Apple picking

It's apple season during fall and I went apple picking with my dear sister around the Onondaga County. We went to Beak and Skiff Apple Farm. It's my first time to see apple trees and actually pick fresh apples!!! How exciting!

The are many varieties of apple and on the day of our trip, only Jonamac apple was available for picking. So we boarded on farm tractor which brought us into the apple farm where we could pick the apples.... It was a great experience to sat on a tractor and enjoyed the scenic view of apple tress surrounding us!

I enjoyed picking the apples and also eating them at the same time...the apples fresh from the tress were definitely the best and could not be compared to any of the apples sold in the supermarket. They were so crispy and crunchy yet juicy and sweet! yummy apples!!!

I was riding on a tractor - taking me in to the farm

Jonamac apple - juicy and sweet!

glorious apples!

Fried apple fritter - homemade and extremely tasty with fresh cooked-apple filling! I love this fritters! It tasted like doughnut and sprinkled with cinnamon powder

First Week at Cornell - the first impression

Apologies for not updating my blog...been very busy since day 1 here at Cornell...everything was different from Malaysia...the culture, the people, the lifestyle, the campus and even the standard of expectations!

I had quite a good first week by knowing some of my coursemates and they all came from all walks of life...from Taiwan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Canada and many more...

Some were really friendly and nice but they were a couple of people who didn't want to mix with people at all...

Anyway, the first week was more like hunting for classes..and you can see everyone really like "girls crazy shopping during sales". You could practically see that everyone rushing here and there to try this class and other classes....and most of the classes were packed with people, especially for the classes with really good and famous professor.

Here are some snapshots of my campus and also my apartment. It's a 4 shared bedroom apartment and it's really small! The bedroom is super small and i have no space to walk at all, except for a small lane good enough for me to walk. I would say the apartment rental was overpriced and the apartment condition was too old and quite dilapidated. I couldn't sleep at all for the first week with the AC/heater on as the ancient AC was extremely noisy and annoying with its grumbling sound each time i switched it one...

Barton Hall...(hall for all student activities)

Maplewood - the place where i stay

Ho Plaza...free lunch for the first day of class

View of the Cornell football stadium

View outside of my apartment

My apartment - small huh??

 

Hello Ithaca!!!

Hello Ithaca!!

After such a long-haul flight, I finally arrive at Ithaca, a small town in the suburbs of New York.  I’m pretty sure everyone has the first impression of me being in the big city of New York, and the fast is that Ithaca is 5 hours drive away from New York city. In the other hand, on the bright side, I am very near to Nigara Falls…one of the most anticipated place in my wish-list that I want to visit when I’m in Ithaca.


Here is the map of New York and the location where I stay:

View Larger Map

Flying to Ithaca, New York

It was a very long-haul flight and I have transited 5 times in order to reach Ithaca, New York. The flight was really a nightmare with the endless siting on the “hard-unreclinable” seats and the hours of transit wait. It took me 2 days to go across the continentable  from Malaysia to New York….it’s unbearable but I finally made it through and reached Ithaca.

I flew from Penang -> KL -> Taipei -> Los Angeles -> Detroit -> Ithaca. And I was so "lucky" that I sat with babies around me from Penang -> KL -> Taipei -> Los Angeles. The worst experience was in the flight from KL -> Taipei as there were twin babies sitting right behind me taking turns crying and screaming all the 5 hours flight. I pitied the parents as they were apologizing and trying their best to keep their kids quiet. Anyhow, I felt for them as I understood that children especially babies would be uncomfortable with the changing pressure in the flight.

Nevertheless, I did get some sleep in the end from Taipei -> Los Angeles -> Detroit. I had some rest and upon arriving at Detroit airport at about 6.30am, I went to grab a cup of hot Vanilla Latte (Starbucks) and a set of classic breakfast to fill my empty tummy . I had not eat anything since the Taipei -> LA in-flight meal and since I have 3 hours of wait before my next flight to Ithaca, taking a hearty breakfast would re-energize me.

I missed my family (my mum, dad, hubby and kids) a lot  and I looked through the photos whenever I was awake in flight. The homesickness is still etched deep in my heart and I hope I would feel much better once I do a video conference with them upon settling down in my apartment.