The final day of our ice climbing lesson at Rilong. The temperature was the same for the past few days. Anything wet that you place outside will be frozen the following day. Including my towel! We joked that if we want to drink water, we should put it in the fridge, and if we want …

We were more energetic on Day 3 at Rilong, probably because we had acclimatized better. Before we set off for our new ice climbing location, we took a group photo outside the lodge. It was as cold; -10 C in the morning. As we moved to a new climbing location, we were treated to an …

We stayed at the Five Colours Mountain Lodge, which was quite near the entrance of the National Park. This lodge was named after a nearby mountain which was supposedly to have 5 colors due to the different mineral compositions. We didn’t see the 5 different colors though, maybe the colors appear only on certain time …

We left at 11am from Chengdu enroute to Rilong, a small village about 6 hours drive away within Sichuan province. Since we would be passing the mountainous region in winter, we had to leave later so that the ice/snow on the road would melt by then. We had to travel pass an earthquake aftermath region …

December 2010, Sichuan: One semester of weekly trainings; running, intervals and stairs climbing. Why did we have to go through these routine? Day 0 The last night before departure was spent checking through the equipment and going through the check-list to make sure that I did not leave anything important behind. Lots of essential items …

Part 4 of the Alcatraz Pictures Series will bring you to the view inside the prison. This place was a prison until 1963. To show you how a typical prison cell is like, they decorated the place with stuff that were used last time. When a prisoner stepped into the place, this is where it …

This series of pictures show an interesting view of one of the more important structures in Alcatraz Island- The Water Tower. The tower is a simple structure. But it shows differently when you capture it at various angles. This is the same water tower There are two water towers on the island. Here is the …

The next series of pictures are the view when you walked around the island. Note that we’ve not really ventured into the prison yet. The buildings are old and broken. But this adds flavor to the vintage of the island. The pictures below showed the place when it was converted into a park. But I …

It has really been a while since I updated this blog. I’ve never been so taxed out, so tired with so many things to do and handle. My year end holiday is ending soon and the new semester will start again in two weeks time. I had a trip to Alcatraz Island, a prison off …

“Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as “carving”, “engraving”, or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated with prehistoric peoples. The word …