Marathon

This Dodge minivan has been with the seven of us the whole trip, it's part of the group. It always serves our comfort first though asks for lots of gas. It's in this white minivan have we acquainted with the song Life is Wonderful by Jason Mraz, which later becomes the theme song of this trip.

After about 4 hours' driving from Miami, everybody's hungry, so we rushed to Publix and bought some chicken wings, cakes, drinks, and cookies and had a picnic right on this beautiful beach in Marathon.

Everglades NP

West Palm Beach

The first beach we visited on this trip, unfortunately, nobody saw this coming and we were the very few walking on the beach with jeans and sneakers on. Yet we still managed to have fun and buried Ray alive in sand.

He's volunteered

St Augustine

St Augustine is said to be one of the oldest cities in USA. So we've decided to have more fun!

The Flagler College

Castillo de San Marcos

Trip to Canada - Blue Mountains

It's concluded by a friend as a crazy sports trip in Canada, as I went all the way from Florida to Canada to play tennis and badminton, and finally something reasonable, ski! People from north would get so excited when they get to see the sunshine, the beach and the ocean in the south, the same thing happens to southerners when snow is right in the touch, especially when you have all the ski gear on and ready to manipulate the snow. Well, in my case, it's being manipulated. You cannot avoid several nice falls as a beginner no matter how cool you could pose in front of the camera, before you know it, you are wallowing in snow. It's the height and the speed that are in effect, you will be just so scared of speeding and hitting something and never get up again. So you voluntarily put your ass down and make a nice and slow contact with mother earth as long as you feel a little acceleration. That is exactly why I spent 30 minutes right from where I was standing in the picture on "skiing" down to where all the cars were. For an experienced skier, it's a less-than-a-minute job. Anyway, ski is fun!

Trip to Canada - Niagara Falls

It might not be the best season to appreciate the Falls, but it's definitely the coldest season to see it. I got all soaked up by merely standing on top of it. But it's all worth the wet and cold. The view is just spectacular and is only offered to visitors on Canada side.

The famous horseshoe fall

you only see this in fairy tales.

Trip to Canada - Toronto

Spent 7 days in Canada (actually 5, the other 2 days were merely either waiting for plane or on plane). For a southerner like me, coming all the way from sunshine state of Florida, it has never occurred to me the kind of coldness of actually below zero or even more. It wasn't when I walked out of Toronto airport did I realize the huge difference between the these two trivial numbers, +20 and -10! It's so freaking COLD! That was when I decided the North would only be a destination of short visit!

Had some walking around Toronto in the first two days, yes, in the cold! Though I had brought all my winter wearings to Toronto, it's never "winter" enough. I was this hoodie guy touring around the city in the coldness and wind. I could actually feel the wind cutting my face and lips. When the attendant in the hostel asked me, "where is your jacket?", I said, "I don't have no jacket", she raised her thumb and said "you are brave!" Am I? I simply don't have one.

My favorite part of Toronto trip is Chinese food, it's the best taste I've ever had for almost half a year since arrival in Florida! The good thing about a metropolitan city is that you always find big Chinese community there, which means authentic Chinese food and merchandise. I'm just so jealous of my friend at University of Toronto, they're just a few walking distance to China Town!

The CN Tower

Toronto City Hall

University of Toronto

Inside one of UT's buildings

not so WaterFree

Apparently, this Falcon WaterFree urinal is not Urine free.

Photo taken in the male restroom on the 6th floor of Library West at University of Florida with Motorola E8.

St Petersburg

Had my first driving experience in USA this whole afternoon, St Petersburg, "fortunately", was chosen as target of my pilot trial. From Old Tampa Bay to St Petersburg Pier, then headed to Clearwater Beach. Missed several exits, made some false turns, but good news for St Petersburg residents, I have proved myself NOT a road killer. GPS is undoubtedly one of the most greatest inventions of all time, for a first time driver, and new comer to St Petersburg, I managed to find my ways around in a rent car with a GPS mounted in it!

St Petersburg Pier and Clearwater Beach are definitely the two places I would recommend for people who, like me, want to enjoy their day in sun, birds, sand and water.

Canada Visa for Chinese F1 Students

Just successfully applied VISA to Canada. It's so much easier to get it if you are holding F1 visa in USA. Basically you just need the following documents to be not refused entry to Canada:

1. Application form

2. Application fee

--- paid with money order is convenient if you're not in the vicinity of any embassies

3. I-20

4. Valid Passport

5. Certificate of registration

--- this can be issued at university admission and registration office

More details are posted on Embassy of Canada.

Lake Wauberg

Lake Wauberg, a great place for BBQ, boating, relaxing, friends and family get-together. Free entry for students and faculty with Gator 1 Card. We had a good BBQ time there on a sunny sunday.

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some Halloween films

Get ready for the Halloween horror feast!

• The Sixth Sense

• The Others

• Skeleton Key

• Identity

Horror Night @ Universal Studio

Having stuck in Gainesville for three months, finally the suburbanite goes into the big CITY seeking for some entertainment that he is deprived of for a long time.

Horror Night @ Universal Studio (Orlando)

Apparently the men behind this event have put tremendous effort in creating a scary ambience with the dizzy lights, scary music, bloody settings, big fire coming from the roof, smoke that permeated into every corner of the setting which dims your visibility, walking zombies on streets who approach you all of a sudden and scare the hell out of you and of course, the core of Halloween - Haunted House.

Dracula, Frankenstein, Silver Screams, Chucky, Saw

Only went to 5 of the 8 haunted houses. One and the only one tip to go to haunted houses: Always always go with girls :)

Also took two rides in Mummy, and one ride in Simpson, which were so cool. Unlike these freaking 90 degrees roller-coasters which give you a cold gasp even by simply looking at them, Mummy is more like a plotted-rollercoaster, it's indoor and doesn't have these crazy U-turns. I would take another ride next time. And Simpson is a 4D movie theater, just amazed about the way it makes you feel that you are losing gravity and falling from sky to the ground by simply adjusting the movements on the things you are sitting on, AMAZING!

Gator Growl

Had a great time in the swamp as the annual Gator Growl kicks off a great night show following homecoming parade. This year, Gator Growl brings in Dana Carvey, O.A.R. and Jabbawockeez. Just got so amazed by how far these standing comedians could go to amuse the audience, half of which students and the other half, parents. It's all about sex, homosexual, politics. Dana Carvey definitely knows how to mimic political figures. However, he's apparently not adding too much new sauces, coz I searched, after the show, through Youtube only to find the exact same jokes. Well, you can't blame him for that, because that's kinda how this entire entertainment industry works. And one more thing, if only they could've set up the stage in the middle of the stadium, my neck would feel so much better.

Homecoming Parade

I thought homecoming day was the day when new students come to university at the beginning of each academic year, apparently I was right about the predicate and object, but wrong about the subject. Instead of new students, homecoming is welcoming back former residents and alumni of an institution. Wikipedia has a more detailed introduction of homecoming.

Homecoming Parade is held annually here at University of Florida, UF organizations and neighborhood communities would participate in the parade as an opportunity to showcase whatever they wanna show to Gainesville residents. It's in the middle of noon, people have lined up along the University Avenue, and chopper is circling to ensure a full media coverage from the air. From distance, you can hear siren, which is only part of the parade.

Having just watched military parade on National Day, I feel so delighted to watch homecoming parade. Because this parade is FUN.

More pictures in Picasa

Homecoming