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 ...

6 Oct 2024: A whole day of chillaxin’ by Tenaya Lake.

Some additional shots, taken by Faizal on his camera.

#yosemite #tenayalake #laketenaya #laketenayayosemite #kayaking #picnic ...

6 Oct 2024: A whole day of chillaxin’ by Tenaya Lake.

We had our inflatable kayak with us, so we took turns taking it for a spin on the lake. I miss kayaking. Gently paddling on the water, left to my thoughts and taking in the scenery, I could stay out here for hours I think. It did drizzle briefly, thankfully the rain wasn’t too heavy and we didn’t feel the need to pack up our stuff and seek shelter elsewhere.

Closer to sunset, we moved to one of the picnic tables since most people have left. I made nasi goreng kampung for dinner, and we sat there on the beach and ate while watching the sun disappear into the horizon. What a beautiful, beautiful place. I would love to come back.

Yosemite Day 2 ~End~

#yosemite #tiogaroad #olmstedpoint #tenayalake #kayaking #picnic ...

6 Oct 2024: A whole day of chillaxin’ by Tenaya Lake.

We left camp around 9am and made our way through Tioga Road. We made a couple of stops along the way to take photos, including at Olmsted point.

Tenaya Lake was simply breathtaking. We packed up our wagon with our stuff, and found a nice shaded nook quite separated from other people. We felt like we had the place all to ourselves. I made brunch, sort of a mini fry-up, then we rested on our picnic mat. We munched on grapes and ate our brunch while enjoying this beautiful view, then Faizal took a nap while I read my Kindle. Sigh 🥰

[Continued in next post]

#yosemite #tiogaroad #olmstedpoint #tenayalake #picnic ...

5 Oct 2024: Off to Yosemite for a week-long camping trip.

I loved the drive up. I loved watching the landscape change from hilly desert to vast plains and farmland, then to boulders with green shrubbery and tall spruce/pine/fir trees as we climbed higher through the mountains. We stopped at Oakhurst to grab lunch and stock up on some firewood, before continuing on.

Thankfully the line to the park entrance wasn’t too long. While waiting in line we were given an unexpected treat; a young bear was running through the woods, then screeched to a halt upon seeing the long line of cars. It immediately pivoted and ran away as fast as it could. Both of us were so busy looking at the cute bear we both completely forgot to pull out our cameras. Was super happy for that sighting though.

We stopped by Tunnel View for some photos, most importantly to catch that same shot as what is stamped on our license plate. Such a breathtaking sight. We then continued on to our campsite to set up and get settled in, stopping to stock up on water beforehand.

We didn’t do much as night came, just had dinner and rested, waiting for the next day to start.

Yosemite Day 1 ~End~

#yosemite #tunnelview #bridalveilfall #elcapitan ...

27-28 Sep 2024: We finally got started on our main DIY project, our flooring 😆

Our objective: to remove the existing carpets and install vinyl planks. Many weeks before, we already picked out the design we wanted. We’re going for the Banff Gray Hickory planks by Lifeproof. Installing these planks doesn’t seem too difficult. The challenge was in prepping the existing subflooring.

Actually, prep work started way earlier. While Faizal is at work, I took my time ripping out the old carpets, padding, and carpet tacks, and dumped them all in the backyard. Thank goodness we don’t get much rain this time of year. 😅 Because we needed to pour concrete leveler to bring up the floor underneath the carpet to the same level as the floor tiles, I also covered the gap between the floor and drywall with sill gasket and caulking. This is to make sure the concrete moisture doesn’t get soaked up by the drywall. I scraped the floor for any glue marks, sealed the control joint with insulating foam, then vacuumed as best as I could.

Faizal then surveyed the depth of multiple spots in the floor vs the tiles. We could see some areas dipping lower than others.

Then came the time to pick up the self-leveling concrete. Based on Faizal’s calculations, we needed 24 50-pound bags. That’s a little over half a ton in total 😅. Pushing the cart at Home Depot, loading and unloading the truck was quite the feat.

We worked on mixing and pouring the cement the same night in the living area, continuing on the family area the next day. Despite the name, the concrete didn’t exactly self-level so easily. When we resurveyed the leveled floor the next day, there were still uneven spots.

Fixing this had to wait, though. We were going on a trip and needed to focus on prepping for that.

Pretty bummed out we couldn’t get the flooring done before I return to KL, but I did use the visualization tool on the Home Depot site to see what our flooring might look like eventually. Looks like this will have to wait until I return in January. ...