Welcome to my life: USA Trip Recap

New York/New Jersey: Arrived at Newark Airport and started to feel a similarity to the airport in Perth. I guess it is not the kind of airport I would expect in a cosmopolitan, fast moving city like New York... but I guess Jersey is really not New York as it is an hour away by train. Lusi & Teddy came to pick me up and we went to enjoy a very yummy korean bbq. I absolutely loved the bbq pork... Korean food is definitely better in the States! I did lots of shopping in Jersey because there is no sales tax. =). I soon also realized that domestic travel is really annoying there. My flight to Chicago got cancelled on 7/19 because of bad weather both in Chicago & Newark. I spent the extra day sight seeing in New York City - went for a boat cruise to get a good view of NYC, Brooklyn Bridge, and also the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island, walked around 5th avenue area some more. 7/20, managed to get my flight to Chicago... was at the airport at 4am in the morning only to be told that my 6am flight has been delay until 9:30am. So I was pretty much waiting around in Newark airport and felt absolutely miserable & tired.

When the plane finally landed in Chicago, I felt so happy and relieved. My baggages also arrived safe & sound. Chicago airport is totally different from Newark; it definitely has the feel of an airport in a major city... there were shops and restaurants in the terminal and I was actually quite impressed by it. When I finally checked into The Drake, it was almost noon time. The Drake is such a nice hotel, it's a got a historic feel to it and the room was fantastic! I didn't do much shopping in Chicago because of higher sales tax and time constraint. However, I really liked the architecture in Chicago and also had very good meals with Weihua & Andrew. My favorite was the Tapas & after the drama I had experienced at Newark Airport, the Sangria was indeed the best cure! I had the best sleep later that night. 7/21, my flight to LA got delayed again not due to bad weather this time but because the plane from LA arrived 2 hrs later and then the air crew decided to turn up even later... hence we were waiting around for the air crew to arrive. How ridiculous!

I got to LA close to 11pm and rented a car (I was lucky enough to get the New Honda Civic) at the airport. LAX was a mad house... lots of flight arriving at the same time and the airport was packed with people. I suppose I was lucky that I didn't have to wait super long for my baggages to be out on the carousel. I checked into Hyatt Century Plaza at midnight. Driving around LA brings back memories. It's as though I never left. In some ways, it would be easy for me to fit back into the LA city. I drove past several familiar roads & buildings, old apartments, old schools and what not. The West is definitely more laid back than The East, I love that about LA. The hotel is luxurious! It's even got an ipod dock where you can charge & play your ipod as you wish. From the room balcony, I can get quite a good view of the city. I remember I called room service, had a drink and then sunk into the bed in no time. It was good to catch up with Jack... we went to the Grove for lunch and walked around a bit the next day. I went shopping at Beverly Ctr, Kitson, Fred Segal, walked around Rodeo Drive area & enjoyed good cupcake with a cup of coffee. Shopping at Camarillo was good... I was amazed that I could still remember the directions on the vast 5 lanes freeway of LA. Last night in LA, I went to Venice Beach area for dinner at this Italian restaurant. We also went to try out PinkBerry... the green tea yoghurt was pretty good with fruit toppings. I was surprised that it only took me 15 minutes or so to get used to the left hand drive. :) I didn't have any further delay at the airport on my way back to SG.

I highly recommend the Singapore Airlines Direct Flight... the food is a lot better and bigger leg room as well. That's the way to travel long distance.

The next few days in Singapore was rather relaxing, spent time with family & friends, ate & drank & had a few laughs. This was my vacation.