Rexburg Idaho Temple

A quick visit to good old Rexburg Idaho, where we met. It's been about a year since we had the chance to travel that far north. This was the last day for the open house of the new Rexburg Temple which will be dedicated soon. We took some photos right after the event, it is so beautiful. Enjoy!

Lower Mosquito Pass Road Snowshoe

Distance: 3 miles round trip
Elevation: 10,900 ft -11,200 ft
Elevation gain: 300 ft

Looking east towards the Mosquito Range from our unnamed road.

On our last day in Leadville, we wanted a simple trail that we could explore in a couple of hours because we had to head back down to Denver and we were tired after our trip to Vance's Cabin the day before. Our host at the Leadville Hostel, told us to just head straight up CO Rd 3, pass under the bridge for the Mineral Belt trail, and park when the road ended. From there he said you could go in numerous directions. We decided to continue up Co Rd 3, which is lower Mosquito Pass Road.

The parking area where the road is no longer plowed

Co Rd 3 makes a sharp right turn and cross a drainage.

This route has fantastic views of the Continental Divide, mining ruins, and snowy hillsides so warm and fluffy we wanted to reach out and pet them. Add to this a “chamber of commerce” blue sky and you will understand why we love the mountains. There were two Brits staying with us at the Hostel who, despite their phenomenal exchange rate, had spent significantly more than we did to enjoy this Colorado experience.

Looking back down the drainage to the west

A little farther up the road

In short order the road circumnavigated a vast meadow filled with snow-covered mining ruins. From a distance these looked like dollhouses in a Santa Clause village. The mine tailings, undoubtedly guaranteed to ensure your sterility, were similarly transformed into fluffy hillocks behind which naughty elves plotted snowball ambushes.

All of the mounds are mine tailings

Is that Mt. Evans directly ahead?

At some point, we ended up veering off of Co Rd 3 onto an unnamed road heading west. There was so much snow in the area, and we were following a snowmobile track that it was not until later that I realized we were no longer on Mosquito Pass Road.

Cabin and tailings covered in snow

Ruins, ruins, everywhere

Eventually, time ran out on us but I have been told this western heading road continues for some distance with periodic views of the Collegiate Peaks. You won’t find this trip in any guidebook, but it is well worth doing on a clear day.

Heading west on our unnamed road

Turning around and heading back down

Someday I shall return and head further up Mosquito Pass Road. The views of Mount Massive to the west must be phenomenal.

Blue skies, Mt. Massive in the distance, and lots of happy snowshoers

Vance’s Cabin Snowshoe

Trail Length: 6 miles round trip
Elevation: 10, 550-11,120 ft
Elevation gain: 1,040 ft

Standing on the back of Vance's Cabin

A trip to Vance’s cabin is a moderate snowshoe out of Ski Cooper near Leadville with potentially spectacular views of nearby 14ers as well as the Continental Divide. On this trip unfortunately, most of the views were diluted with low hanging clouds but anyone. Since the cabin is well used in both winter and summer this is not a trail for total solitude although the intrusions are limited to the two-footed kind. Snowmobiles are prohibited.

From the Ski Cooper parking lot head up the side road to the obvious sign and take a left.

I was snowshoeing to Vance's Cabin because a group of 12 of us were in town for the MLK weekend. The group split into two groups, with a few of us going to Vance's Cabin and the rest to the 10th Mountain Hut, a much longer trip.

Leadville has the reputation for being one of the coldest places in Colorado and I was afraid that I would freeze my num-chucks off (they take six weeks to grow back) but the weather was relatively mild, so don’t let the forecasters scare you off with -30 wind chills.

After making the left at the sign, the route travels up a small drainage towards are large meadow.

Finding the trailhead is not difficult as long as you can manage to find highway 24 out of Leadville, since the trail starts at Ski Cooper, at the top of Tennessee Pass. From the Ski Cooper parking area there is a maintenance road heading east with a prominent red sign that reads “Vance’s Cabin” in 2000 pt font. Miss this and you should not venture outside of the nearest Starbucks.

Turning left (west) and heading up a large meadow.

The first half-mile of the trail is along a well-groomed road bordered on the left by a creek and the right by drifting banks. An equally prominent sign marks the next turn off. This one has a large arrow pointing to the left that made us hearty mountain folk roll our eyes. In the woods though, it is always useful to know where you are so disregard our condescension and be thankful for the good folks at Ski Cooper who are minimizing their search and rescue budget.

Approaching the far end of the meadow.

After this well-marked left turn, the trail crosses a creek and heads up a wide valley. Mid-way up the trail turns sharply upwards to the left and climbs 300 feet. At the top are two large meadows that are perfect for power hopping. I would have killed for a clear day because this spot must contains some lovely views to the east.

After the meadow, the trail spends a part of time in the trees.

After the meadows the trail continues for 1.5 miles through the trees. Usually I find this sort of thing monotonous but today there was so much snow on the trees that the trail really was winter wonderland. Modern art sculptures abounded as the copious “snow blobs” transformed both tree and stump into mythical creatures.

The final pitch to the cabin is down a broad slope.

The trees end at the highest point of the trail, which resides at 11,300 ft. From here you must descend down a broad slope to the cabin. The slope is dotted with the burnt out remnants of a long forgotten fire. To tell you the truth, I did not notice these until the return trip because I was having too much fun bounding down the hill in a blur of “we’re almost there” frenzy.

The interior of Vance's Cabin

Vance’s cabin itself is the smallest hut in the 10th Mountain Division’s hut system. It was being occupied by half of Denver’s EPA office that kindly let us in to scope things out. I have never stayed in a hut since I can’t imagine having to carry enough gourmet food on my back to keep me happy for three days. One of these days I need to try it though.

waiting lists

back to business.

so, here's the situation now.
the waiting list for the yet-to-be-listed-in-the-web-shoppe goods from my new collection is growing out of hand.
i'm officially not adding on any more customers to the waiting list, because i don't even have any more mungo wanderlust leaf bags left for the shoppe. i think only 1 miserable piece.
am now working on our stockists' orders, and with the 1-week chinese new year break coming up for all @ littleoddforest, i estimate stocks for the shoppe to be ready only after mid-feb.

thanks for all your kind patience!!!! xoxoxo
and here, a sneak preview of the color choices you'll have for tree trunk and a leaf (padded laptop tote, detachable zipper pouch not shown in photo)

they are all dropping dead like flies.

wednesday, january 23, 2008 10:01 am
mandy texted me: "heath ledger is dead!"

wednesday, january 23, 2008 11:23 am
mao texted me: "daaa!! heath ledger is dead!!!"

wednesday, january 23, 2008 11:27 am
pat texted me: "heath ledger is dead!!"

we will all miss you, heath. looking forward to the new batman.

they preferred picnics and outings to ritzy dinners

http://www.tagaytay.com/

grateful thanks to you all!!!
and cheers to a brand new year together :))) xoxoxo

even with all the petty squabbles and politics you like to indulge in...
who knew even such things could happen in a little home cottage workshop...
irrational irresponsible declarations of wanting to quit and leave just because you dislike a new sewer.... all due to simple petty misunderstandings.... things that even $ couldn't solve....
you couldn't care less if you were going back to unemployment or menial sweatshop work back in the countryside or had no place to stay.....
am glad things worked out fine though! (albeit temporarily only, i speculate...)
hahaha
women. so hard to fathom.
tsk.
for every emotion we pay out to you, you all would have been millionaires by now.
oh wait, i'm a female specie too, aren't i... ha! different i guess :p

i love to travel

the title has nothing to do with this entire post, it's just that i'm chatting on the phone with a friend about how many times we leave this tiny dot of an island country singapore every year, and how many countries/cities we've visited in our lives so far (excluding those when we were in mummy's womb), and blabbing about our favorite holiday places and the not-ever-going-back-in-near-future ones unless you drag us there or it's for work stuff (china and hong kong... don't even ask us why haha).... yes, i'm multi-tasking, typing this out as well :p

and yes, the title is misleading, because what's to come does not evoke any positive emotions of anything remotely close to what travelling does.

first of all, my sincere apologies for the previous angsty post, i totally got over it after my yummy taiwan porridge supper, haha. it's nothing really, just customer service shit, yep. so am unable to talk about it here. no cause for worry ya all, really appreciate your text messages and phone calls. thank goodness it's all just emails and stuff, not face to face, i can only imagine how many times i would have thrown super acidic killer sarcasm at those..... (can't think of a better word than stupid. stupid, the forbidden "s" word haha) people.

i seem to be losing my acquired skill of being "nice", recently. it was like i had attained the highest level of this skill (along with my "being patient" skill, although thankfully i haven't lost that, yet), and then suddenly, i just couldn't be bothered to use it anymore. i've been mean to people i don't like. i just couldn't care less and suddenly became intolerant to all types of situations i would categories as stupid and nonsense. i seem to have suddenly thrown away my ability to be "patronising" and "pleasing", skills that took me so many years to acquire, and now just couldn't be bothered to use. i'm just not very nice at all anymore. it gives me such great kick to make the deserving "s" people feel "s".

everyone seems to want a piece of me, my time, my energy, my mind. so yeah, my current life philosophy (which, by the way, changes like the weather) is, if you bring me no joy, or worse, make me sick, i ain't hanging out with you no more.

so many things irk me recently.

our government websites.
who the hell designed those???? don't we pay enough taxes for you to find better and more expensive designers to do them??? didn't they get someone else outside of their team to navigate through the entire site? who was the dope who approved the job?? a technical person cannot do a creative's job, unless he studied design, is good at it, or something along those lines.
fuck.
couldn't you intelligent civil servants employed by our intelligent government even get this simple logic right??
i hate it when you can't fucking find the correct navigational link to click.
there's always a sub-link and sub-sub-link in a sub-sub-sub link page somewhere.
then after taking more than an hour to have finally found what i was looking for, it brings me to a dead non-functional link.
dead.
i need to download a pdf application form, and all it says is "the page cannot be found".
what the fuck.
so now i've to make the dreaded phone call.
dreaded because it's the dreaded government talking machine customer service, that just goes on and on just like the website.
this is exactly what the 80-20 rule prescribes that i should not be wasting time on.
and the 80-20 to me is like the bible is to my dad.
and yet.
just kill me.

ignorant people.
only when they choose to bother me.
i got to know many people and made many friends and acquaintances in my years in chicago, the majority being americans, and i regret to say that at least a quarter of them know squat about the world. outside of america. but that's cool with me, because i know them personally, as a person, and i know them for who they are, and they know me for who i am. so we're cool. what's not cool - those whom i don't know and who don't know me, but yet, chose to bark up the wrong fucking tree. my tree. me.
how dare you drop me email via etsy, saying that i come from a country of factories, china, and that the origin of my handmade products are thus dubious. i don't see the need to defend my products as being handmade, because all my customers and the real world know better.
but china????
fuck you.
i'm from SINGAPORE. IT IS NOT A CITY IN CHINA. OR THAILAND, since i'm on this.
google it, fucker.
so i guess the entire great big country of america has not a single factory.
so i guess the biggest customers of china factories are not americans.
since i'm on a roll, and i'm no fan of china, but hey...
so i guess the entire population in china are either factory workers, slave-workers, exploited sweatshop workers, cruel factory owners, factory supervisors, and the few farmers here and there? and there are no colleges to speak of, not even art colleges, and the young people there, upon graduation, just goes straight to work in a factory. god forbid they have dreams of designing and creating some handmade wares on their own, and hopefully make some american friends online, even if they aren't able to make any sales.
is there like a chinese etsy website? if there isn't, i propose that you should do up one! the biggest dough rollers now are afterall the chinese from china.
i quote kishore mahbubani, author of can asians think?, dean of the lee kuan yew school of public policy. "Unfortunately, even as the world is becoming more predictable, America is becoming less so. It has one of the least informed populations on the planet, and the quality of the presidential debates on global issues has been appalling."
as claire, my dearie pal who just recently moved to toronto, canada, said in our msn chat yesterday - "sorry that our world is only as big as America is, was glad when I got to move out to chitown, meet "the world", then realized that world was only so big"

kids.
kids who scream at their maids.
kids who beat, slap, kick, and pinch their maids.
apparently, when you live in a neighborhood with many young families and their children, the incidence of meeting such an annoyance just jumps high up.
i held a boy by his collar this morning, told him to keep quiet, and told him i was going to bring him to the police for abusing his maid, in my most pissed off manner.
this brat was screaming orders at his maid to cook his favorite gawd knows what (i couldn't decipher from that high-pitched shrieky tone), but obviously something not what his mother had instructed, and so after his poor maid repeatedly told him in the softest possible tone that she couldn't cook that for him, he started pinching and kicking her.
an 8 year old school boy (i asked him his age, just like a policeman... hhahahahha) in school uniform, kicking his maid. in public.
i'm sorry to come to this conclusion, but he must have an awesome upbringing.
after a very brief "why you shouldn't do that to your maid" blah blah blah, i was already late for my appointment, i forced him apologise to her (she almost pissed me off too, by saying nevermind, nevermind, nevermind, non-stop.....). i told him i wasn't going to let him go until he said sorry for doing what he did. so he muttered a reluctant one amidst sobbing, and being me, i said
"i can't hear you. you have such a loud voice, and that's all you can give me now?"
and he mustered up a decent one whilst crying loudly.
"if i see you again, and see you doing this to your maid again, i'll make sure you'll regret it."

irritatingly delusional dog-owners with spoilt rotten dogs that are not properly trained, who think their little yelpy "children" are the loveliest cutest babies, and think everyone else must think so too, and let them run amok on public beaches, and then when their beloved dog pee-pees on someone else's beach bag, and then all they can coo out is "oohh bad boy, bad boy.. i'm so sorry... so sorry.... oohh baby, come to mummy, why are you such a bad boy? hummm.. hummmm... ooohh naughty babyy"
WTF.
i bet their dog's pee smell heavenly to them as well.
i love both dogs and cats. but i'm not mad.
i do not find it cute when a dog comes and sniff my arse and refuses to budge while i'm laying down at the beach.
"ooohhh baby (apparently her dog's disgusting name is baby) loves you!"
shoo. go away.
i leave the city to escape human madness. and i come to this mad place. sheesh.

oh man, i can't wait for the chinese new year holidays and my multiple trips abroad.... need to leave this country.... no such thing as traveling to other states here! pasir ris to jurong?? i don't even like going across the causeway..... the nearest i can tolerate is bintan. phuket.... bangkok....... japan........ excitement has driven the angst away temporarily.

happy monday, peeps

new designs 011508 by ron beck

new aquarium side mounts by ron beck

New for 2008, the Side Mounts

This unique piece mounts on the inside / back of your tank, supported by a suction cup (included). The plant will enhance the look of the tank and also provide additional coverage higher up, for those who need it. Remember, not all fish swim at the bottom of the tank. This design also adds a more true depth effect to the tank as well. Cleaning it is also easy since the plant is not buried under gravel! Can be used in an aquarium or reptile environment. Product is life like and safe; no toxic products used.

rudeness and stupidity

Some people are just so rude. RUDE. And STUPID. And RUDE. And yes, STUPID. I am so PISSED off that I'm posting this from my phone in the car on the road for supper.I couldn't wait until later. Do the world this one fucking favor and go DIE if you LACK common sense and are rude.And stupid. So so so very stupid. And very rude.I would slap you so hard if I could, thank goodness I'm unable to, I might just contaminate myself with your RUDENESS and STUPIDITY. Michelle promised this works better as therapy than violence hahahaha I think it works abit, thanks babe for putting up with me.

restocks galore!

i apologise for being tardy in announcing new item listings and restocks... some new items have been listed and are all sold out... sorry!! here's how an lof regular from singapore, kathleen, has summed it up in her email to me last wednesday... "It's like striking lottery! I won the small one (my new hansel & gretal keyring pouch) but missed the big one :( Please make more of the heart wooden handle bags soon! It's depressing when I don't have the chance to go online and check in your website every morning!"
and some maybe not so nice ones like this, no hi, no bye, just like as shown here - "I was delighted to have found your store, but it is now even more upsetting to see things that I love but are sold out. Why on earth do you still show me items that I can no longer buy??? Do you restock them or what??? Please remove them if they are really sold out and save me the pain."

erm..... wth???

i still remember an incident in inqbox @ far east plaza, a couple of years back... the shop owner had displayed some items from her personal collection which were not for sale, just to spruce up the look and decor of the shop. one fine day, came this tai-tai looking woman with an air of snottiness surrounding her, browses around, and points at one of the not-for-sale item, and asks for the price. the sales assistant then politely apologises and informs her that the item was not for sale. and then this woman went all crazy on this poor girl and starts raising her voice and arguing about how the shop is so "stupid" and "silly" (exact words she used) and has something not-for-sale displayed there and kept ranting on about how "ridiculous" (exact word she used) that was... sheesh woman, that shop belongs to someone, who has a right to display whatever she wants since it is her shop..... do you start asking to buy the shelves or display units off from a store selling apparel??? maybe you do... ha!

so! anyways, the "sold out" items in the shoppe, most of the time i leave them there because they WILL be restocked! i just can't tell you when for sure sometimes :p some others i wasn't able to restock them as planned because the fabrics are no longer available, and the rest, i either simply forgot to remove them or i just want to show potential stockists that they were part of my previous collections.... ( -___-")

oki oki... so here's what's in store... coming your way soon!
# selected key-ring pouches restocks + newies! (new word coined by and courtesy of patricia)
# selected snotty bird bag restocks!
# forest seedlings tote newies!! (don't miss out on this one!)
# selected summer bird bangle clutch restocks + newies!
# selected petit leaf straplet restocks + newies!
and because of wonky work schedules, between now till end february, do expect
# yet-to-be-launched new collection! including mungo wanderlust leaf bag, "tree trunk and a leaf laptop" combo, "love sprouts switchy" purse, lof monster sacs, and moreee! and of course,
# restocks and newies of our already-launched new collection designs

go check it!

Loch/Mills Snowshoe: Climb a Frozen Waterfall

Trail Length: 6 miles RT
Elevation: 9,200-10,180 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft (includes extra ups and downs)


Mills Lake
The Loch and Mills Lake snowshoe in RMNP is an adventure not to be missed. For those of you familiar with these trails in summer, you will know that to ascend to the Loch one must traverse a series of switchbacks that look down upon a gorge. At the top of this gorge is a waterfall that drains out of the Loch itself.

In winter, you bypass the switchbacks and go straight up the gorge itself! The route is steep but not overwhelming with spectacular views of the gorge’s rock formations.


Scaling the gorge
Icicles the size of surf boards dangle from the walls and the snow is usually sufficiently packed down to make the going easier. This is not a route best suited for skiers, however, who may find the steepness and vicinity of bone crushing protuberances a bit risky.

Climbing over the lip of the waterfall is a life changing experience. While I have done this late in the season when the weather was balmy, in early winter the lake is host to preternatural winds that will freeze the eyeballs in your head. Such a thrill should be on every Coloradoans to do list. Prove to yourself that you can handle the chill just like the Wisconsin cheese heads.


The Loch
The route is straight back down the gorge. Near the bottom veer off to the right and search for the large frozen waterfall that hangs precipitously over the cliff face. The ice here is large, usually tainted brown, and braced by a slope of deep snow. Bushwhacking will be required but since this whole trip is about discovering your inner Mr. Frost, what the heh?

The trip up to Mills Lake also follows a drainage. The winter trails map produced by the Park Service might help finding the trail here. My memory is spotty on the connection between the two trails, but if anyone has gone before you, the trail will be clear.


Did I mention it was cold?
What I like about Mills Lake in winter is the pile of driftwood that covers is lower end. These skeletal remains lie tumbled amid drifting snow, a harsh and picturesque reminder of the severity of nature.

Think of the elk, the deer, and the marmot, existing upon that frozen tableau, and then think about your heating blanket, double espresso maker, and fire place, and count your blessings that you are a primate! Who knew that snowshoeing could have such intense mythical ramifications. It is undoubtedly because your third eye (7th chakra) froze along with your real eyeballs and the body’s entire energy system is miss firing in shock.


Icicles
The soul needs a reboot once in a while; so don’t let my description deter you from venturing out on this lovely trail. It is one of the best the Front Range has to offer.

December 2008: I have a new update to this snowshoe...see Loch Vale: A retrospective