Easter wkend at Phoenix!

Well, for easter weekend, pierre maxime, iza, adeline and philippe were going to Las Vegas, but i didnt wanna go cos been there (twice), done that. And what i like abt vegas is seeing all the themed hotels, riding roaster coasters and the shows of cos. And the latter sure is expensive, so rather go w pple who could pay my way. Not that into the partying and drinking. (altho it was so farnie seeing them doing crazy stuff there!)

So i wanted to see somewhere where i've nvr been to. And ironically, i found my long lost fantastic childhood friend Orchid on facebook! She's studying in Seattle now, and i tot, great! i would go visit her and see Seattle! And then lance and i were throwing suggestions ard too, and a few other places came up, like Phoenix, Denver, Miami... BUT thank goodness, erin was telling me she nvr been to Seattle, and said abt how she wanna go there in good weather. And that reminded me yea, i gotta check weather! (sorry lah, first time planning my own trip!) So i checked and Seattle was so cold and rainy, and i was kinda missing Singapore's temperature, so decided on Phoenix cos nice and hot and sunny! Tix weren't THAT cheap cos it was a black weekend and in a few days only too.

My flight was on early morn of mon, and it started HORRIBLE. The shuttle that was suppose to turn up, MnM Shuttles, did NOT come. They are so unrealiable! They were suppose to call me when driver arrived. I called back the number and NO ONE picked up. Called their tollfree and NO ONE picked up. I waited 45mins by my window, looking out of the street at 4am in the morning. Then hadda rush and call cab, and in my rush to carry my bags to the cab, i forgot my jacket. (but luckily not cold there at all) And cos i was afraid it would be a replay of las vegas, i paid 3 bucks (ontop of the 40 bucks of cab fare) to check-in at the counter outside. Stupid company (and after i complain to them, they refuse to accept responsibility, when THEIR van didnt come, and THEIR operator didn't call, and THEIR dispatch didn't pick up call. SO bloody irritating. I'm gonna warn all potential customers of just how irresponsible they are!)

This is the church they recommended to see in town. They were having an outdoor mass (cos so nice and sunny) and had a guy carry the cross everywhere they stop.

Chase field, big beautiful stadium for baseball.

Inside Chase Field.

Heritage Square...many neat tidy stores and museums and Science Center and such.

Pulling myself up using pulley system in the cool (literally) Arizona Science Center.

Live dissection and teaching demostration of a cow's eyeball.

Amateur Radio Station....hobby of Micheal too!

Getting my name after inputting it using Binary Code.

Heritage Field in downtown Phoenix. Looks like a cool place to have live band performances!

Grand City Hall.

I tot this ad was so cool. Billboard with real yellow tape ard the building.

The diner at Days Inn, the place i stayed, where i had yummy hearty breakfasts.

The next day i rented a car cos there was a cheap (relatively) local car rental in the hotel. And quite a few places i wanted to see were not that near or easy to get to. First stop was Camelback Mountain, but no parking so couldn't go hiking as planed.

Next, the Desert Botanical Gardens. I learnt a lot about deserts and the different kinds and its vegetation. I'm in a aviary that has tons of butterflies. Their Spring special.

Phoenix has Sonoran Desert, one of the 4 diff types. And its unique cos it gets 2 rainfalls a year, so it's actually pretty lush...for a desert. And the big, tall cactus on the left, is called the saguaro, which is ONLY found in the Sonoran Desert and is very useful, for wildlife and for man.

I tot this tiny little plant was SO cute. Doesn't it look like a professional boxer, with pink gloves, raising his arms like he just won a bout.

This guy sculps many works using branches and twigs.

And this is this years work.

Inside the sculpture, seeing a butte outside.

After lunch at Church's Chicken, a great recommendation by a local, i stopped by the park in downtown, so so beautiful. And tons of families out having giant bbqs to celebrate Easter, playing soccer, crockett, badminton...with pets ard too. Lovely atmosphere.

Called Encanto Park. So huge...

The furthest place i drove to...an old west town with pie-eating contests...


burro rides for kids... (jesus so cool to hv rode one)


cute tiny baby goats...

shootouts with real guns...

cute cowboys...

more shootouts... sheriffs and outlaws...

trailers and horse carriages...

Rawhide at Wild Horse Pass!

Had some time beore sundown and wanted to make full use of car, so decided to do wad i couldn't do in the morn...hiking in the wild! I scaled the rock walls (REAL rock climbing!) to the peak!

Me at the top.
Seeing the valley...

The skyline...

the downtown city...

Richard, u are so right! Having sex in the desert would be so amazing. I even know when and where.

Next day, met the nice hotel airport shuttle driver Mike who fetched me ard nearby to see more stuff b4 i left. First was the Hall of Flame - a museum for fire fighting.

A pretty fancy fire engine...looks more like Cinderella's carriage.

Then he picked me up and suggested i come see this: The Pueblo Grande Museum. It means the big village. And it used to be a "city" for ancient peoples. Cool!

Standing on a real anicient archeology site!

This was dug up too: they think it used to be a ball court of sorts, but can't confirm what or how the game was played.

I liked that even the highways and overpass had 'desert' designs...

And that's it for Phoenix! Travelled on my own so had chance to think a lot, and praise God for the very reason of his being, evidenced by CREATION. absolutely amazing. Best easter ever. And talked to many diff pple, and learn abt where they are from (like Flagstaff, north in Arizona, where it is 70 000 feet and SNOWING...yes, snowing in Arizona! And had to rely on total strangers and timer on my cam to take many pictures haha.