Happy New Year 2008!

It’s new year’s eve and I wish you all the very best for the year to come. I hereby post an e-card I made from the photo I took at the Grand Canyon. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and I just want to share it with everyone.

Last but not least, I have a short video clip of the famous dancing fountains at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. The music in this video is one of my favorite holiday’s tunes. It’s called “Carol of the Bells.” Please enjoy the magnificent show.

Happy New Year 2008!

Merry Christmas 2007 – My Road Trip to Southern Oregon.

 

I have just been back from a 4-day road trip to the Southern Oregon during Christmas weekend. I and my friends hit the road early on Saturday morning and drove along the Pacific Ocean scenic route. We drove some 170 miles south of Portland and spent a night camping by the beach in a camp ground near the city of Coos Bay. On our second day, we drove a short way by the ocean to the town of Bandon and decided to go East via Roseburg and headed to Crater Lake National Park in the middle of the State of Oregon. Here, it’s the start of Umpqua-Rogue rivers scenic route, another beautiful drive in Oregon. We ended our second day at the little town called Prospect (with 350 total population) at the historical hotel of the town. On Christmas Eve, we finally arrived at Crater Lake. Unfortunately, the road to the lake was closed because of the heavy snow the previous night. Anyway, we had a good view of the surrounding area around the national park. We went further South to the city of Medford near the border of the state of California and Oregon. We stayed the night and celebrated our Christmas Eve there. We headed back to Portland on Christmas day. We spotted a small town called Sunny Valley on our way back and we thought it was a good idea to check it out. At least, I had a shot with the street sign resembled my name. Yeah, it’s Sunny in Sunny Valley. We paid a visit to my friend’s friend in Eugene and arrived back safe and sound to Portland. This concluded our enjoyable Christmas road trip.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Portland Trail Blazers 99 vs Denver Nuggets 96

 

I have just been back home from the exciting and enjoyable NBA game between Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon. This is the game number 27 of the season and the 15th game at home for the Blazers. Before the game, there was so many hypes regarding the Blazers’ 9 winning streak starting since early December. It is the longest straight winning for NBA this season and the longest for Blazers since their 12 wins in a row in 2001-2002 season. This perfect winning statistic makes Blazers bounced back from 5-12 (5 wins and 12 loses) to 15-12 (15 wins and 12 loses).

Tonight game started at 7.00 PM and it was exciting. Both teams play a fast and close-racing game, taking turns to lead and follow by no more than 10 points. At half time, the Nuggets led by 52 to 50 and extended the lead in the third quarter. However, with the energetic cheer of the fans around the arena, the Blazers caught up and took the lead in the heart throbbing forth and last quarter. They scored pass Denver in the last minute and maintained their lead until the final penalty free throw. Finally, Portland Trail Blazers won by 99 to 96. Wow, I am so excited and happy and felt that the crowd around the arena just feel like me. There were shouts and cheers all around. Yeah, let’s go Blazers! On of the finest moment is Jarette Jack’s incredible half-court shot at the end of the first quarter. You have to see it to believe it and I guess there will be a video of that shot uploaded soon. I will post the video here when it’s available.

This is my second time to watch the game live at the Rose Garden arena and I guess I am now the Trail Blazers fan. I hope they are getting better and better. Now they are the second rank team in Northwest devision of Western Conference, following only Denver. There are three home games left before the end of the year and I hope the Blazers could keep up their winning streak. I’d love to see them make a headline!

 

Related Links

• NBA
• Portland Trail Blazers Official Website
• I Am A Trail Blazers Fan

Hollywood – It’s All About the Stars

Yes, I am in Hollywood and my vacation trip here has been an amazing experience so far, especially today as I had a chance to see not only one but three Hollywood stars in a day. First, in the morning, I joined the hand and footprint ceremony of Will Smith at the world’s famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Will Smith’s latest movie, I Am Legend, will be open across the States this coming Friday and this is a perfect time to honor his achievement. I was lucky enough to have a chance to shake hand with Will Smith after he decided to cross the road to greet the crowd who waited and cheered him up throughout the ceremony. By doing so and delivering a remarkable speech at the ceremony, I think that Will Smith proved himself to be a truly Hollywood star. Click on the link below to watch a video clip of his speech. (As I was recording this from the other side of the street, the quality of the video is not good because there was traffic blocking the view from time to time but the sound is audible.)

 

Here are some pictures I took…

Will Smith got out of his car and waved to the crowd. (Please do not mind my hand waving back at him…)

Will Smith crossed the road to greet the crowd.

I got to shake hand with him.

He was entertaining and friendly.

Look at the crowd!

In the evening, I went to Universal City Walk Hollywood and joined the world premier of the movie Charlie Wilson’s War starring three award-winning actors including Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. No, I didn’t have a chance to watch the movie but I could watch it later. The reason I went there was to watch the lead stars of the movie walking down the red carpet. Luckily, I could take a few good pictures of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts when they were giving an interview.

Tom Hanks

Julia Roberts

Last but not least, I have a short video clip of Julia Roberts when she gave an interview. Let’s check it out.

This concluded another day of my enjoyable trip in Hollywood. It’s definitely a home of the stars, literally!

From PDX to LAX

Yesterday, I began my winter break journey by flying from Portland International Airport (PDX) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The 2-hour flight went well except that the departure time was delayed by 2 hours because of heavy air traffic. Eventually, I arrived at the hostel in Hollywood, where I would stay for a week, around 11 PM. It was raining lightly so I decided to take a hot shower and go to bed. I will head out and explore the neighborhood today. It is interesting to walk along the well-known Hollywood Walk of Fame and check out the stars on the street.

 

It’s time to hit the road. I will update my blog here when I get back. Stay tune.