off to denali..

from seward, we drove 8 hours north to denali. i booked a cabin in crow's nest.. a cute and small lodge nearby denali national park. as it was already dark, we went to have dinner and i stayed in the cute cabin whole night, hoping for northern lights to appear some time in the middle of the night while online with him till i fell asleep.. only to wake up there was no northern lights, as i did register myself at the reception to wake me up in the event there is one and no signs of him os courfe next to me. wishful thinking.. one day, one day. in the morning, hantu and i went for 'tundra wilderness tour' into denali national park.. it was so cold as i didnt realized that we were actually quite high up. got onto the tour bus with a bunch of old but crazy old couples who cant stop cracking jokes at anything that moves. they are so happy and content with their lives, i bet. i wish that one day, i too could have a life like that. growing old, aging gracefully yet crazy and funny as hell! the drive in was very scenic and boring at times so being me, i fell asleep.. zzz.. only to wake up at the first stop where they had a pee stop and to snap pictures at yet again another scenic view of the mountains and rivers but no wildlife sighting so far. we then continued our journey to the deep end of denali park to view mount mckinley from a distance which was breathtaking, i must say. hantu had hot chocolate and coffee for me to stay awake while admiring the scenery and posed a few.. you see, when there's only the two of you in a group and your father always wanna take a picture of you, after some time you dont give your best pose anymore so i started making faces to brighten and cheer up my day and i hope his too.. to see that his daughter not only can give people a hard time but could be a clown as well. obviously those pictures wont be published and as much as i wanted to (yes my friends, i would love for you guys to see my other side but i think you've seen more than that, agree?) i couldnt as he didnt bring his cable for me to transfer it into the laptop. what the hell? why am i telling you all this? anyway on the way back, finally we saw few animals such as moose, dall the mountain goat, lotsa different type of birds and bears.. grizzlys in the wild! we saw at few different stops but my favourite was when at this section where the grizzly was busy eating by the roadside. twas quite far at first but it headed towards us and nearer and nearer and walked in front of the bus, passed by us and started eating on the other side of the road. that was the closest encounter so far.. but sad to say, i only got few pictures and mostly of his backside.. yeah, you like that 'backside' word, dont you my dear? that was the highlight of the tour for me and i assumed the coffee i had didnt work coz i did it again.. zzzz.
after the tour, hantu and i went to town, if thats what they called it. i will rephrase it tho.. we went to this row of shops.. one row, just to rub it in to do some shopping. apparently, cris was right. i am a compulsive buyer. i cant see shops, i have to go in and buy something. even if it is just a kiosk at a petrol station. i didnt know what to buy so i got myself an ice cream, cookies and cream, yummy!! which obviously didnt help as it was so cold and eating ice cream freezed me up and my hardly used brain as well. later, we had our dinner, halibut for me and for dessert, i signed up to white water rafting for tomorrow morning activity.
white water rafting was fun!! by 8.15am, i was already in my wet suit, helmet and paddle, ready to get into the raft and enjoy. the first splash of the cold cold water woke me up, no shit! it was 3 degrees if im not mistaken. andy, the guide was cute, adventurous and very informative. he give up being a banker to enjoy winter as a ski instructor in hmm.. i forgot, and during summer, doing white water rafting in denali. i told him to try out queenstown, new zealand.. he would love it. i love queenstown.. and i would love to go back there with my chicas.. will you my friends? we can bungee jump, white water rafting by day and drink all sorts of beers by night. wowee..what a holiday! please.. it has to be our 'things to do before you are 30' and that is in 2 years time. why am i reminding myself that im growing old? not old.. older.. hehe. it sounds better that way ay..

p/s above, there are two favourite pictures of mine. one is the food, which i have to show you guys. it was what i had for breakfast most of the time, eggs toast with reindeer sausages,love, love, love it!! i hope santa would still list me under his good list tho.. and another one with me in it, not because im in the picture but the background is so picture perfect. it may looked like it was taken in a studio but this is real! the reflections of the sky and mountains could be seen so clearly on the water, can you see it? if you cant, you will be growing balls at your neck soon, so you better see it, or admit that you do.. or else..