Back from the West Coast
Being back sucks, in a reality-really-bites kind of way. Life on holiday forever is too idyllic to ever be possible, but I suppose a person can dream.
The view from the plane is always pretty.
The arid desert areas of California.
Grid-happy L.A. from high above.
Horse-driven tram in Disneyland.
Area leading up to Main Street USA.
It's A Small World ride, from the outside. The song gets grating after just standing five minutes in the queue.
California Adventure Park. The rollercoaster in the background is California Screamin', the best coaster I've ever ridden in my life. Starts off with a countdown and a huge burst of speed forward towards the first incline. Three amazing stomach shaking drops and one loop around Mickey's face.
The Christmas Parade around Main Street USA.
That's Cinderella and Prince Charming :D
The fireworks in Disneyland are AMAZING. This was the grand finale.
El Capitan, from the bus window.
Hollywood Boulevard.
Grauman's Chinese Theater.
I had to. She's Hollywood's favorite trainwreck!
I was taking a photo of Ryan Seacrest's star when this black guy walked past, noticed what I was doing and went, "Ryan Seacrest? Really?!" in this mock incredulous/shocked way.
There are more stars, but I was too lazy to resize the other twelve of them.
For Odelia.
The famous globe just outside Universal Studios.
See the guy in the middle? He's real.
The same guy from the statue above. He walked off and away (:
The Universal Starway.
San Fernando Valley in the day.
Inside a Universal Studios lot. Fire special effects!
The Christmas tree is adorned with film reels and stars.
The Gibson neck.
The Studio Tour was incredible. You can't miss it if you ever visit Universal Studios.
Fake rain.
Fake flood.
Fake earthquake. Or rather, moments before the fake earthquake. The lights started flickering, the cables crashed down, water came rushing down that staircase, and fire was everywhere. And all these effects happen every hour for each tour.
Wisteria Lane!
More Wisteria Lane.
The Bates Motel from Psycho! The Bates Mansion is partially hidden by another prop and a tree.
War of the Worlds wreckage.
More War of the Worlds wreckage.
The entrance to Revenge of the Mummy. I took this ride four times. Hurtling in the dark, sudden jerks and stops, reverse motion. Extremely addictive. I feel like such an adrenaline junkie now.
The progression of the Valley view as the sun sets.
Improv Carolers.
The original Universal Studios sign. Some woman is blocking the sign from being shown in its entirety :(
Vegas, baby! Little New York.
The lights in Vegas are bright and garish. Not really my cup of tea.
Volcano eruption at The Mirage fountain. It seems they really love fire special effects in the US.
The Bellagio water dance and the Paris Hotel in the background.
The view leading up to Nevada State Park.
The Grand Canyon, in Arizona.
Cute American kids leaving after a visit to the canyon.
I'm can't remember why I took this photo.
Area behind Casa de Fruta, Pacheco Valley, Hollister, California. This place was like something out of a dream, with the carousel, trees, pond and playground sort of glowing slightly around the edges.
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California.
The Pacific Ocean from Pebble Beach, along the scenic 17 Mile Drive. Breathtaking scenery.
I find seagulls very adorable now. I don't know why, considering I saw a couple of them poop. It was not a pretty sight.
The Golf Lodge by Pebble Beach. One heck of an upscale country club.
The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. It's painted in International Orange!
Sunset from the bridge.
The Sunday Market. The San Francisco City Hall is the domed building in the background.
Pier 39.
'Only in San Francisco - never a dull momento!' A pun I found particularly ticklish.
The Golden Gate bridge from the Bay Cruise. The wind was freezing.
Alcatraz Island.
Those are seals. Lazy seals who sleep all day.
Lombard Street, San Francisco's most crooked street. The hill leading up to this was a bitch to climb.
Chinatown in San Francisco really reminds me of Hongkong.
Anyways, some random things I learnt from the trip:
1. Val-speak is not a myth perpetuated by Hollywood. (Short for Valley speak, Valley being the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles) Overheard in Disneyland: "And he was like... And then she was like... And then I was like, 'Yeah, I know!'" "Really? No way! That is so totally weird." These three teenaged American girls were talking about Obama and Clinton, obviously.
2. Young children possess great wisdom. There was a family with two boys and one girl, the girl being the youngest in primary one, and the oldest boy in primary six, who scored 265 in his PSLE. So the mother asks me, what are RI boys like? Me: Oh, RI boys think they're cool, but they're not. Then suddenly the girl turns to her brother and pointedly goes, "If you go to RI, you'll THINK you're cool!" I laughed inside for about ten minutes.
3. I have the worst plane luck in the world. No matter where I'm going, I'm always stuck behind or in front (or both) some inconsiderate idiot who makes a lot of noise/kicks my seat/reclines his/her seat to the max and so on. We stopped over in Tokyo on the way to L.A., and on the first flight I sat behind this man who reclined his seat all the way. After the stopover, he went with his friend to sit at the back of the plane. So a Japanese couple comes and takes up the two empty seats... and of COURSE the man sits in front of me and does the same thing. After about five hours, I switch seats with my mother because my legs are cramping up. AND THEN HIS WIFE MOVES TO THE SEAT IN FRONT OF ME AND RECLINES HER SEAT AS WELL. I need to cleanse myself of bad plane karma, or something.
My body clock is kinda screwy now. I slept from 8pm to 2.45am, and I've been awake since then. I hope I can last through the day, I've got a sax lesson and I have to make a new pair of spectacles (I lost one lens in Nevada State Park :() and do other random assorted things.
The view from the plane is always pretty.
The arid desert areas of California.
Grid-happy L.A. from high above.
Horse-driven tram in Disneyland.
Area leading up to Main Street USA.
It's A Small World ride, from the outside. The song gets grating after just standing five minutes in the queue.
California Adventure Park. The rollercoaster in the background is California Screamin', the best coaster I've ever ridden in my life. Starts off with a countdown and a huge burst of speed forward towards the first incline. Three amazing stomach shaking drops and one loop around Mickey's face.
The Christmas Parade around Main Street USA.
That's Cinderella and Prince Charming :D
The fireworks in Disneyland are AMAZING. This was the grand finale.
El Capitan, from the bus window.
Hollywood Boulevard.
Grauman's Chinese Theater.
I had to. She's Hollywood's favorite trainwreck!
I was taking a photo of Ryan Seacrest's star when this black guy walked past, noticed what I was doing and went, "Ryan Seacrest? Really?!" in this mock incredulous/shocked way.
There are more stars, but I was too lazy to resize the other twelve of them.
For Odelia.
The famous globe just outside Universal Studios.
See the guy in the middle? He's real.
The same guy from the statue above. He walked off and away (:
The Universal Starway.
San Fernando Valley in the day.
Inside a Universal Studios lot. Fire special effects!
The Christmas tree is adorned with film reels and stars.
The Gibson neck.
The Studio Tour was incredible. You can't miss it if you ever visit Universal Studios.
Fake rain.
Fake flood.
Fake earthquake. Or rather, moments before the fake earthquake. The lights started flickering, the cables crashed down, water came rushing down that staircase, and fire was everywhere. And all these effects happen every hour for each tour.
Wisteria Lane!
More Wisteria Lane.
The Bates Motel from Psycho! The Bates Mansion is partially hidden by another prop and a tree.
War of the Worlds wreckage.
More War of the Worlds wreckage.
The entrance to Revenge of the Mummy. I took this ride four times. Hurtling in the dark, sudden jerks and stops, reverse motion. Extremely addictive. I feel like such an adrenaline junkie now.
The progression of the Valley view as the sun sets.
Improv Carolers.
The original Universal Studios sign. Some woman is blocking the sign from being shown in its entirety :(
Vegas, baby! Little New York.
The lights in Vegas are bright and garish. Not really my cup of tea.
Volcano eruption at The Mirage fountain. It seems they really love fire special effects in the US.
The Bellagio water dance and the Paris Hotel in the background.
The view leading up to Nevada State Park.
The Grand Canyon, in Arizona.
Cute American kids leaving after a visit to the canyon.
I'm can't remember why I took this photo.
Area behind Casa de Fruta, Pacheco Valley, Hollister, California. This place was like something out of a dream, with the carousel, trees, pond and playground sort of glowing slightly around the edges.
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California.
The Pacific Ocean from Pebble Beach, along the scenic 17 Mile Drive. Breathtaking scenery.
I find seagulls very adorable now. I don't know why, considering I saw a couple of them poop. It was not a pretty sight.
The Golf Lodge by Pebble Beach. One heck of an upscale country club.
The Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. It's painted in International Orange!
Sunset from the bridge.
The Sunday Market. The San Francisco City Hall is the domed building in the background.
Pier 39.
'Only in San Francisco - never a dull momento!' A pun I found particularly ticklish.
The Golden Gate bridge from the Bay Cruise. The wind was freezing.
Alcatraz Island.
Those are seals. Lazy seals who sleep all day.
Lombard Street, San Francisco's most crooked street. The hill leading up to this was a bitch to climb.
Chinatown in San Francisco really reminds me of Hongkong.
Anyways, some random things I learnt from the trip:
1. Val-speak is not a myth perpetuated by Hollywood. (Short for Valley speak, Valley being the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles) Overheard in Disneyland: "And he was like... And then she was like... And then I was like, 'Yeah, I know!'" "Really? No way! That is so totally weird." These three teenaged American girls were talking about Obama and Clinton, obviously.
2. Young children possess great wisdom. There was a family with two boys and one girl, the girl being the youngest in primary one, and the oldest boy in primary six, who scored 265 in his PSLE. So the mother asks me, what are RI boys like? Me: Oh, RI boys think they're cool, but they're not. Then suddenly the girl turns to her brother and pointedly goes, "If you go to RI, you'll THINK you're cool!" I laughed inside for about ten minutes.
3. I have the worst plane luck in the world. No matter where I'm going, I'm always stuck behind or in front (or both) some inconsiderate idiot who makes a lot of noise/kicks my seat/reclines his/her seat to the max and so on. We stopped over in Tokyo on the way to L.A., and on the first flight I sat behind this man who reclined his seat all the way. After the stopover, he went with his friend to sit at the back of the plane. So a Japanese couple comes and takes up the two empty seats... and of COURSE the man sits in front of me and does the same thing. After about five hours, I switch seats with my mother because my legs are cramping up. AND THEN HIS WIFE MOVES TO THE SEAT IN FRONT OF ME AND RECLINES HER SEAT AS WELL. I need to cleanse myself of bad plane karma, or something.
My body clock is kinda screwy now. I slept from 8pm to 2.45am, and I've been awake since then. I hope I can last through the day, I've got a sax lesson and I have to make a new pair of spectacles (I lost one lens in Nevada State Park :() and do other random assorted things.