New Circle of Friends

Hi! Finally another productive post!
I forgot to mention something that I should've said way earlier: we found a new circle of friends. Elda, Nancy, Aymee, and I are lucky enough to bump into these guys on April, thanks to the invitation of Kevin Leung (or he goes by Long Ge - literally "Big brother Leung" - since we have two Kevins). Remember this post? Yes, that Kevin. Well Elda, Nancy, Aymee, and I have known Long Ge since early of the year (Aymee and I met him first since he was an active member of ISV).

But how we got to know those boys of awesomeness began on April. Long Ge invited us girls to go for hiking in Big Basin, Saratoga. When we first met the other participants, we - girls - were instantly freaked out, due to the big amount of boys compared to us. Basically there were like seven of them (including Long Ge) and three of us, minus Nancy who hadn't joined us in the first place.

So the boys are: Tony, Stefan, Long Ge, Kevin Halim, Ray, Poe, Tanuj. Well, we've known Poe as well prior to the event, but the rest of them were totally new to us girls.

The trip to Big Basin site took 2 hours, and the road that led there was curvy. That was like for 1 hour long (for the curvy road). Apparently almost everyone in the car couldn't stand but feel carsick.

Good thing we got there soon. Time to get started!
It's not my first time hiking though, but I haven't hiked in the US so it should be something new.

The tracks aren't that steep. However, there are some steep parts at some points that we had to be extremely careful. They're quite challenging as well since some terrains were wet, slippery, and not flat (not to mention the cliffs on the side of the path)


We had to climb up all the way there!
Look at the far left. Aymee, Elda, and I are posing for picture, or at least expecting to.


Sometimes we go down the hill.

The rest of time we spent by taking pictures while we could!




Poe and Long Ge always know how to make us laugh in the midst of exhaustion.


Poe and Aymee: "Stefan, do you know where we should go to?"
Stefan: "Err...no idea, apparently." -_-


Keep those smiles up!

Believe it or not, we had to acknowledge that we weren't all that good with navigation. When it comes to traveling in the forest, everything looks the same! So getting lost is definitely inevitable. It's even more unbelievable that in that mean time, we were still taking bunch of pics!



If you notice the picture above, we did bring some gigantic-sized gallons of mineral for us to share while hiking.

Sometimes, due lacking of navigation skills, we find ourselves lost in the forest too - like literally.


Even though we were lost, we kinda looked like we didn't care, but actually we did.


Tanuj: Does he want to cross the road? Look for us? Or was he literally lost?

It was quite a long track that we walked on. Actually there were two options: first is going for the long track, and second for the shorter track. But you know how guys are, they want to go for the long track. So after finishing our supposed-to-be short track, we went on further for the the longer track. Apparently, it was said that the long track would lead us to the peak of a hill, where we would be able to see the seaview.

However, after such a long track we went on, it turns out that the peak of a hill was nothing but a small rocky space that was quite desolate. There was no seaview!!!



Despite our disappointment, Ardy still had some good time pretending what seems to be a professional explorer. With that pose, we were convinced enough that it was as if Ardy was looking in the distance, trying to locate the ocean.






Arriving at the headquarters!

The journey back home wasn't that long, which is good, cos we were completely spent and worn out. I remember the cry of joy we shouted out together when we spotted the parking lot before our sight!



Finally, we did a group picture!
You know what it means? Time for some introduction!
(From left to right, top): Kevin Halim (he goes by Halim), Ardy, Poe, Tanuj, Kevin Leung (he goes by Long Ge), and Ray
(From left to right, bottom): Tony, Aymee, me, Elda, and Stefan.

On the way home, we spotted a nice photographic site. The scenery was simply breathtaking!




This one looks like a Korean drama poster.



The hills are alive with the sound of music!

After an exhausting hiking time, we had a dinner at Fresh Choice in Campbell, took a couple of more pictures, and engaged ourselves in a warm conversation.



Apparently...

We never get enough of hiking!

In less than a week, exactly the next weekend after hiking in Big Basin, we accepted the invitation to have another hiking moment. But this time, we were going to do it in Castle Rock. That was like much closer to Cupertino.
Remember, much closer hiking site = less carsick

This time, Aymee's cousin, Nancy, was introduced to the guys!
Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of pictures taken during our Castle Rock hiking.





Castle rock apparently comprises of a lot of rock formations, presumably that's where the place gains its name from. There was actually a site where a huge rock sat on a cliff. Due to the flat surface and the big space the rock had, it became a place for cliff climbers to set their base, as they climbed down the cliff.

It was such a struggle to climb up to the rock, and we certainly did need some help to do so. Too bad Elda couldn't make it to the top of the rock, so she decided to climb to another less steeper rock and strand herself there. Look, the view behind her isn't so bad at all!


Mermaid pose.

There was actually a funny story while we were all (except Elda and Tony) sitting on the rock. We were facing the cliff, which was dangerous, I know. Behind us, a climber came out of nowhere, reaching the base where we were sitting at. His presence instantly shocked us all!

Here's something interesting. Do you notice the picture of the rock formation below? Do you know what it resembles of? Exactly, it resembles a side profile of a human face. It totally looks alike it even creeps me out. Even Long Ge is standing below the "nose" with his finger sticking up to make an impression as if Long Ge is picking the face's nose. Hahaha.





The hiking was short and we even reached the base still in late afternoon. However, after hiking, we had an early dinner at Happy Restaurant in Cupertino cos we were sooo starving!



But the day wasn't over yet, cos we came over to Ardy to play cards and board games till midnight! What a good way to get to know each other, considering it was our second meeting, so we really didn't get to know that well.



I'll make sure to come up with some more stories about our awesome new friends!
Thanks for tuning!

Pictures credit to:
Ardy and Ray