December 22, 2007
YIPPEE!!!..I'M IN US NOW!! =)..hahaha...currently, it is 9pm, 22 dec in Singapore..but i am awake at 5am, 22 dec in US, Anaheim..hahaha..i think my sleeping cycle is a bit weird now..wake up so late in singapore, but so early in US..
anyway, since there's nth much to do now since i already finished checking my mail, looking at new job offers, and reading up for scholarships (too lazy to edit personal statement yet =P), decided to just blog my trip to US!^^
20th december 2007
took three planes to get here, one from singapore to hongkong for transit, another from hong kong to san francisco, and finally a domestic flight from san franscisco to los angeles..it is quite tiring..plus there's not much entertainment even though it is SQ, since it is the older plane model which didn't have the 700 music albums that i was looking forward to..
the customs check at san francisco airport is horrendous..they totally check you from head to toe..first we had to as usual put our hand-carry luggage thru some machine thing, and even have to scan our shoes too..then have to cross some barrier, which is also the usual procedure. After that, we had to go through this barrier which they will blow short and strong spurts of air at you (apparently to check for dangerous weapons), and they will open up every single luggage and use some filter paper like thingy to check for some chemicals in the bag..the whole process took like at least 10 minutes before my whole family cleared the customs..
by the time we reached los angeles, we still had to travel to anaheim to our hotel, so by the time we checked in it was already abt 1am liao...bleah..but at least the hotel is fabulous!!..it is like more than thrice the size of the hongkong hotel rooms..and the each single bed is like nearly queen size!!..
21st december 2007
DISNEYLAND!!..it was really super big until it is impossible to finish every single attraction within a day..the whole atmosphere there really brings back all those childhood memories of disney movies and the crowd there was huge..can imagine how much money they earn in one day alone..
most of the attractions actually are about the same..like riding some boat along some river..such as the jungle cruise or taking the pirate ship..and my family went for those small kids stuff like the many adventures of winnie the pooh and it's a small world..haha..the winnie the pooh one was so cute la!!...especially pooh bear being stuck in the honey pot upside down or rising up to the skies using a hot air balloon..took a mini roller coaster ride..called the big thunder mountain railroad..hahaha..quite exciting..but i ended shivering lots in the end cos the cold weather + fast speed of the ride made me even colder than usual..
i was particularly impressed with the pirates of the carribean and haunted mansion..the pirates of the carribean was so fun!!..cos everything is so dark until u dunno what is coming next..and the ceiling looks so much like the night sky!!..and the haunted mansion was so zai!!!..they put you into this weird seat for two people..which will be always turning..at first i thought it was those kind that people come out and scare you..but in the end it just showed those scary stuff..like pumpkins singing etc etc etc..but the effects were good!!=)
the worst part i guess was squeezing into this small little house that belongs to mickey mouse..they didn't let us see mickey mouse straightaway..instead..we like went through the whole house..then out into the barn..the whole process took at least 20 minutes..with noisy and hyperactive kids running around and giving me a headache..in the end just took a picture with the mickey mouse..which was really short..
anyway..here's a pic to the nightview of the disneyland castle..although it isn't very clear..
22nd december 2007
universal studios was even more fun than disneyland!!...hahaha..my family started off with a thrilling ride in the river adventure of jurassic park..the start is already pro liao..we sat in a boat (again -.-) and they opened a few wooden doors slowly..then we entered into a mist and start seeing all those giant dinosaurs (those very gentle and herbivorous de..i dunno what are they known as)..after that got all those small dinosaurs shooting water at us..i can only rmbr those are the ones that shoot some black stuff in the movie..then they brought as into some building that controls the environmental systems..and inside it is really scary..cos of all those sharp turns and warning signs...then we start to go up very very high slowly..and when we got distracted by this huge T rex head above us...we started to plunge down a 84-foot vertical drop waterfall..which is about 4 to 5 stories high..it was so shuang!!...all the people in my boat just screamed and shouted after we finished the plunge..cos it was so thrilling!!..
after that went for backdraft..where they showed us how they created the massive fire scene in the movie backdraft..then they had different ways of spurting of the fire and also explosions..then i got so scared until i nearly cried la..cos it kind of reminded me of those scary dreams of places in fire when i was young..the biggest shock came when the structure that we were standing collapsed all of a sudden at the end..totally scared the whole bunch of us..after that went to see the special effects stage..the hosts was really funny...and they showed us how they do all those audio and visual effects in the movie..
the studio tour was an eye-opener..cos we saw all those scenes that were set up for different tv shows and movies..and we even saw and experienced the movie effects!!..like the car demonstrations in fast and furious..floods..wild wild west..entered a stage where there was this bridge and then violent shakes from King Kong..the shark from jaws..desperate housewives set..war of the worlds..then we had simulations of earthquakes in an underground railway station..mummy returns where our tram entered some set with it turning 360 degrees etc etc etc..
went for shrek 4D show..then the chairs had those kind of feeling of being on the horse carriage when shrek and the donkey was like rushing to the castle in a horse carriage..then also when there were spiders..there was sth from under the chair that sweeps at your legs..which gives you that kind of creepy feeling..also got to watch fear factor live!!...which was quite disgusting cos those people had to drink some blended stuff containing fish guts, pig parts, sour milk etc etc..then other attractions like waterworld and terminator 2 3D are more of effects show..
23rd december 2007 to 25th december 2007
off to las vegas!!...went to factory outlet..and was so sad because not only did i not buy anything..I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GO GAP!!...argh!!...my brother bought a pair of jeans from there and it only cost 30 plus USD!!...so irritating!!..
travelled about 5.5 hours the next day to see the grand canyon..haha..actually nth much..just took pics of it..and totally got reminded of all those geog lessons learning about fault lines and strata etc etc etc..halfway we went to see hoover damn...which is err..just a dam..after that travelled another 5.5 hours back to las vegas..
spent my christmas travelling back to los angeles from las vegas..i dun really like las vegas..it is just filled with casinos where people gambled the whole day away and it is so hard to breathe there cos of all those cigarettes smoke..plus it is so cold in las vegas with all the strong winds..
26th december 2007
off to san francisco!!..hahaha...this is actually just a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong bus ride..quite dumb actually..cos we went to yosemite national park..thinking that we are able to see the national park in the daytime..plus i can play with all the snow!!..since it was snowing when we were in the bus..but we were so unlucky that there were 5 cars involved in some accident, so in the end we could only see the national park at night cos the sun set earlier..then it was so dangerous for the driver..cos we had to travel those narrow mountain roads...with no lights at all (cos no lamp posts) and slippery roads cos of the snow..it was like a roller coaster ride cos the driver kept swerving left and right..so by the time we reached our hotel..it was already 11 plus..which meant that we took nearly 15 hours to travel from los angeles to san francisco..
27th december 2007
san francisco is so nice!!!...in the morning we went to eat dimsum..and the char siew bao is like mega duper big!!..and the xiao long bao is like the size of a siew mai..then after that burnt all those calories when climbing the slope...cos san francisco is built on lots of small hills..so all the streets are like slopes..and some were very steep..like at least 45 degrees..by the end of it..i concluded that people who lived in san francisco must be really fit..running up one slope everyday sure improve stamina and burn fats de..
after that is mostly sightseeing..like going to see the golden gate bridge and fisherman's wharf...super happy now!!..cos bought a san francisco sweater..plus 2 pairs of jeans!!..one from levi's and gap!!..haha..my very first levi's jeans and gap jeans!!..quite cheap..cos they cost about S$60 each..
haha..i like san francisco lots..the pace of life here is just nice..not too hectic nor too laidback..there's chinese food here too..and the buildings here are nice!!..there have european monuments...the places have themes..like one part is called the little italy..there's chinatown too etc etc etc..there are nice sceneries..and it still has a city life..haha..
28th december 2007
right now..sitting in my hotel room..typing this blog entry..slacking my time away..waiting to go to some shopping mall later..hopefully can find some nice top for my chinese new year clothes..or else by the time i go back to singapore..all the red clothes will start coming out..then after that it will be a long flight back home..
looking forward to be back in singapore..miss my wanton mee..sugar cane drink...char kuey teow etc etc etc..sigh..