Ho Ho Ho...

I'm in the Christmas mood!!!

Had bought my 1st X'mas tree from Giant plus silver & blue deco from Ikea ydy...

Had also picked an "auspicious" date to put up the tree & that will be on 8 Dec 08, partly bcos it's a PH =p

Reason y i wan to put up a X'mas tree:

I always like to have the Christmas atmosphere with gd food on a beautifully decorated dining table for my guests but too bad i don't know hw to cook. Hence, can only settle for deco and this is the 1st yr i'm celebrating christmas at my own hse. Nobody to nag @ me for putting things up to collect dust =p

US Trip - Day 12

Day 12... 12 Nov 08 from LA to SG

The day to go home. Checked-in luggages at ard 70 plus kg. hehe...

Transited at Narita and my lao gong had the shrimp burger again. Me also bought a goodie gift pack at 1000 Yen (S$15). Regretted that i did not buy a few more boxes...

Felt v restless while on the flight back as i cld nt get to sleep. In the end when we reached hm on 14 Nov at ard 1am, we were awake the whole night packing up the stuffs we brought back. All the way till morning then we went for bfast (Joo Chiat fishball noodle as my lao gong miz it) and then back home to slp. Me had also suffered from jet lag till Mon when i went back to wk.

Back to reality but it was really a nice trip. 1st time that i'd travelled so far away with my lao gong. Looking forward to more trips :)

US Trip - Day 11

Day 11... 11 Nov 08 @ LA

F&E day. We rented a car but my lao gong was the driver. Challenging since it was left hand drive.

Drove ard 1 hr to Deserts Hill Premium Outlet for shopping again....

Bought clothes, shoes and bags from Aldo, Armani, Gap, CK, Polo Ralph etc... Spent ard 7 hrs there :p

On our ride back to the hotel, we stopped by Galleria @ Tyler as i saw The Cheesecake Factory. This is a must try as highly recommended by my colleague. I can say they have the best cheesecake that i've ever eaten and i think there are over 20 flavours. I tried the "classic" which was the original while my lao gong had a peanut butter one. We also went to the Bath & Body Works and Coach stores. In total, shopping expenditure for that day alone was ard US$500 (S$760). So satisfied...

US Trip - Day 10

Day 10... 10 Nov 08 from SFO to LA


Went to 17 Miles on our way back. Nice scenery...



Back to LA which was evening time, shopping for us again ard the "neighbourhood"... :p

US Trip - Day 9

Day 9... 09 Nov 08 @ SFO

Dim sum bfast @ Chinatown followed by a city tour. We went to Lombard St where the crookiest st was over there. Then followed by Palace of the Arts, Golden Gate Bridge and Pier 39.

Had clam chowder over at Pier 39 as a lot of pple had told me that it's a must try at Pier 39. Tasted gd... We then went on a 2hr cruise. Nice scenery...

After the cruise was to Napa Valley. Then to the Twin Peaks where we overlooked the whole city. Passed by Castro St, a town where the gays gather and live at. The tour guide told us if there's a rainbow flag hanging outside the residence, it means that the person staying inside (who's a gay) is available. Interesting... Last place before dinner was the city hall.

Dinner was at Fisherman's Wharf. Had pasta & seafood skewers at a restaurant. Food was so so only but it costed us US$58 (S$88). Not satisfied with the dinner, i 'da bao' crabs back to the hotel as supper. A whole crab to myself and it was really gd!!!

US Trip - Day 8

Day 8... 08 Nov 08 from LA to San Francisco (IT WAS MY BDAY!!!)

Woke up v early again, had Mc Donalds bfast again and there we were on our way to SFO. The journey was very very long. On our way, we went to Yosemite National Park.

Spent my bday on the coach as we only reached our hotel, Radisson at ard 10pm. By then, shagged!!!

US Trip - Day 7

Day 7... 07 Nov 08 from LV back to LA

Back to the Barstow Factory Outlet on our way back to LA. I "forced" my lao gong to skip lunch as we only had 1 hr lunch + 1 hr shopping :p He cld nt say no as that day was my bday (it was 8 Nov back in SG). hehe...

This time round we grabbed qte a lot of stuffs. Clothes & shoes from Polo Ralph, Guess, Old Navy, Gap, Timberland and bags from Coach... Just 2 hrs and we spent ard US$300 (S$450). So HAPPY!!!

Back to LA at nite, had dinner and then we walked to the nearby coin-operated laundry shop to wash our clothes. Spent 1 hr and US$3 (S$4.50) to wash 1 load of clothes. What an experience as it was our 1st time washing our clothes in such a way...

US Trip - Day 6

Day 6... 06 Nov 08 @ Grand Canyon, LV

1 of the 7 wonders of the world, the GRAND CANYON. Spectacular is the word i can describe it. 4 hrs bus ride to and fro from our hotel but it's worth it.

We also went on the skywalk where we walked on a glass platform and underneath us are the rocks. Nice experience...

On our way back to the hotel, we also past by the Hoover Dam.

At night, we went to Planet Hollywood for Japanese buffet dinner @ TODAI. Nice food which costed us both US$65 (S$99). Then we walked to Hard Rock Cafe and it was really happening inside the casino over there. U can see sexy dealers, dancers on the bar top... :p

Back to the hotel, we played blackjack again with US$50 as capital. In the end, neither win nor lose again. So sian... hehe...

US Trip - Day 5

Day 5... 05 Nov 08 from LA to Las Vegas

Woke up early in the morning, had Mc Donald bfast before heading towards Las Vegas.

Think the journey took 2 to 3 hrs by coach and just before we reached LV, we stopped by the Barstow Factory Outlet for 1 hr shopping. I was thrilled then even though it's only 1 hr.

Bought clothes from Banana Republic & Levi's and 1 of my purchase was a short-sleeve blouse from Banana Republic that costed US$5 (S$7). WHAT A BARGAIN RT??? hehe...

Had Carl's Junior lunch (think we'd eaten all the diff fast food in a wk) and back to the coach towards our destination.

LV drg the day...
LV drg the night... 4 Queens - The hotel we stayed @

Had dinner at Chinatown - Wanton mee which i was craving for and beef hor fun for US$22 (S$33). That was really ex...

We then had a casino tour along "The Strip". LV at nite with all the lightings is really beautiful. We watched shows outside the Treasure Island Hotel, the fountains at Bellagio etc. Really enjoyed the nite.

Back to the 4 Queens hotel where we stayed, we went to the casino for some gambling. My lao gong played roulette and me played the jackpot but too bad no luck. Then, we went to play blackjack. Spent ard 1 hr there with US$70 as capital. In the end, we neither win nor lose. :( Didn't manage to win extra $$ for my shopping :p

US Trip - Day 4

Day 4... 04 Nov 08 @ Universal Studios, LA

LA, the Entertainment Capital and here we are at the scenes of some drama & movie sets.

Clockwise (from left): Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park, Desperate Hsewives (Wisteria Lane), War of the World

US Trip ~ Day 3

Day 3... 03 Nov 08 @ Sea World, San Diego

Nothing much at Sea World as i always thought so.

Lunch @ Sea World. Costed us US$24 (S$36) and it was nt nice at all!!!

My lao gong won this elmo @ a game; like those that we played at fun fairs.

Dinner was Panda Express again as my lao gong gt addicted to it...

US Trip ~ Day 2

Day 2... 2 Nov 08 @ Disneyland, LA

My fav day throughout the trip but we woke up late that morning and only manage to catch the 12 noon bus =p
Took photos with the characters but nt with piglet as the staff was saying it was raining in the morning and so piglet went back to slp :p Too bad...

We also got to watch the parade. It was really beautiful...

Dinner was KFC which was nearby our hotel. 2 set meals costed US$14 (S$21). Not really fantastic as compared to what we've back home and the bad thing is there's no CHILLI sauce. Got to settle for ketchup everywhere we go.

US Trip ~ Day 1

I'm back from my US trip!!! 2 wks passes so quickly and back to reality liao :( Had an enjoyable trip and everyday was fun-filled & money spending :p

Guess i got to start from my Day 1... 1 Nov 08 @ LA

Flight of ard 7 hrs before we transited at Narita Apt, Tokyo at ard 2 plus in the afternoon. We walked ard and decided to try the Mc Donalds over there and that got my lao gong to being hooked by the shrimp burger meal which costed 670 Yen (S$10) but it was really gd!!!

Another 11 hrs of flight to LAX. I was really restless inside the plane as there was no in-flight entertainment on the plane. Boring!!!

Finally reached LA at ard 9am, 1 Nov, F&E day... First meal of the day was lunch @ Denny's which was within walking dist from our hotel.

Luckily we only ordered 1 set as the portion was big...

We then tried to venture on our own to Chinatown. Walked half an hr to take the Amtrak train and then changed to the Metro.


Nothing much at the Chinatown and hence, we walked ard abit and took the Metro to Universal City where Universal Studios was located.

Walked ard at the citywalk and had dinner there. Chinese food - Panda Express which was 'za chai fan', 2 sides and fried rice costed US$6.50 (S$10). Expensive but bo bian :(
After dinner, we took the Metro wanting to change to the Amtrax. Little did we know that we got to wait ard 1 hr plus for the next Amtrak. As we were both very tired and still suffering from jet-lag, we decided to take the taxi. Guess what? US$70 (S$106) for a half an hr ride. Now then i appreciate the taxi fares in SG =p