Arizona!

This is the best trip I have made in the past 2 years! (The last best one is of course, going home to Penang!) It may be a short one but definitely had a wonderful time there. We did a lot in the two days that I was there.

I arrived Phoenix in the mid-afternoon and my first impression - this feels like Malaysia! Every time I go on a plane ride, part of me always wish that its final destination is Penang International Airport. The first wave of heat as I walked out of the airport sure made it feel like I was transported back to M'sia for a moment. But of course, that will have to wait until sometime next year.

Later in the afternoon, as we were walking around Arizona State University campus, the glimpse of a little area here and there reminds me of Sunway. There is the nice houses and apartments, and then within a few blocks, you get the run down looking apartments or abandoned houses with a lawn that needs lots of mowing (already thinking about those houses almost covered with lalang). As you walk towards the main road, you get busy traffic and lots of shops, just like walking from our house towards Sunway Metro or the Mentari Business Park. Of course, they don't have a mall as big as Sunway Pyramid but the similarities are enough to bring a nostalgic feeling. Hehe, I must have said it like a thousand times to John as we walked around and when he was driving around the area. There are some area that has more well-to-do residents with luxurious looking houses, like those at the new Sunway area (can't remember what it is called edi). Reminds me so much of those days when I walked to Sunway College or the occasional walk home from SMKBS after a prefect's meeting.

The first place we explored was the Camelback Mountain. It is about 20 minutes away from John's place by car. We did not plan to watch sunrise at all but wanted to get an early start. We got there shortly before sunrise and got to watch it rises while we were hiking up the mountain. Although I have seen quite a few sunrise scene now, 這個讓我最感動的!! 感動到眼淚都掉下來了. Maybe because it was like a surprise present, 加上和喜歡的人手牽手看著日出, 真幸福!!

According to Wikipedia, it is designated as one of the 33 Phoenix Points of Pride! (There are so many things to do there!!) The reason why it is called the Camelback is because it has the shape of a camel's back. I know I saw it but for some reason, I must have not taken a photo at that time, or it was a crappy photo that got deleted before it got to my computer because I don't have a photo of it now. Boo! Hehe, that means we will have to go again. :P There is two trails that goes up all the way to the top. We took the Summit Trail. Although the trail is rated as "strenuous and difficult", we were totally fine. There is one challenging part where the rocks are slippery and it is very steep. But they installed a pole for you to hang on to so it wasn't bad at all. Other than that, it is lots of fun skipping from rocks to rocks. Hehe. It was a good thing we went early too because it got busier on our way down.

We even get to see the moon when we up at the peak of the mountain!

The city of Scottsdale from the mountain peak. We are looking at two golf course, which I thought is really cute because they look like those plots from Sim City.

From A New Beginning...

After the hike (which was only 11am! Going out with John is always much more productive because I don't have to wait until "jit tau tuk ka chui" to start the day), we drove down there for a yummy, fruity snack at Jamba Juice and later, lunch at Bamboo Club. It is voted Best Asian Restaurant in the Phoenix area and I was told that they have Malaysian dishes. Hmmm...clearly, our definition of Malaysian dishes is different. Hehe. They have the acar, satay and char keuh teow, all of which I did not order (err...who eats these stuff at a classy restaurant??? Hehe. It has to be keh lor pi ones that will taste better). I got "sizzling spicy tofu" instead. Haha, nope, it does not come in a sizzling hot plate (hmmm...sizzling hot plate noodle at Long Beach...yummy!) but it was delicious. Just spicy enough for a tofu dish and not too much gravy to make the tofu too soft. John got yummy Pad Thai but it has its own unique taste rather than the sweet, nutty traditional Pad Thai.

The other place we explored was the Tonto National Forest. This is a huge national park with lots of mountains and lakes, similar to the Rocky Mountains. It is interesting to see the stark difference in the ecology of the mountains in Arizona compared to the mountains in Colorado. The plant community in Tonto National Forest is less dense and are dominated by shrubs and cactus. There are also less animals that come into view, and if there are any, they are mostly birds. It has the ecology of chaparral rather than a forest (although it is called a national forest, maybe it does have forest ecology elsewhere that we did not come by since we only explored a small area).

We went into the park through the Apache Trail and one of the lakes that we came across is the Canyon Lake.

From A New Beginning...

A different view of Canyon Lake. The fun part of hiking here is that you feel like you are in complete wilderness. There is no pre-paved trails and there are less people around. In fact, we didn't bump into anyone while hiking at all! You can hike any way you want!

We also stopped by at a little town called Tortilla Flat. It is only a row of shops selling souvenirs and food. But surprisingly, according to Wikipedia, it is an official town with a population of 6! Isn't that cute?

On the way back to Tempe, we stopped by Goldfield Ghost Town. It used to be a gold mine but eventually became a ghost town when the gold runs out. Now, it is a tourist attraction with an underground mine tour!

Notice all the blue skies in the photos? It is addictive. Hehe. Can totally see why John likes it there so much. Unlike large busy cities that consumes precious Mother Nature, Tempe/Phoenix is large enough with lots of things to do but sparse enough that there are lots of mountains and other gifts of Mother Nature to explore.