Outer Banks

The lighthouses of North Carolina are its landmarks; one cannot really say that he has been to North Carolina if he has not been to the coastal areas, known as the Outer Banks, where there are at least five lighthouses guiding ships away from danger. Even though I was struggling to complete my Compiler assignment, I thought I must make a trip down no matter what.

We reached the Outer Banks late Friday night and parked ourselves in one of several public campgrounds scattered around the area. Our attempt to rent tents failed because the shop closed way before we could reach, and so it was a night of sleeping either in the car, or under the stars.

The things we do when in almost total darkness.

ISO1600, f3.3, 60s. I don't think I can squeeze any better photos out of my LZ-10. Anyone wants to buy me a DSLR? :D

I chose to sleep under the stars. It was actually damn cold and I didn't get much sleep in the end, but its not often I get to lie in the open under such gorgeous night skies.

The following morning. We were supposed to wake up early to catch the sunrise, but we were too late for it.

We ended up spending half an hour just taking photos on this boardwalk.  Unbelievable if you ask me.

Beautiful beach, beautiful morning.

First stop of our day trip there: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

The lighthouse had been shifted inland three times due to the erosion of the coast. It was a pity we could not climb up, because the staff heard thunder. 

Along the way to our next destination, we crossed this breathtaking bridge.

Our next destination: Bodie Island lighthouse.

This lighthouse was not open for climbing; what we could do was to walk along this path to this pavilion where we could spot wildlife.

After visiting the Bodie Island lighthouse, we dropped by a nearby beach where everyone suntanned for an hour, and I realised now that I did not take a single photo there. Probably because I was happily snapping away on my friend's DSLR.

Besides lighthouses, North Carolina is also known for being the place the Wright Brothers first flew their plane. Many North Carolina license plates would proudly display the words: "First in Flight".

Replica of the plane the Wright Brothers built. We walked in just as a talk by the centre staff was about to start, but having only slept an hour the previous night, I promptly fell asleep.

Walking towards the Memorial Tower.

Rather majestic.

The path we walked marked the actual routes the first flights took.

Last stop for the day: Jockey's Ridge State Park.

Basically it was a huge sand dune, where all the sand were carried by sea winds and hurricanes inland and deposited there.

We could take our shoes off and walk barefoot all the way.

Felt like a desert.

Ended our day there with dinner at a seafood restaurant.

On Sunday some of them went down to Tangers Outlet to shop, while I stayed back to do my work. At night I joined them for Korean BBQ at Raleigh.

And so this trip to the Outer Banks officially marked the end of all our weekend road trips out of North Carolina as the semester drew to a close. I loved the Outer Banks, for it offered what the other places could not: The Milky Way, the lighthouses, and the sand dunes. Would have enjoyed the trip much more if my headache wasn't killing me then.

Now that I have been to the Outer Banks, I can proudly say I have been to North Carolina! Actually NC offered much more than just the coast; the mountain ranges to the west are known to be very spectacular as well, which I will not have any chance of visiting anytime soon, but otherwise my trip to North Carolina is now complete :)

Outer Banks

NC Zoo + Duke University + Singapore Day 2012

After so many roadtrips, fatigue and financial worries were starting to set in, not to mention the never ending schoolwork that just kept piling up on us. After the Atlanta trip, the following three weeks were all low key, low cost events haha.

First weekend of April we went to the North Carolina Zoo, which was about an hour's drive away from us. The zoo was split into two major areas, the North American area and the African area. The zoo was not spectacular, but still it was a nice getaway from the otherwise monotonous weekend.

NC Zoo

Second weekend of April was a long weekend with Good Friday. Originally we had planned to go to the Outer Banks, but various circumstances caused us to cancel our plans. We ended up walking around nearby University Mall and watching a movie on Saturday, and a trip down to Duke University on Sunday.

As an attraction, Duke was famous for two things, the Chapel and the Botanical Gardens.

This was still at UNC. It was a sundial outside the Morehead Planetarium, and was where we waited for the free Robertson Scholar bus to bring us to Duke.

At Duke University!

Their famous Chapel.

The closest I can get to Europe while on this exchange.

Duke University's Botanical Gardens. It was a nice Sunday, it was crowded and flowers were in full bloom.

Duke University

Third weekend of April saw us taking a trip up to New York to attend Singapore Day 2012. Together with other Singaporean students from UNC and Duke, we took an overnight 'Chinatown' bus on Friday, spent Saturday at Prospect Park where the event was held, and took another overnight 'Chinatown' bus on Saturday, reaching back on Sunday morning.

As with Singapore Days in the previous years, there were the food, the performances, and the many exhibits, including the IPPT static stations which they never failed to bring every year.

In anticipation of another of Singaporeans' favourite pasttime: queuing. This time its for authentic Singapore food that we cannot find in the States.

Chicken rice! Other food I ate there included roti prata, kway chap, rojak, and teh tarik.

They even brought in SAF's Mobile Field Kitchen...

...complete with GS benches and tables!

Also on display, a bus stop...

...and a typical HDB void deck!

Sitting on the grass in front of the stage and watching performances.

The event ended with Mambo Jumbo.

Spent the remainder of the day at a shopping mall and a Chinese restaurant where we had delicious porridge for dinner.

Singapore Day 2012, New York

Atlanta

After a fun but tiring Spring Break, I expected myself to take a break and have a good rest the weekend that followed it. [Un]fortunately my friends decided to go to Atlanta, and after some planning we were on our way there, reaching late on Friday night.

Early Saturday morning we were at the Georgia Aquarium, apparently the world's largest.

Indeed it wasn't small at all.

The aquarium was divided into different areas, while waiting for the dolphin show to start, we visited the first area, the Cold Water Quest.

Everyone getting excited over touching little sea creatures.

It wasn't long before we had to enter the dolphin show. No photography was allowed, although I could had secretly taken them if I wanted to. The dolphin show was nice; the story that accompanied the show seemed redundant.

After the show, we were off to the next area: Ocean Voyager.

Encik!

There was this tunnel similar to Singapore's Underwater World. But it was too crowded for me to enjoy it.

This should be the highlight of the entire aquarium: a huge ass glass display.

Another of their glass displays.

A little pond where people get to touch baby hammerhead sharks.

Long queues waiting to enter the aquarium.

Next stop: World of Coca-Cola right next to the aquarium. In fact the tickets we bought allowed us to enter both places, at a lower price I think.

Plenty of exhibits from the history of Coca-Cola to its manufacturing process. The main attraction seemed to be the tasting room where one can drink all the different Coca Cola flavors from around the world.

We were told that Coca Cola's [in]famous formula is kept behind this door. I don't believe it.

Next stop: Centennial Olympic Park. Atlanta held the Summer Olympics in 1996.

Statue of Pierre de Coubertin, according to Wikipedia.

At night we dropped by the CNN Center, although we did not go for any guided tour. It was closed by then anyway.

Standing at this exact spot to take photos would result in a pop out of the NCAA splash from the ground. Close enough I guess.

CNN's Humvee, used during the Iraq War where reporters were attached to frontline troops to bring back the latest news.

Ended Day 1 with a walk through an underground shopping mall in Atlanta's Five Points.

Itinerary for Day 2: Stone Mountain Park!

We took a cable car up.

View was great!

At the top.

View was breathtaking.

I like.

An alternative to the cable car was to hike up the mountain, but time was not on our side. 

We ended our Atlanta trip with a visit to the lake nearby.

Atlanta is a major metropolitan city and serves as an important hub in the Southeastern area of the United States, as can see from the fact that Atlanta's airport is the world's busiest and is home to Delta Air Lines. While not exactly a mind blowing trip, I still liked the little gems that Atlanta offered.

Atlanta