2012 Year in Review: Part 6 - 60 Days of Summer with Yuna Zarai, White Water Rafting and Cummins Falls

a) Yuna Zarai's Show at The End, Nashville

It was one random evening, bila I dgr kawan2 I satu floor smua duk kecoh sal Yuna nk bt show kat Nashville. It all started at Twitter bila Yuna post gambar dia kat Franklin (I hour and 30 mins from Nashville) , and ktorg smua duk excited when she said that she will be perfoming at The End, a place which is only15 mins walking from my campus! So ape lg, ktorg yg tgh study for tomorrow's Orgo Test smua cepat2 beli ticket online and start dgr lagu Yuna kat Youtube. To be honest, I xde la layan sgt Yuna ni tp bila usha2 lagu dia, best la pulak. I like her version of Come As You Are and her original song Live Your Life. Suara dye mmg mcm lullaby abes la. 

Lepas abis show, ktorg ramai bergambar dgn Yuna. She is super tall and super nice person! Sgt peramah. Boleh borak mcm kawan2 biasa pulak. I xdapat join Yuna lepak makan pizza dgn kawan2 I yg lain sbb I kena balik study for test esok pagi (Orgo kot). I wish I could stay longer tapi ape pun I tetap berpuas hati dpt dgr Yuna nyanyi live. Mat salleh yg ada kt situ pn smua impress dgn Yuna. She is a truly talented musician.  

Yuna's signature on my phone case! 

                                      

b) White Water Rafting at Ocoee River 

I mmg peminat tegar segala aktiviti yg involve air. Xkisah la swimming pool ke, air terjun ke, pantai ke, I mmg layan smua. Maybe sbb sejak umur 6 tahun lg my parents dah hantar I pegi swimming lesson (for 3 years), I rs water is part of me. I literally find peace when I'm in big body of water (even in shower!). So nak dijadikan cerita, plan ktorg nk g white water rafting menjadi jgk. Ktorg sewa kereta, drove for 3 hours to Ocoee River, and here we are, again, for our second time white rafting experience. 

What is white water rafting?

For those who haven't tried white water rafting before, basically, it is a fun water sport (obviously) that involves a lot of paddling (about 1-2 hours of paddling). Many people ask if it is the same as canoeing (kayak). I would say not really (I canoed twice) because the stream is rougher and  has higher risks. Canoe is more relaxing and low risk of drowning etc. I personally like water rafting much much more that canoe because I love the bumps and the strong currents.

In order to navigate the boat, we need to paddle simultaneously as a group, so that the boat moves smoothly. Do not worry if you have no experience at all. The instructor is there to guide you. The instructor usually sit at that back and he will alert us for any dangers. We had Cleveland as our instructor that day and he is amazing! And funny too (kadang2 tu xpaham pun joke dye tp gelak jer). He 100% told us what to do and where to go.

The stream (Ocoee River) is divided into 5 levels of difficulty --from the safest to the one that can cause death (sounds scary but Alhamdulillah, everything went so smoothly). Level 1 usually very calm, very low current and relaxing. We can even swim at this area very safely (kalau pndai berenang la). The higher the level, the more challenging the path is (and more fun too!). The picture above (and below) was taken at level 4. I sat at the very front part of the boat and had so much fun! The current was really strong, I felt like I was riding a horse, a wild, crazy one. If you guys want to sit at the front, make sure that you hold the side rope crazily tight or you will end up being thrown into the boat (if you are lucky) or even worse, get kick out into the cold river (I'm serious). But don't worry. As long as you hold it tight, you will be fine. It is worth to try water rafting at least once in a lifetime, believe me.

Yang second time entah la kenapa tapi 10 ganda lgi best dri first time. Maybe sebab kali ni instructor tu awesome and berjaya guide ktorg without tersangkut kat batu2 and spoil our excitement. For only $17, I seriously rs berbaloi gler (will definitely do this again before graduate).  So sila la daftar Groupon untuk dapat harga murah cam ktorg yer. 

Lepas rafting for almost 2 hours, ktorg pn gerak ke Chattanooga Downtown, jalan2 amik gmbar. Nothing mcuh pn kat sini tp alang2 dah smpai, pergi jela mana2 pn. Biar berbaloi sewa kereta. 

c) Cummins Falls: Junior- Senios Picnic Time!

 Yeay, skali lagi dapat main air. Kali ni kat Cummins Falls. Sumpah lawa gler tempat ni. Before smpai kat kawasan kolam tu, ktorg kena hiking dulu (agak jauh tp xsure brapa km). Panjat turun bukit di bawah sinaran matahari yg terik. Bila akhirnya smpai depan kolam, I was like OMG. It felt like I just found Oasis or heaven maybe. Air sejuk, bersih and green!! I cepat2 tukar baju then terus main air!

Hiking 

Jom terjun! 

The best weekend so far! Thanks to those yg masak nasi lemak sedappp..
All photos are credited to Paan