Total eclipse trip in Wyoming (Grand Teton/Lander/Riverton)

Last Saturday (Aug 19th) was my graduation from Art Center College of Design in California and I was hiking at Grand Teton for 13 hours. I care about graduation but... Grand Teton is more tempting! I've been talking about this trip with my climbing friends from Boulder for a while so I didn't want to miss it!

We slept in the car at Lupine Meadow Trailhead on Friday night and started the hike before the sunrise on Saturday. 

My friends, Ryan and Alex, were going to climb Disappointment Peak, Irene's Arete - trad 5.8, 7 pitches. That was definitely out of my ability so I was just going hiking and meet them at Amphitheater Lake.

After my climbing friends sent themselves up to the wall, I was trying to find an “easier” way to get to the other side of the peak. I scrambled some class 3, bouldered some class 4 rock and a lil bit of class 5 wall - it was quite scary. I would feel dizzy if I look down my feet. Below pic shows the cliff I climbed up. 

Then I faced a class 5 wall. After inspecting, I felt I would die if I slipped. So I decided to slowly climbed down the gully. 

La Sportiva trail running shoes provided amazing grip but I probably had half-size small and they were also brand new - I had blisters on both heels, big toes were in pain. My big toes were almost in purple after almost 20 miles of hiking. They were swollen for couple of days (I'm icing them while writing my blog).

Finally met my friends at Amphitheater Lake. it was really worth the hike (and pain). The water was ice cold which was too cold for swimming but perfect for icing my feet...

At the end of the day my legs and foot hated me, I hated my life. Crippled back to my car, drove to Jackson Hole having dinner, and we went to Lander for the climbing projects at the next day.

Climber's Prius life

no tent needed

Alex was going to give another try on this 5.10c. It was pretty intense but he made it! 

Then it's my turn! Ryan set up a 5.7 go west young man for me. It was a fun one but apparently I lacked of endurance. I mostly spent time in bouldering indoor since I was still a beginner (I pulled my back muscle 3 months ago and had to rest for a month.)

The second one was 5.8 put down your ducky - nice long one, around 80-100’. In the middle my arms were so pumped and I was about to give up. Alex: "No… I think you should keep going up." AND I MADE IT!! hahaha thanks my friend refused to lower me down.

After that we were chilling in town waiting for the eclipse at the next day. That night we were sleeping at Walmart parking lot in Riverton. We were watching King's line (climbing documentary) on the crash pads covering with sleeping bag. There were some people parking there overnight for eclipse too.

These two astrophysicists were pretty excited. 

I was not super stoked until the sky became dark, the air got chilly, and when it was eroded from 99% to 100% - it became real dark.

There was 2 minutes of darkness! It only happened at the place with total eclipse - my friends who were at 85% eclipse area said the sky didn't turn dark at all. 

Once the first sunlight came out, my friends headed back to Boulder. This trip was way fun, and ended with the best note.

Great Basin National Park

Last Friday night I drove from Park City to Great Basin National Park and slept in my car. Next day morning I sent myself up to Wheeler Peak - 13,060' (3962m), around 9 mi (14km). 

 I was stoked to try my new hiking boots but they were apparently overkill - trail was well groomed that you can just wear sneakers. Elevation still kicked my ass though, especially I didn't have much sleep in the previous night.

The 60 yo couples with trail running shoes spent less one hour less than I did... shame on me...

There was an area that the wind was crazily blowing. The top was actually not too bad.

Tried my new Scarpa hiking boots as the first time - which was a little too stiff for this trail. They proved to be a good pair of shoes later that day.

After hiking back from Wheeler Peak, taking a nap in my car, filling my water bladder at visitor center, I was going to chill at my hammock. 

Then I looked at my backpack, sleeping bag and hammock...
hmmm...
"Why not backpacking?" So I did backpacking as my first time, solo, to Baker Lake (11.4 miles round trip). The trail was not too strenuous and luckily there were tons of trees along the way. Hiked in around 4 miles and decided to put on hammock since the sky got dark. That night was hella cold I was cursing in the hammock shivering…”why don't I sleep at home? WHY!!!!" (The wild turkeys must wondered what the hell that trembling cocoon was.) The night was so long..............

Before the sun rose, I tumbled down from the hammock and headed to Baker Lake. Some people from Vegas camped there - they said there was meteor shower last night. Damn it didn’t know that!! (what’s all the suffering about!!) 

Anyway, the first backpacking trip was not bad, minus the freezing cold night. 

Yellowstone

I went to Yellowstone with a friend on July 4th vacation. We drove there overnight from Park City, Utah and got there around 6am to grab a campsite - there was a line! Luckily we got a campsite for 3 nights. We both were pretty active and loved hiking so we went hiking everyday (6-8 miles.)

I knew Yellowstone was quite popular but didn't realize it would be SO CROWDED! Tourists are more than wildlife - and they would stop for wildlife.

Venture up Kletting Peak

When I just moved to Utah, I was trying to find the highest peaks to hike. Then I found A1 - a name that no one really hear of, a mountain truly locates in the wilderness. I couldn't find much information about A1, only this blog. I decided to follow what they did even though I was not a very experienced hiker/climber. (I try to keep active lifestyle and hike pretty often - on the trail though.)

It was the most strenuous and scary hike I've ever done so far.

There’s nothing easy on this mountain. No trails, no signs, and no human being once you go down into the forest. I actually went there a week ago and realized I wouldn't be able to come back if I didn't have a GPS. The mountains looked intimidating as hell which made me really want to conquer it! I got a 40 bucks used GPS in few days and found an adventurous buddy who was crazy enough to go with me. 

Park at the mile marker 37 where the Kletting Peak sign is. We kinda figured out the route before we dived into the forest. 

Go straight into the woods, slide down hundreds feet, cross a stream, hop on numerous falling logs and gradually climb up and became real steep. We were struggling on loose rocks and soil - we slip so many times and tried to grab pine trees. We traversed right to a boulder field which was "easier" to climb up. It was more than 1 miles bouldering up, bouldering up, until I had a emotional breakdown. I cried when we almost reached to Kletting peak. I was exhausted - I would lie on the rock panting. I knew I was going too slow and there was no way we could make it to A1 coming back in time.

Almost to the top of Kletting Peak.

We started from 3pm since I got off from work around noon and reached Kletting peak around 6:30pm.

Uinta Mountain Wilderness

A1 was still more than 1 mile away and seemed moderately strenuous. We gave up just sitting there enjoying the sunset view. The true wilderness mountain view was nothing I’ve seen before. 

The true wilderness at the other side of the peak

Going down was not any easier or faster on this mountain. We chose another "easier" route scrambling down - more boulder than loose soil.

The rock was interesting - some of them are green, some are purple.

We put on our headlamps when we almost hit the tree line. Then it was real steep. When the loose rock falling down, we heard it rolling, rolling and rolling… Not many choices at that moment - we grabbed whatever was available and slid down one person at a time. It became real dark. At 10pm we were still tumbling in the woods.

It was like a nightmare that we couldn’t get out of endless forest. I already reached to my physical limit and it was all about mental strength. Almost 11pm we hit the road and found my car. We were so glad we survived. That was the most intense and craziest hike I’ve ever done. It was no joke.

My worn out hiking boots

I wrote this for people who are ambitious and also want to climb either Kletting or A1. Make sure you have a GPS, a pair of good hiking boots (which I desperately need), hiking poles (highly recommended), enough water and food, and an uplifting hiking buddy.

This hike was no big deal for him even though he was not an avid hiker. He made jokes all the way until it got dark - his headlamp was really dim. 

*All the photos were shot by iPhone. I usually use Nikon DSLR photos but just smashed my camera few weeks ago...

What I eat everyday

I put whatever ingredients I want in pancake - banana, nuts, carrots, raisin, dry berries, sweet potato, eggs, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cocoa powder, peanut butter and just a little bit of brown sugar and flour - they are all optional please don't put everything in one pancake! There's no recipe. You just got to experiment. It's gonna be good anyway.

After snow season, I would bring pancake when I go hiking.

(Top) Berries smoothies. Squash with cinnamon. Squash with cheese and egg. Veggie pizza.
(Bottom left) Veggie scramble eggs. Roasted carrots and squash. Pancake. Pineapple juice?
(Bottom right) Japanese style fried pork loin - alright this one is not so healthy but it's very delicious.

I started to pay more attention on cooking since I moved to Niwot, CO and lived with a very nice roommate. It's kinda painful to see someone having unhealthy diet or same meal everyday. I guess the easiest way is just offering them healthier option. My roommate loves what I cook (almost) everyday. Well, sometimes he's just being nice.

sashimi don

I usually don't follow any recipe either in cooking or baking. I already have lots of guides and rules in work (design.) Cooking is the time for relaxing. But I do find inspiration in Netflix series Chef's Table. 

Beets with squash hummus

When I go grocery shopping, I usually don't buy processed product. I just don't trust them. When I studied chemical engineer, I learned that few drops of organic chemicals can make your food taste "wonderful". I prefer do everything from scratch and plant herbs by myself.

Cucumber, ginger, lemon, mint mix

I used to be a vegetarian for a while, then vegan. Now I just can't afford it. I still keep plant-based diet.

Walnut, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple oatmeal

"You are what you eat."

Fruit tart (strawberries were macerated with lime zest and juice, mint and sugar)
Some sort of nutty cake with banana ice cream and strawberry
Sweet potato tarts
Taiwanese red bean pancake - Doraemon's favorite!

Alright I made too much dessert. Most of the time I would share with neighbors or coworkers so I don't need to eat all of them!

Apple pie sauce with spiced rum

I think cooking/baking is same as design - it's a creative trial and error process. Now I like cooking/baking more because I'll eat it anyway. It's also because it's not my career - it can be more playful I have more fun with it! (Once I take something seriously, I would start to feel frustrated.)

Dumpling shape apple pie - easier to carry to friend's place

I don't like to make the same thing over and over again. I always modify every time I make it. I'm not looking for the consistency. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm making.

Lemon zest truffle

I did follow recipes when I just started to bake 10 years ago with my mom. At that time I would put everything on the scale and carefully measure the portion. Then I stopped baking for about 6 or 7 years. I still have the basic knowledge and some experience which might help.

Custard strawberry pancake

What makes me want to pay more attention on cooking or baking is the people I care. To be honest, I wouldn't spend so much time making this if it's not for my roommate (he's really nice like my father) or my friends. I even made an instagram account for my no-recipe food experiment lab.

Apple sauce with greek yogurt

If you're patient enough to keep reading, check out my previous cooking article here.

I was thinking about merchandizing my healthy pancake but I'm not sure if people would like it since it is not like a traditional American pancake. It's too healthy.

Just in case you're curious about the camera I used - NIKON D5100 and iPhone6. Of course I want a professional DSLR but I just don't have any money. So I'll keep making my pancake until I can buy one haha.

2016/17 snowboarding trip

I thought the snow season was over but it has been puking all day in Boulder today! It has been warm and didn't snow much since I came here. Well I came to Colorado in Jan for snowboarding and luckily found an internship at Boulder. Can't complain while living in this beautiful place.

Boulder, CO

I am miserably addicted to snowboarding.

This is just my second snowboarding season. Thanks to mountain collective pass (which offers 2 tickets at collaborated ski resorts), I had been traveling a lot and riding at 18 ski resorts in Canada and US. (I can't afford and would not buy day lift ticket - which I think ridiculously expensive.)

Canada - 5
Whistler Blackcomb
Big White
Revelstoke
Lake Louise
Sunshine Village

US - 13
Mammoth (CA)
Keystone (CO)
A basin (CO)
Winter Park/ Mary Jane (CO)
Copper (CO)
Telluride (CO)
Aspen/Highland/ Snowmass (CO)
Taos (New Mexico)
Monarch (CO)
Jackson Hole (Wyoming)
Sun Valley (Idaho)
Powder mountain (Utah)
Snowbird (Utah)

Telluride, CO

If you ask me which ski resort I like best, I would say it's a good ski resort as long as there's powder. When I was traveling, my schedule would not necessarily meet the best powder days. Sometimes it was way too cold, or too hot (slushy snow).

Vancouver English Bay

I flew to Vancouver during Christmas vacation and didn't really plan the whole trip. I ended up staying for 3 weeks. My couchsurfing host in Vancouver was a very nice mid-age lady who has been in Africa before so we talked a lot about the life there. We also went to an African music party one night and the band played the song I heard in Tanzania. I almost bursted into tears because it was also the farewell song at the last day I was there...

Whistler, BC, Canada

At Whistler, I stayed in a hostel for couple of days. I met a girl from couchsurfing who was an advanced skier and intermediate snowboarder. She was really cool, athletic but very stubborn - she was going to backcountry skiing by herself before taking avalanche training! On Christmas night I was trying to convince her not to do that.... Anyway we really had a good time together.

Kelowna at British Columbia, Canada

Heading back to Vancouver (I got an interview there but it didn't work out), I found a ride on Craigslist to Kelowna. To be honest, I knew nothing about this town. It was just because the hostel there was available and affordable during New Year.

Big White at Kelowna, BC, Canada

It ended up I had one of the best powder days at Big White ski resort! I didn't plan to snowboard there since mountain collective didn't collaborate with Big White. Luckily I met friends in hostel and got a good discounted ticket! He also taught me how to ride on powder. Of course I was hilariously stuck in powder all day and got very exhausted. But riding on powder has been my dream since then.

At New Year's Eve we slept in car in ski resort parking lot so we can get the first run in the morning. It was -16°C (8°F) at night - you better not drinking water before sleep.

Revelstoke, BC, Canada

Then I took Greyhound to Revelstoke - where I heard lots of hype before my trip. I ended up staying there for a week because I was waiting for the powder day, also thanks to the super nice couchsurfing host. He was a ski instructor and he knew I wanted to do a design project about backcountry skiing/ snowboarding. He took me to several ski shops in town and explained the equipments in detail. He and his roommate who was pretty chill and funny did backcountry a lot. I had no experience and didn't have avalanche training at that time so couldn't go with them. (Well my snowboarding skill was not at that level yet.) I often think about the time with them - listened to their conversation (mainly about skiing), watched them making pizza and ate the pizza, talked about the books, lifestyle and dream...

"What would you do if you don't need to think about money? If you have millions of dollars, enough money to do whatever you want to do?" my host asked.
"Hmmm..." I thought for few seconds and replied "I like what I am doing now... just traveling and snowboarding..." 
"Then keep doing it."

Powder day at Revy

Yes I am living in the dream - my snowboarding dream.

When I am snowboarding, I am the happiest girl in the world. 

Winter park, CO

I don't have other desire, have no career plan. I am satisfied where I am now.

I only hope the winter never ends, summer never comes.

Come back to my trip - then I took a bus to Lake Louise. It was so cold that I just wanted to cry... windchill was -30°C (-20°F) at the top at sunny day. I got a frostbite on my cheek after I pulled of my mask because my goggles were fogging up. 

I can't deal with this kind of coldness. No. The snow was hard-packed. Nope!

Sunshine village at Banff, Canada

It was relatively warmer at Sunshine village when I was there. It was still way below freezing point, but it was quite nice in Canadian standard. (People from Quebec would say that was a warm winter.) Sunshine Village was really wide-open - the view was amazing!

My couchsurfing host at Banff was a really cool girl who also loved snowboarding. We couldn't ride together because of her working schedule, but I did go snowboarding with her friend. She took me to the terrain park and asked if I wanted to try the box 50/50.

It looked so easy - just slide on, don't carve.

I fell down twice. It was painful as hell.
No terrain park in my life.

A basin, Monarch, Mammoth

Then I came back to the US, keep living in my snowboarding dream - I rode every weekend, 3 days per week (since I only worked 4 days). It kept me so busy that I had abandoned my blog for the whole winter haha...

Taos ski resort at New Mexico

At the first week of April, I took a week off for another snowboarding trip for more remote ski resorts (Thanks my boss understood how important snowboarding is to my life.) I drove from Boulder to Jackson Hole, WY - Sun Valley, ID - Powder Mountain, UT - Snowbird, UT. 

Jackson Hole, WY

I have been really lucky that awesome, super-friendly and fun people hosting me at each place. Snowboarding is fun, but people make the trip memorable.

The snow condition actually was not great since it was already spring - slushy or hard-packed. But the last two days at Snowbird, Utah was a bomb! The first day was powder day - 5" of fresh snow - I was happily riding all day. Then the second day got 24" in the past 48 hrs!! I was so damn tired and my legs were crying. When I was about to head back around 2pm, a guy passed by me informing that the back bowl just opened.

Can't say no to untouched powder. 

Snowbird, UT

I don't know how I made it that day. I even drove 8 hrs back to Summit County, CO to my friend's place (open window + lots of caffeine). I have no regret tho!

It makes me smile everytime I think of it. :)

Berthoud Pass, CO

This winter I also tried backcountry snowboarding. Thanks to my buddy who was an experienced skier, he taught me basic avalanche knowledge and demo how to use the avalanche kit. I didn't have a splitboard so I snowshoed up. It was killing me.

I have felt I'm so out of shape since I came to CO. I've tried to be as more active as possible so I can do more backcountry next season!

I also started to learn climbing since I have nothing to do in summer. It is also very addicting. And now I climb almost every day. My next post will probably be about climbing. :-p

Big Bear It has been a while

Hike at the highest point of LA - Mt. Baldy

8.5 hrs hike at 12 miles trail (it took longer than I expected)
Level: medium - high elevation makes everything a little bit harder

Camera: Canon 7D - not mine. check out from school

I was so exhausted after this hike and almost fell asleep on the way driving back home. But I felt very satisfied and relax. Going to the nature is the best way to decompress.

UX designer?

User experience (UX) is a hip term. When you search on any job platform, you can easily find lots of companies looking for UX designer. I was trying to be in the trend and could't help labeling myself as UX designer. Then I found myself hard to explain "what am I doing as a UX designer?" UI for web, mobile app? Interactive prototyping? User-centered research?

To understand Islam in the US, I Interviewed a Muslim woman in Pasadena and used generative research methodologies .

Lots of people have a narrow definition to UX - only for digital product such as app and website. Indeed there are more new startups creating digital products but I disagree on this point of view.

For me UX is like the term "innovation" - it's so vague that it doesn't stand for anything.

Every designer is a UX designer - before thinking of any solutions, we look into user journey, step in their shoes and improve the experience. The only difference is delivery - graphic, physical product, digital product, environment, music, smell, video/animation, advertising, etc. When it comes to provide a thoughtful product, it also strongly connects to marketing and business strategy.

Then recruiter asked me "what is your focus? What is your strength?"

I have really broad interests in cognitive psychology, marketing, branding, business strategy, programming, visual storytelling (photography and videography)... I'm not an expert in any domain but holistic understanding helps me to create a better user experience.

I was presenting in the class Creative Thinking in an MBA school, INSEAD, in Singapore.

Having a hard time with family and people I love, I've been curious how our brains process information, why emotion is triggered, how we are wired in a different way, how culture and environment predefine our thinking, and how it relates to the experience of people reacting to everyday object... The books I've read and I would suggest are
Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman
How the mind works by Steven Pinker
The design of everyday things by Donald Norman

Being an introvert and non-English-native-speaker makes me a good observer - I often repeated in mind what other people said and mimicked the way of talking and behaviors.

I was working as a sales for 1.5 years in NI. Left pic is the first order I got - I was 22 years old.

Working as a sales representative in an American technology company, National Instruments, I sold not much but I learned a lot. A successful sales person is not the one who is good at talking about features; is the one who has the deep understanding of an user. This is the same idea as being a designer - all the cool feature won't make any sense if it's not solving user's needs.

I was in a school in Moshi rural, Tanzania in Jun, 2016 while doing my own volunteer project, LIA.

Traveling solo around the world and meeting people from different culture make me more open-minded, flexible it also trains me to solve problems independently.

So how does this experience relate to design?
I would say the boarders between science, art, psychology and business are blurry - they are not dividers. They are all connected deep under water. The method I learn in psychology can be applied to coding; the negotiation skill I learned can be applied to interview in user-centered research. There are so many things to learn and that's why I like being a designer. 

I was cutting steel bars and welding it for my mockups in product design project, Aperture, in 2014.

Wander at Stone Town / Swimming at Jambiani

At the end of my volunteer in Tanzania, I took a short solo trip to Lushoto and Zanzibar. I didn't expect to stay Zanzibar long since I didn't like the place full with tourists (especially Aug is high season). It ended out it was the most amazing days I had in Tanzania. 

I opted for Jambiani (east coast) than Nungwi (north coast) since it's more quiet (less touristic). 

It was absolutely a right choice for me. The staff at Garden Bungalow made me feel like family. At the first day, Muddy (the guy in the pic) asked if I wanted to help at the bar since there was a party at night. I said yeah why not even though I had no previous experience. All I needed to do was taking care of the cash and, of course, served beers to customers. I forgot to open the cap when I served the first beer.

Failed.

It was really fun tho. 

Sailing on the traditional boat and snorkelling was the BEST TIME! The ocean was turquoise, clean and warm. It was interesting to see them manuver the boat by changing the orientation of canvas while standing on the racks. I gave it a try (just standing on the rack not helping with anything) and it was REALLY FUN!!

Finally got a chance doing yoga outdoor. It's also a wonderful place for meditation. I felt life was good while looking at the peaceful water.

Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a historic place with diverse culture. When I came to Zanzibar, I noticed people look quite different than the people in Moshi (mostly Chagga tribe). In Zanzibar, it's a mixture of Indian, Arab, different tribes in Tanzanian mainland... 

I was sitting at Forodhani around sunset. At night, it got lots of street vendors that you can try some special local food that you can't even find in Tanzania mainland.

One thing I felt bizarre was the prices for the boat and hotels were different for local and mzungu (white people). I understand that tourist industry is the important income for Tanzania. Zanzibar has attracted lots of international tourists and raised quite a lot in recent years. (A local said reminiscently that Zanzibar has changed a lot.) But tourists don't get better service by paying more. The price difference is about triple or more - which is not friendly for a student.

In the morning, fishermen came back to the harbor. Cats were waiting around vendors for remains. This would be a good place to buy some fresh fishes and other seafood. You can ask a restaurant to cook it for you if you don't have a kitchen.

Goodbye Zanzibar.
It had been really amazing. I will come back one day.