Just kidding! The first video is the original wedding while the second one is just a parody.

“Please note that Google Voice is only available for sign up in the US.”

What a wet blanket to my temporal excitement. Guess I’ll have to wait for Google brings this product to Singapore. Hope it will be fast, considering the fact that Singapore only has 3 telecoms and it’s a relatively small country compared to others.

It took about 2/3/4 hours to reach the destination. The first part of the journey included the highway whilst the second part was on the bumpy under-developed “roads”. The third part had us changing our vehicle. Anyways, for the first part of the journey, our tour guide was asking us to guess the natural 7 wonders of the world, which was pretty much a failure with so little people being interested. Before the coach was allowed to travel on, the coach had to be checked by cops/federal agents. This was in put place after the 9/11 attacks. Security, Security, Security! We traveled past the Hoover Dam which was really huge. Alighted minutes later after passing the dam, somewhere where there were filthy toilet and a souvenir shop. Didn’t use the portable toilets, took some pictures and traveled on (We saw Lynn and Tony there too!). Long way to go.

Eventually, as we were approaching the 2nd part, the tour guide gave us a paper which had the “map” of each location we were suppose to go and how. Well… it was hand drawn so the lack of certain details. She explained to us the drawings. By now, the “roads” we were traveling on were actually soil, there were cactus and houses which was a total surprise to me since I didn’t expect people to still live in such location. Oh, they had their letter boxes arranged along the “roads”, might be convenient for the postman but still sucks for him to travel there! We reached the terminal where we had to change bus which was part of the Grand Canyon’s tour team. Luckily, I manage to use the loo before we left again (there was no flush and no running water!!)! Many of us needed to use the loo but they were asked not to.

A Caucasian drove us towards the west of the Grand Canyon and it was a long and bumpy ride there. We were traveling upwards, through/over the terrains. A loooonnnnggg ride for those who needed to use the toilet. On the way there, we saw horses, Native American’s houses and more cactus.

Upon reaching the destination, we were ushered through the souvenir shop to the registration counter for the helicopter and boat ride. Weighted all of us and I suppose it was for the helicopter ride. We were the second group. Waited for a while at the helicopter bay area, couldn’t even hear myself talk with those noisy/loud engine motor! The ride included a magnificent sigh-seeing of the Grand Canyon and a boat ride along the Colorado Rive (which cuts/erodes the Grand Canyon). During the boat ride, we were able to see the different colored rock, representing the different era of the water level. Pretty awesome! On our way back, while waiting for our helicopter ride, we picked up some small sized rocks.

Back at our initial location, we took a bus with a female driver (it had Singapore notes pasted on the front area, maybe Singapore dollar’s special looking to them! ha ha.) where it took us to two location. The first location was where the Skywalk and Eagle looking rock is located. We had lunch there as well, ate some dry western meal (chicken strips, fries and corn). By the ways, there were 3 crows around us while we were eating. They were frigging huge (1.5 to 2 times the Singapore-type of crows!). We were suppose to catch a dance performance by the Native American but apparently missed the time slot. We walked down to an area displaying the houses that the Native Indians stayed in in the past. After which, we took a bus down to our last destination for a short visit. There were pitched-tent stalls selling jewelry related stuff like necklace,etc.. Didn’t buy anything though! Took a picture and went back to our original location. By the way, there wasn’t any barrier blocking us from going nearer to the cliff compared to the first bus destination! Also, there’s an area where people could climb all the way up! Kinda dangerous from my location!

We collected our certificate from the counter and then took a bus (same one as before, with the guy driver) back! A long, long journey to Rivera. It was surprisingly hot in the bus, at the back in the evening time.

Back at the hotel, we went for a dinner in the lobby where we had western food again! That ended the long day. My eyes were very tired!

P.S. Will blog more when I return from NS, Pardon me!
Note to self, http://www.yoplait.com/products_original.aspx

We boarded a different bus from them. This time, we were assigned seat numbers located near the front of the bus (2nd row from the front). The coach left Best Western Executive Inn and boarded some Indian passenger from the shopping centre (which I mentioned on my previous post). Oh, interesting to know, there was this Chinese tour guide in pink (her hair, her clothes, everything!). Anyways, on this coach, we had a new tour guide called Sino. He’s a Chinese, wearing those kind of spectacles similar to the ones worn by Chinese scholars of the past (o_o). He told us that the ride to Las Vegas was 4 hours long and that in between, we will have our lunch and factory outlet. “Great!” I thought. Another 4 hours of bus ride… In the bus, we acquainted with a Singaporean family with 2 kids. Initially I thought that they were Indians, turned out they were Malays. Spoke with them and found out that the lady, Julianna, is a doctor and the guy, Siraj, is a teacher. They were staying in the east too! By the way, Siraj feels out of place/strange/weird when he visits other parts of Singapore which is something I feel too! Also, we paid money to Sino for our dinner + night tour of Las Vegas, entrance fee to the West of Grand Canyon (initially was South, I think) and helicoper/boat ride. Total cost of around more that 200 USD each person!

About 2 hours later, we reached the factory outlet called Tanger Outlet, where we had (I think) only 1 hour to shop. We were given VIP stickers for an additional 10% discount on selected stores. There were Coach, Calvin Klein, Nautica, Gap and many many more. I bought a few Calvin Klein shirts and Polo Ralph shirts. Rushed back to the coach as the 1 hour was almost up. (Found out from Julianna that when we return to Los Angeles, we will visit the outlet again!) Anyways, the coach left (without a few passengers!) and traveled across the road for our lunch. Sino was a punctual freak which made many of us feel so stress, especially true for Siraj’s family because they had just came from Canada (they were having their 52 days holiday!) where it was free and easy. Anyways, there were food chains like Panda Express (Chinese food), Subway and so on. We ended up having burger meal. By the way, the queues were so long that we had to wait for almost half an hour.

After lunch, we went back to the coach (not the shop!), and minutes later we left (including those stranded back at the factory outlets)!

As we approach Las Vegas, the scenery got duller and duller… obviously! This is because Las Vegas is located in the middle of the desert! By this time, I needed to pee badly! I couldn’t move, sleep or do anything. I just stared in front of the driver’s screen, wished that he would drive faster and that Sino would stop talking. Hah. When we reached the inside of Las Vegas, the traffic lights kept turning red and I was pretty errr about it! Upon reaching Rivera, our hotel, I ran down, entered through the back door (where luggage were transferred) , asked some guy for direction and finally…. By the way, there was a traffic jam before reaching Las Vegas!

Went to the hotel lobby and waited for Sino to distribute our keys. Was then told that we had until 5 p.m. to get ready. Took the lift, past by another Ice-making machine and entered the hotel room. First thing I did was to check for Wi-Fi but unfortunately we had to pay for internet! I was pretty bumped since the previous hotel had free Wi-Fi (So if you’ll been wondering why I didn’t facebook my status, you know now!)! By the way, I called home using Fringe on my Iphone using Wi-Fi when we reached the first Inn back at Rowland Heights! (It was free there!). I changed and wore my contact lenses.

We boarded the same coach and set off to an area which was pretty deserted as it was located out of the Las Vegas strip. It was a buffet and we had lots of food (prawns,fishes,chicken,veggies, the usual stuff!). Everyone (me, my aunt and Siraj’s family) had an coned ice-cream for dessert. Interestingly enough, the ice-cream somewhat tasted warmer than the weather outside. Hah! Next, we were suppose to watch the fountain show at Bellagio (a hotel), but unfortunately due to the bad traffic. So we had to watch the show on the bus, which was not a good experience since the music was muffled , tress’s blocking and people’s head popping left and right. Right after, we left for Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino for the Masquerade Show in the Sky…

…where we watched the performers danced, Las Vegas way! After which, they boarded ships hanging from the ceiling. Some were dancing while others were throwing green beads out of their ships. We had to scream/shout, do whatever to get their attention. I guess we manage to get their attention but, unfortunately due to their inaccuracy, they threw towards our back! Ha ha! Turns out these were green beads necklace made of plastic.

Went back to the coach! We were the first to arrive! Anyway, the next destination was the Fremont Street Experience. Totally awesome experience. Firstly, it was cold and you don’t realize till you see the roads and vehicles. Secondly, you don’t get to see this in Singapore. Thirdly,…. Anyways, if you’re wondering what is this about, it’s actually this huge screen above us (the ceiling), playing a video clip of various historical event and people in/of the USA while the music American Pie by Don McLean was playing. People were singing along, dancing as well. I don’t think you would find this in Singapore, don’t you? Miss the experience so much! By the way, before the show started, Siraj and I walked along the stretch and there was these two guys who were advocating that we are sinners due to various reasons (see the picture). Pretty ironic considering we are in “Sin City”. Don’t agree with some reasons they put up unfortunately!

After alighting at some road junction near the Mirage, we crossed the road to visit the Venetian. Inside, they had it themed like Venice. There were artworks on the walls, boats with the rower singing, shops throughout and a cloudy blue sky as a ceiling (you’ll never feel that it’s night inside!). Took some pictures and rushed back to the Mirage so that we would get a good spot and not miss the fire show. It was a great fire display. Furthermore, I couldn’t be more glad of the warmness in such a cold night (It’s funny how deserts can be cold!).

Walked back to the area where we were suppose to board the bus, saw the passengers of our bus queuing in a straight line where Sino was head counting (Looked pretty funny. Why do tour guide like to line us up!?). Walked another few meters to board the bus. Then it all happened!

Our driver was furious with our tour guide as he almost got booked for a ticket for alighting us along a road that didn’t allow. Ranted about how he could lost his job if he got this ticket. Both argued, threatening each other…blah blah. What was crazy is that the driver almost risked the passenger on board while trying to prove to our tour guide he was wrong. How professional!

Whoa for such a dramatic ending to the night. Before going back to the hotel room, we walked to 7-11 to get bread and drink for breakfast. Bought some key chains from the shop nearby as well.

Eventually we left for Hollywood moments later. Before reaching, Henry told us that we could have been able to visit Beverly Hill, CA but due to the delay we couldn’t. In my mind, I was thinking that if your company had organized the trip in a more orderly manner, we could have…! Back to the trip, we past by the famous Hollywood sign along the highway before entering Hollywood, I don’t think I’ve manage to capture it on camera since it was on the other side of the bus! Upon reaching Hollywood boulevard, we alighted and got some “coupon”. Turns out, it was actually some advertisement to get us into that shop which I, in the end, went and bought some souvenirs. We walked down the stretch of road, and saw the starry road. We stood and took pictures outside the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where there were lots of finger and foot prints of famous stars. Pretty interesting. Walking further down, we reached the famous Kodak Theater. After which, we turned back and returned to the bus.

The next destination was Universal Studios, Hollywood!

When we reach Universal Studios and after using the toilet, we were all asked to queue up in 4 rows by Mr Henry, our tour guide. It was pretty hilarious as many felt that it was like we were still school kids. Anyways, we got our tickets and yet again we were directed by him again. Initially, I had thought that it was free and easy but found out it was a guided one whereby Henry brought us to different shows to watch and then after everything, we had our own time to spend. The first thing we visited was the Studio Ride. The ride included a tour of various film sets including Desperate Housewives’ Wisteria Lane, Ghost Whisperer, Psycho, War of the Worlds, Back to the Future, The Sting, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas,etc.. There were also staged events including… (quoting from wikipedia)

Psycho House (1964) The Psycho house was one of the big draws of the Universal Tram Tour back in 1964, and continues to be instantly recognizable even now. While shooting a big movie on the Universal lot back in 1999, Jim Carrey dressed up as “mother” and leapt out from behind the Psycho house, scaring everyone on the tram, including the guides. The movie in production was Man on the Moon, and when Tram operators spoke to the film crew for an explanation, they said that Carrey was just trying to channel the creative energy of Andy Kaufman (the entertainer he played in Man on the Moon).

Flash Flood (1968) The effect has appeared in countless films including Big Fat Liar and Fletch Lives. There’s a story that when a group of dignitaries (including John Wayne) visited the Flash Flood in the early days, the water levels were still being perfected, and the group got soaked.

The Collapsing Bridge (1974 – 2006, 2008 – ) The tour guide tries to take the tram around the bridge rather than going over it, but suddenly the tram driver takes the tram towards the bridge. Will it hold out? Nope – just as the tram reaches the mid point of the bridge, it creaks and massive timbers fall away causing the bridge to “drop” the tram a foot or so under the weight of the tram. The tram drives on, everyone survives, and visitors drive past the bridge as it rebuilds itself for the next tram. The bridge has recently been used less and less, and in March 2006, it seems that it’s finally been decommissioned permanently. The tram is not able to cross the bridge any more. It seems the mechanism will need to be completely replaced to bring it back into operation. The bridge is still mentioned by guides as a filming location. The Collapsing Bridge returned as an event in August 2008.^[2]

JAWS (1976) Opened a year after the release of Steven Spielberg‘s 1975 smash-hit film. It’s a Disneyland inspired animatronic attraction that featured very little of the shark (as in the movie) and other sets including the actual ORCA. The shark prop had cameos in the made for TV film The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island in 1981, and on the episode Hooray for Hollywood from Diff’rent Strokes in 1984.

Earthquake (1988) Replaced the Tower of London set, Earthquake: The Big One is a simulated 8.3 Richter scale Earthquake. The entire attraction resets itself in just 15 seconds ready for the next tram.

The Fast & The Furious: Extreme Close-Up (2006) Offers a glimpse behind the scenes of a thrilling special effects sequence for a high-octane action movie. The attraction started construction in March 2006, and opened on 15 June 2006. The area was formerly occupied by a model used in Dante’s Peak.

Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (2006) The tram guide says we are going to take a look at some props from the film The Mummy, but instead, the tram is lead into Imhotep’s cursed tomb, where he sucks them into a powerful revolving sandstorm. The guide eventually leads the tram out of the sandstorm, and Imhotep is defeated.

King Kong Sea (2006) The guide leads the tram into a body of ocean around Skull Mountain Island. Suddenly, the waves part, and the tram travels between them, and guests get a view of the mini island.

Psycho (2008) As the tram passes the Bates motel, you can see Norman Bates carrying a corpse to a car. He then notices the tram and walks hauntingly towards it with a butcher knife as the tram leaves just in time to escape the crazed killer.

Stunt Show (2008) The tram passes an area dressed for filming as the guide asks if they can watch their stunt “rehearsal”. The stunt crew moves around various locations. At Denver Street they “rehearse” a Western gunfight, in Six Points Texas they “rehearse” a gladiator sword fight, and at the log cabin they “rehearse” a fight scene inside the cabin moving to the outside. Each one of these shows uses fake dynamite to propel the stunt men into the air to their mark on a pad.

Whoville Comes To Life (2008) During the holiday season at the Whoville set all of the Whos, even Max the dog, perform a musical spectacular for the guests’ enjoyment. The songs are remixes of songs from the movie. This is part of Universal’s Grinchmas celebration.

Pretty cool for a ride! Next we went to watch Shrek in 4D! Totally awesome, the seats moving, water squirting and wind blowing from nowhere! Had to wear these special 3D glasses as well. After which we went for lunch (had hot dog meal with chips). We kinda missed our next guided destination (the Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular) as we past the time and so, had to go on our own since. We, then went to watch Terminator 2 in 3D. Wasn’t that great compared to Shrek, but still it was a wow factor for me. Since we were still early for the Waterworld show, we went for the Universal’s House of Horrors. It was so scary. Actually, it was boring and lame! Ha ha! We returned back to watch Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular. Similar to the one I caught in Japan in 2007 (Possibly even better considering that majority of the audience being American, thus more enthusiastic about the show). We walked around and took picture. With that, it ended our Universal Studios’ journey since we had to return early as there were couple of tourist in our coach that had to catch their train/plane. Pretty unfortunate we didn’t manage to catch more show, but overall it was a great place to go.

Before we could reach our Inn, we had to alight those people and change our coach as well. We were very tired by then. When we reached our Inn, we decided to have the bread we bought the day before as dinner. End of day 1 of the tour. Not forgetting, Lynn offered us a banana on our way back. By the way, there were Australian and Hong Kong family, Vietnam/Phillippino and Korean/Japanese students on the coach. Ate ceral and waffles for breakfast.

It was ccoooooollldd! Even with the sun shining through, it was still very cold. Got into the car, a MPV with automatic doors(!?) and a GPS, and left for the hotel/inn. During the car ride, I looked out of the window and realize that I was in USA, the country that you always watch on the television serials, movies. I was pretty hyped up at that moments!

We reached our Best Western Executive Inn, located at Rowland Heights, after a 45 minutes ride.

While my aunt was checking in, I saw this Chinese family which I assumed were tourist as well until the Dad spoke. He spoke in an American accent to my surprise. I was like “Whoa!”. Anyways, we got our room and proceeded. The room was pretty big with 2 queen size beds which I was presently surprised considering most hotel I’ve been had only single size beds from my past experiences. The first thing I did, by the way, was to switch on the television. Ha ha! Anyways, jet lag caught up with us and we decided to rest till around 1,2 p.m. before we went for lunch. Before lunch, we walked around the area to see what food they had. As we walked around, we saw Chinese, then more Chinese and more. This area is filled with Chinese! It’s like having little Chinese town in the middle of nowhere. The shops around sell roasted chicken,duck,pork,etc. There were also shops that sells Bubble tea, provide foot massage, Chinese food,etc. Eventually we settled down in a Chinese restaurant due to the presence of many people (so we assume the food was like YUMMY). Man were we wrong! My aunt ordered some sort of Noodles, a plate of Veggie and I had a plate of Beef Fried Rice. It was bad! The veggie was oily and tasteless, the pea, carrots and corn in the fried rice was obviously taken immediately from the fringe without defrosting! What’s worse was the cost of the meal. It cost more than USD20 (if I remembered correctly). Unbelievable! By the way, asking for box seems common in USA! Unable to finish mine, I asked for one and placed the fried rice in it, brought back to the hotel and left it there, untouched!

After our bad experience, we walked across the roads and reached a shopping center. It was pretty big and empty. No Caucasians were spotted, lots of Asians as usual. We went to a supermarket which was pretty Asian in nature. They sold tons of stuff including 菜饭 which we were felt bumped as it was relatively cheap and the servings were huge. Bought a packet of Ricola and drinks and went back to the Inn. On our way back, we bought bread (those with pork floss on top) to eat (just in case). The bread shop sells those Pineapple bakery which my sister bought from Hong Kong as well!

I woke up early at around 3:15 a.m. Got ready, and left the house with my family (who sent us off) at 4 a.m.. We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1 and checked our luggage in. The process was pretty smooth even though we were asked tons of questions regarding our trip by the security personnel. My aunt bought some perfume from one of the duty free shop and left it with them for collection when we return. We rang up our family member using the toll-free public phone in the terminal and said our goodbyes. After which, we went in the gate, waited for our turn and eventually went in the aeroplane. At around 6 a.m. we left Singapore! USA here we come…!

…in another 9 hours and 25 minutes to go. After a 6 hours 50 minutes air ride, we landed at Narita International Airport, Japan! (Due to the turbulence, the landing was pretty bumpy.) We had to go through another round of bag screening when we arrive. Walked around the transit area where my aunt tried looking for some sort of Japanese Bakery for her friend, Anna. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it. Assuming that these sort of bakery was produced seasonally, we sat down and waited for our next long flight. The time came for our departure, the queue started growing, growing, growing…in length. We got in the queue and waited. Interestingly, I was surprise that many in the line were Asian (mainly Japanese, Korean and Chinese) instead of Caucasian. Also, who knew in these time economic downturn, there are still so many people who are still going for holiday (I suppose many of them were). We left Japan at 3.35 p.m..

The flight to USA was a long and awful one. The airline food was pretty bad (oily and salty). Furthermore, the air was dry and my lips were dried up! There were no entertainment as well! The shorter flight to Narita had one but not this? Well, I guess that’s what we get for a relative low cost round-flight to the USA! Maybe they wanted us to… er… sleep. Anyways, I was glad we got the seat close to the television, drinks and most importantly the toilet. By the way, we had 2 meals as well- Dinner and Breakfast. Oh, not to forget, we used lots of Immigration Visa-Waiver card as we made lots of error as we filled the cards. Ha ha!

Below is the schedule and plans!

NW 20     26Dec  SIN/TYO  0600/1350
NW 02     26Dec  TYO/LAX 1535/0800    (TYO is Tokyo)
NW 1604 01Jan   LAX/IND   0920/1625   (INS is Indianapolis)
NW2160  01JAN  IND/RDU  1715/1855    (RDU is Raleigh Durham, NC)
NW1654  12Jan   RDU/MSP 0835/1030   (MSP is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain Airport (MSP))
NW 19      12Jan   MSP/SIN   1300/0035

Tour Proposal

Day 1  26Dec     Arrival & transfer to Wyndham Anaheim
Day 2  27Dec     Universal Studio
Day 3  28Dec    Las Vegas
Day 4  29Dec    Grand Canyon-Las Vegas
Day 5  30dec    Las Vegas-Los Angeles
Day 6  31Dec    Disneyland
Day 7  01Jan    Departure transfer

From Day 8 onwards, I will be staying over at my aunt’s friend house in Northern Carolina.

Hope the trip will be a great one! I have been looking forward to the trip for so long! Haha!