Tag 5......again

on Saturday, February 02, 2008

Marja of DutchCorner, who is in New Zealand just to confuse us, asked me to do a meme based on 5. My first thought was de ja vu, cause I remember doing a meme called Tag 5 . As it turned out the two memes are quite different so I decided that to happily take this new meme on. However, if you are new to this blog and want to know a bit more about the Lone Grey Squirrel, I think you will find the previous meme quite informative also.


Part 1: 5 Weird Facts About Me

Strange enough, I have already done one called "Six Weird Things About Me". So you can get the details here, however just to tantalize a little, here are the six keywords;

  1. Squirrels
  2. White Food
  3. Buffy
  4. Graveyards
  5. Bananas
  6. Miracle

Part 2: 5 Places I Would Like to Visit or Visit Again
(click links for pictures)

1. Banff National Park, Canada
The United Nations Human Development Index has named Canada the best country to live in the most in their annual report. Canada secured the best country status 10 times out of 20 reports. (Norway is second with 6 times at the top and Iceland the most recent winner in 2007). I have to agree. Of all the places I have traveled, I would chose Canada as the best place to live. The best combination of natural beauty and a young but caring society. For sheer natural beauty and space to feel free in, it has to be Banff National Park and all the other adjacent Rocky Mountain National Parks. I was there for just a week but could easily spend the rest of my life there.

2. Tepuis of Venezeula
For the adventurer in me, this is my dream destination. Tepuis are flat tabletop mountains with sheer cliff faces of over 300-1,000 m. The world's highest falls, Angel Falls comes off one of these tepuis. Rising out of the dense equatorial rainforests, they are often shrouded in mists. Visitors flying over them have described them as islands in the mists. These were the mountains that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write about "The Lost World". To go where few, if any, men had been before; to see rare and unique plant and animal species and to have an adventure...........this is where I would like to go.

3. Budapest, Hungary
Europe is a great place for culture, history and the arts. I have enjoyed Vienna and to be fair, have not been to Paris. Yet, it is this Pearl of the Danube that calls me to come back. I spent five days in Budapest when I visited and left acutely aware that I could have spent five times longer and still feel that I have more things to see and experience.
Highlights have to be the food, the people, their proud and unusual history which is quite distinctive.

4. Croatia (Dalmation Coast and Plitvice Lakes National Park)
I am kind of cheating here by using Croatia to cover both a place that I have been (Plitvice Lakes) but also a place that I would like to visit (Dalmation Coast). I have previously posted on Plitvice but suffice to say it is truly a natural wonder and a soothing place for a water spirit like me. Dalmation Coast from Dubrovnik to Split is a place rich in a period of medieval history that I know little about but find fascinating. Walled cities, castles and churches and all set into the ruggedly beautiful coastline.

5. Endau Rompin National Park, Malaysia
My first wild area. My first love. Pristine, beautiful rainforests with rich wildlife like tigers, elephants and rhinos. Isolation and relatively difficult to get to merely adds to its charms. Mountain tops with palm forests and swamps and islands amidst the cooling mists of the falls as well as numerous waterfalls and rapids makes this a top spot. Swimming in crystal clear jungle streams was an incredible experience.


Part 3: 5 Things I never imagined at 25
  1. I never imagined that I would be married. I went through a phase and a way of thinking that did not include marriage.
  2. I never imagined that I would be working in nature conservation. At that time, I was still thinking of a career as a mad scientist in a lab somewhere blowing things up.
  3. I never imagined that I would have had the opportunity to study and live in Canada.
  4. I never imagined that I would ever end up overweight as I was always scrawny until I was about 28.
  5. I never imagined that I would still feel young at 45. Well, apart from the aches from various injuries collected over the years and fading memories.
Please if you are tempted to try this meme, do drop a comment to let us know that you are doing it. Ta ta for now.

13 comments:

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I remember your other similar meme, but it's always good to learn more about someone I like.

You have been to so many amazing places. I would dearly love to visit Angel Falls and to spend time in a rainforest studying the animal and plant life.

I could probably write a book about the things I never imagined when I was 25. Life has a way of teaching us the unimaginable.

.Tom Kapanka said...

Thanks for thinking of my family and me these past few weeks.
We're not through the trial yet.
I did see the award post.
Thank you for the kind words. =)

Jo said...

LGS, what are you talking about? You are young at 45. Goodness gracious. You are only half way through your life yet.

heiresschild said...

you've led a very interesting life LGS, and may you experience many more exciting travels. it's always nice learning more about fellow bloggers.

Marja said...

LGS thank you for doing the meme. I enjoyed reading you answers. I saw the angel falls on tv once they are indeed magical. Budapest is also on my list and next year when I go to Holland me, my mum and brother might go to Vienna.
Malaysia is also a truly beautiful country

Jocelyn said...

I had the best chocolate croissant ever in Budapest one tired morning. I will never forget it.

Terrific to learn more about you!

kimber said...

I also love Banff -- I have happy memories of waking up one morning while camping there, with my flimsy little tent surrounded by huge elk, scores of them, as far as the eye could see.

I also loved reading about all your unimaginable things -- and yes, you are still young! That post about climbing the bridge in Sydney proves it!

geewits said...

We're cycling through Buffy again and just watched "Once More With Feeling" last week (the Buffy musical) and tonight we watched "Tabula Rasa" and I always forget how hilarious that one is. Well, until the end, and then I cried when I saw Giles on the plane heading to England.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Hearts,
I didn't know a lot at 25 but I sure thought I did. I have been fortunate about traveling. When I was ten, I came up with a list of 5 places that i would like to visit and one by one, I somehow managed to go. My current 5 are Venezuela Tepuis, Prague (Chzk), Dubrovnik (Croatia), St. Petersburg (Russia) and Xian (China).

tom,
May God provide to you and your family peace and comfort during this time of stress.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

josie,
I do feel young but when I was 25, I would have described this period as "over the hill and picking up speed".

sylvia,
Thank you. That is a very nice thing to wish for me.

marja,
Thanks for the meme. It must be exciting contemplating your trip back to Holland and Europe. Vienna ranks highly in the places I have visited.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

jocelyn,
well, I live and learn. If I get a chance again, I will try this chocolate croissant in Budapest. Having little imagination, I was eating mostly goulash 3 times a day!

kimber,
I love Banff. If only we could cull the tourists.... hahaha. (darn it, that includes me.)

geewits,
Tabula Rasa is one of my favorite episodes cause even though it was hilarious, it actually represented the low point of Willow and Tara's relationship. I am now getting my Buffy fix from reading Dark Horse comics. The stories in the comics are written by Joss Whedon and carries on from where the TV series ends. Not bad, good enough to stop me from withdrawal shakes.

Anonymous said...

I have a list of places I like to visit and re-visit, too. A long list.

25 - seems like such a long time ago and there were things I couldn't have imagined, either.

meggie said...

Your answers were wonderful. Made me wish I could visit the places you have been.
Marja tagged me also, & I have just remembered I have not done it. I did the first one a while ago, but as you say, this is a little different.

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin