the nearest tire shop to get it replaced, we had to find a tire shop. And in the middle of a desert in Nevada, there's not many places with a tire shop. Furthermore, because our Jeep is a very new model (it has a tire specification of P205/70R16), many shops did not stock - even Walmart. And we went all the way to Pahrump only to find that the shops didn't stock, and camped in some random hotel/casino, and then made our way to Las Vegas just to change our tire. And because they didn't have the exact tire specifications, we had to settle for something like P205/70R15 and change both front tires because we can't have a lopsided drive back. And I had to drive at 40 mph (~64 km/h) because that's what was recommended for the doughnut, any higher we have to probably use manpower. Funny thing is, I got so used to driving at 40 mph the moment I had the new tires I was "cruising" at such slow speeds. And now I'm trying to claim money back, but Citibank nor Enterprise were willing to reimburse the $270 ):
But then again, am so glad I'm back in Berkeley.

The flat tire...
Disclaimer: All 4 of us assisted in whatever way we could. And I did the cranking of the tire too, just that because I took this photo I obviously wasn't doing the task xD