Finally, finally arrived at Shake Shack.

Here for lunch with @mervlee. I got the Shack Stack, a cheeseburger with breaded, cheese-stuffed portobello mushroom. Merv got the new double Shackmeister burger, a (double) cheeseburger topped with crispy fried onions. I also got their malted chocolate milkshake. OMG these burgers are AMAZING. Simple cheeseburgers done right, juicy and well seasoned, then kicked up with the contrasting crispiness of the mushroom/onions. The cheese stuffed in the portobello also provided a sharpness in flavor. Overall very well executed. Malted milkshake was also really nice, but super filling. Now I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open lol 😴

Stopped at % Arabica before heading off. Will definitely come again.

#shakeshack #shackstack #shackstackburger #shackmeister #shackmeisterburger #maltedmilkshake #percentarabica #coffee ...

11 Oct 2024: All-day chillin’ at our campsite.

The day before was pretty intense, with a lot of walking and hiking. So we spent the whole day just taking it easy at our campsite.

I made our mini fry-up for breakfast, this time without any potatoes because we were out. We then unfurled and set up our awesome Crua Koala Maxx two-person hammock. Rudy backed it on Kickstarter, hoping to use it when we go on our beach holidays, but it only arrived during the pandemic lockdown, and he never got a chance to try it out. I brought it along to use during our travels in his memory, but I definitely underestimated the tears that came when we settled into it. He would’ve loved it. 🥰

Faizal grilled some steaks, while I prepared the sides. We even brought special plates for our fancy lunch 😊. The rest of the day was spent chillaxing, I read my Kindle while swinging in the hammock. At night we heated some hot dog rolls over the fire and made smores, before calling it a night.

Yosemite Day 7 ~End~

#yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #lowerpinescampground ...

10 Oct 2024: Final stop of the day - Taft Point.

Here to catch the sunset. The whole day has been incredibly wonderful weather-wise, and we were blessed with glorious clouds for a very dramatic sunset view.

We had to hike a bit through hilly woods to get to Taft Point. So many couples were there to do their wedding photos. Their photographers really have got their system down pat, managing the queue/line for that coveted spot, communicating through walkie talkies all the right poses, and everything ran super smoothly. I salute all the brides who literally hiked through the woods in their fabulous dresses (and hiking boots) to get here.

While Faizal was setting up his tripod, I walked over to the rocks where the couples were waiting. There I got a few shots of secondary spots where couples would pose at. I waved at Faizal on the other side, but I might’ve been obscured by the shadows. We took so many pictures. Once the sun disappeared into the horizon, we trekked back to our car, and headed off to our campsite. What an amazing experience!

Yosemite Day 6 ~End~

#yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #taftpoint #sunset #sunsetphotography ...

Lunch at Lubuk Bangku with this lovely bunch.

Always a riot with my gegerls. Missing @weed2310 and @tina_wong. Food was insanely good, and we ate until almost comatose 🤣 There was also a popiah stand with interesting fillings such as bolognese and carbonara, we got samples 🤤

Until next time! ...

10 Oct 2024: Sentinel Dome.

After lunch and resting a bit, we made our way towards Sentinel Dome. After a short hike, albeit slightly strenuous due to the climbing, we reached the top of the dome.

Sentinel Dome is a great place for viewing Yosemite Valley, and you can see many of Yosemite’s most iconic landmarks - El Capitan, the Three Brothers, Yosemite Falls, and even the Half Dome a bit further out. Faizal had his North Face shirt on, so we took a photo of him next to the Half Dome, which was what the North Face logo was based on. 😆

There’s also an old Jeffrey Pine on top of Sentinel Dome, made famous by Ansel Adams. Unfortunately it died and fell over quite some time back, but this doesn’t stop it from being photographed still.

A lot of photo-ops here, and once we’ve taken enough, we headed back down to head to our final stop for the day.

[Continued in the next post]

#yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #sentineldome #jeffreypine ...

10 Oct 2024: We hiked one of the most beautiful hikes in the US - Panorama Trail. [Part 2]

We only did the first section of the hike, down to Illilouette Creek. We snacked on some Trail Mix and rested for a bit, taking in the scenery and taking tons of water photos. Illilouette Falls is visible from one of the vantage points on the trail, which we stopped by on our way back up.

We were super tired by the time we got back. We had our Kembara Meal for lunch, to refuel before heading off to our next stop.

[Continued in the next post]

#yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #yosemitephotography #panoramatrail #halfdome #illilouettefalls #illilouettecreek ...

10 Oct 2024: We hiked one of the most beautiful hikes in the US - Panorama Trail. [Part 1]

We were blessed with beautiful weather too. We initially took a wrong turn and almost hiked off-trail down the mountain 😂. Luckily we found our way back.

Panorama Trail really delivered on its promise. With sweeping views of the iconic Half Dome from all angles, I took so many photos it took me forever to pick out the best ones. And I still ended up with a pretty big photo dump 😅

We only did the first section of the hike, down to Illilouette Creek. We snacked on some Trail Mix and rested for a bit, taking in the scenery and taking tons of water photos.

[Continued in the next post]

#yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #yosemitephotography #panoramatrail #halfdome #illilouettefalls #illilouettecreek ...

10 Oct 2024: Sunrise at Glacier Point.

Day 6 was a glorious day and we took so many photos, so I’m gonna have to break down the day into more manageable chunks 😅

We left camp at around 5:30a.m. Glacier Point was about an hour’s away, and we wanted to catch the first light in the valley. We found a nice spot, and stayed there for quite a while before moving to another vantage point closer to the Geology Hut. A random guy came up to us at one point, showing us a few pics of us taking pics 😆. Great shots, and he graciously Airdropped them to us. We chatted briefly before he left us to it.

It was pretty cold that morning, so after we were done, we sat in the car, made coffee and had a light breakfast, before heading out for our hike.

[Continued in the next post]

#yosemite #yosemitenationalpark #glacierpoint #glacierpointyosemite #sunrise #sunrisephotography ...

9 Oct 2024: A chill day for us.

Made a mini fry-up for breakfast, and we had coffee before heading out. We spent the earlier part of the day exploring Yosemite Village, where the Ansel Adams Gallery is located. We visited the Exploration Center as well and walked through interesting exhibits on how the valley was formed, the native inhabitants and the park’s history. We also watched a short documentary at the theater. After that we strolled around Indian Village briefly, but we noticed it was getting a bit late so we moved on.

We went to Sentinel Beach to relax. I made nasi goreng kampung again, and we just sat there enjoying our meal and munching on snacks. There were a LOT of buzzing bees here though when there was any food out, which was a bit of a turnoff. We sipped coffee and stayed until sunset, took a few photos, and headed back to our campsite.

We built a fire and heated some roti paung for supper, before calling it a night. A very laid back day for us.

Yosemite day 5 ~End~

#yosemitenationalpark #yosemite #yosemitevillage #SentinelBeach #picnic ...

8 Oct 2024: Off to explore the sights along Tioga Road.

Finally, we stopped by Tuolumne Grove to see some giant sequoias. Truth be told we were quite tired by then, but we soldiered on, and managed to take photos with a few of these old giants. It was getting late so there wasn’t enough time to do the full hike, but we at least aimed to get to the Tunnel Tree. We made it just in time. It was completely dark by the time we got back to the car.

Loved everything about today. Practically perfect.

Yosemite Day 4 ~End~

#yosemite #tiogaroad #tuolumnegrove #giantsequoia ...

8 Oct 2024: Off to explore the sights along Tioga Road.

The Tuolumne Meadows hike was so scenic and wonderful. It wasn’t crowded at all, and offered so many incredible photo opportunities. The weather was simply glorious too.

Next stop was Pothole Dome. The trail we took was supposed to end with us climbing the dome, but we noticed the trail going around the dome instead. We took it, thinking it was an easier way up, only to end up stumbling upon a river. We walked along the river and climbed over some big rocks, and saw beautiful small waterfalls. What a treat! We took a break and had our Kembara Meals while enjoying this incredible view.

[continued in next post]

#yosemite #tiogaroad #tuolumnemeadows #picnic #kembarameals #waterfalls ...

8 Oct 2024: Off to explore the sights along Tioga Road.

This is gonna be a huge photo dump over multiple posts, there were just too many gorgeous nature shots it was really difficult to pare them down.

Tioga Road was more than an hour’s drive away from our campsite. It’s at a much higher elevation, almost 10,000ft, and was a bit cooler than the valley. We made a quick stop at Olmsted Point again, to take a shot we didn’t manage to get previously. We then continued our journey, passing by Lake Tenaya, towards Tuolumne Meadows.

Our plan was to start at the furthest point and make our way back. We had a light breakfast at Lembert Dome, walked around for a bit, then continued on to hike at Tuolumne Meadows. The meadows hike was so scenic and wonderful. It wasn’t crowded at all, and offered so many incredible photo opportunities. The weather was simply glorious too.

[Continued in next post]

#yosemite #olmstedpoint #tiogaroad #lembertdome #tuolumnemeadows ...

7 Oct 2024: Ending the day at Cathedral Beach.

We stayed until sunset, but there weren’t much clouds and it was nothing special. That night we built a campfire and roasted some marshmallows to make smores. So darn fun and yummy. What a great way to end the day!

Yosemite Day 3 ~End~

#yosemite #cathedralbeach #cathedralbeachyosemite #smores #picnic ...

7 Oct 2024: Day 3 in Yosemite continues.

We had to go back to our campsite to check in, because we’ve been away during office hours and haven’t had a chance to. Since we were there, I heated up a quick breakfast and Faizal prepped some lamb chops for lunch.

We stopped by the souvenir shop to grab a Yosemite park patch. We also wanted to check out the Ansel Adams gallery, but couldn’t figure out how to get there so had to abort our plans. We hiked to the foot of El Capitan, and saw a couple of climbers in action. It was quite interesting, and after a while a small group of spectators gathered around them 😆

Finally we made our way to Cathedral Beach for a picnic. Faizal made lunch, pan-seared lamb chops and fried rice. So darn good, even though my face felt numb from all that cili padi 😅 A wedding reception was held by the river when we were there. Thankfully we found a nice secluded area behind a fallen tree trunk, at least we wouldn’t end up photobombing people’s wedding photos (I hope)

[Continued in next post]

#yosemite #elcapitan #picnic #lowerpinescampground #lambchops #nasigoreng #cathedralbeach #cathedralbeachyosemite ...

7 Oct 2024: Sunrise at Valley View.

We packed some grapes to munch and coffee, and set out to grab our spots at Valley View. Between my phone and Faizal with his tripod setup, we prolly took a gazillion shots of the sun rising 😆 It was mostly quiet but for the sound of the river flowing. Once we were done with our pictures, we made coffee and sat there by the river for a while, taking in the sight and sounds.

We made a quick stop at Tunnel View again, because Faizal wasn’t too happy with his camera settings the last time we were here, and wanted to do a retake. A good opportunity to see this view in the morning. We then went to check out Bridalveil Fall, which was okay. Not much water this time of year. It would’ve been nicer in winter or spring.

[Continued in next post]

#yosemite #elcapitan #bridalveilfall ...