Just to update my dearest Baby on what happened the past two weeks. It has been a long 2 weeks and in between the bouts of homesick / lovesick / really sick / squabbles / quarrels, I just want to let my Baby know that these 4 months will really be trying. Both of us will go through mood swings, exams without the other to help and a whole load of other problems known only to us. Don't let it disillusion you and put you down. Show the world how mature a 21 year old Ang Xiuwen really is.13 AugustFlew off from Changi International Airport and transit in BKK. Back to see the KFC there and realise how expensive it still is. Got my first postcard for baby.
14 AugustArrive at JFK Terminal 4 around 6.50am and had to wait for Adelene coz she is on a much later flight. Had a long call with BB after I came up with the marvellous idea of her calling to a payphone in the airport! Saved much money man. Cabbed to Wanlin's place after that to drop off the luggage before taking the subway to NYU Office of International Students and Scholars to register. Bought another postcard after deciding it is too expensive to eat so i'll just wait till dinner. In the end we ended back up at Wanlin's place to stay over and we actually cooked some chinese food. Oh man. Homesick. Took a long walk with Wanlin around the area after that after she decided to skip kick-boxing. Well Brooklyn is not soooo bad!
15 AugustMorning flight from JFK to Oakland. Transit at Las Vegas McCarren Airport and realised I left my guide on the plane and when I went back apparently they cleared it already. Reached Oakland and took the AirBart(shuttle) to BART (mrt) station. Since it was gameday at the Oakland Atheletics Stadium (baseball team), there was a super big crowd and touts hanging around. Took the BART to Montgomery Station San Francisco before walking to Pacific Tradewinds Hostel. Nice hostel by the way. Really can consider staying there. Tried to find a prepaid card but was too late so in the end went arnd Chinatown and Columbus street to find food.
16 AugustChanged my Timex watch batt before going down to Farmer's Mkt in the morning arnd City Hall area to buy some groceries for pasta at night. Took BART there but caught a F bus on the way back. Put down groceries before continuin on F bus to Pier 39. Touristy place. Had the famous clam chowder in sourdough bread, saw some seals and bought souvenirs.
Wanted to go Alcatraz Island (famous island prison) but it is booked up all the way till Sunday. Oh man. Damn disappointed.
In the end went biking up to Golden Gate Bridge (abt an hour plus). Beautiful ride in beautiful weather. Went halfway across the bridge before turning back!
Went past Lombard Street (crookedest street in the nation most prob) but did not manage to go down to see it as we had queued up like the an hour for the cable car! Checked out the greyhound station and went back to cook. Free piza on the house! Going down Lake Tahoe tomorrow!
17 AugustGreyhound in the morning to Truckee. Had to take Truckee Shuttle to Tahoe City, change to Emerald Bay shuttle and then to Nifty-50 Trolley Route E to Camp Richardson. Bought an ice-cream there. $2.50 for a medium scoop which was freaking big. Waited for Trolley A to South Lake Tahoe. Finally reached Lone-Pine Lodge and they wanted to give us a queen size bed. Aiyo. Lucky managed to change to 1 that is 2 beds. Went to explore arnd the beach before gg to the Raley's (supermkt) @ Village Center. Walk walk abit before gg to see sunset. Awesome.
Stargazed a little slightly later at night as well.
18 AugustWoke up and went Raley's for breakfast - Cinnamon raisin bagel and small coffee. Kop the utensils and honey/sugar just in case i need it next time! Went to beach awhile before gg up the Heavenly Gondola to the mountain top. Oh yeah, btw I went up alone. 2 stops for the gondola. Mid-way was a 360 degrees platform. Wonderful view of the place but too bad was abit cloudy so the sky abit blur on photos.
Took photos before gg up to the ski area which for now is like grasss and rocks. Now its soummer so they are revegetating some part but several trails were open for hiking. Tried the most difficult one and took some poseur photos but stopped at the super steep slope area and turned back ahah. Went to the beach to try to swi but its freakin cold man coz its a glacier lake. Suntan abit before gg back room bathe, managed to catch some baseball on tv before gg to see sunset again.
After that went to buy souvenirs and Adelene exploded about the phonecard and hostel stuff.
19 AugustLeft at 11am to catch the many transfers back to Truckee. This time no free ride though they let us pay half price for full day pass on trolley and $1.50 for the TART. Reached Truckee then argue again. Alright then, we'll split things after reaching back. Reached REno and began writing entries in my notebook. Waiting for connection now to Las Vegas. Truckee to Reno to Sacramento. A big black guy who seemed drunk got on and I was beside him. But I was lucky as well I think. Left 8 seats and we were no. 7 and 8. Greyhound is first come first serve so thats why man. Stupid system. Super noisy on board thanks to the black dude. Started talking abt gg backto his wife, j-lo and MJ etc. Tried to rap to a guitar tune as well but finally quieten down and I got some sleep. Oh but he was nice enough to look after my bag!
20 AugustSacramento to Fresno to Bakersfield. Smarter this time round and we were right in front of the queue. A pretty long wait so just zobo and read book. Reached bakersfield in the morning and got myself a hot chocolate! Talked to BB for abt an hour (ouch). But she so smart - used voipdiscount and freecall.com Had my subway sandwich from yesterday for lunch and went to charge hp. Talked to this homeless lady who was charging as well. Apparently she likes to gamble and now have no place to stay. Well thats america for you. More transfer before reaching Vegas greyhound station. bus was late and we reached abt 9 plus only. Sian man at first no locker thot I cannot go explore vegas but luckily arnd 10 plus found 1. Put my bag in and quickly went to take a bus. Saw a grandma there who taught me how to go. Have to catch CAT (Citizen Area Transit) No. 108 and stop at the stratosphere before transferring to the deuce. 24 bus service. Cool! Reached the strip and caught 4 of the famous Bellagio Fountain Shows and went arnd photo-taking.
Macs for supper and back to the station for a 4 hr wait.
21 AugustFinally reached Flagstaff abt 11.45am. The hostel picked us up from the station. Checked in and bathed and quickly realise we were wasting a day there. Made plans to change the itinerary all thanks to a new jap friend, Haruki. He is 28 years old and had been travelling for 3 years. He had rented a car and was planning to drive arnd all the parks in the Utah Area so now the plan is to tompang his car to the Grand Canyon and take a OpenRoadTours Shuttle back. This gave us an extra day to play with. Caught some baseball on tv and chit chat w Haruki about Ichiro and stuff.
22 AugustWoke up early today to go book shuttle. Got it man. heng. Free breakfast of bread and jam at the hostel. Kop 2 apples and off we go to Budget Cars to collect his car @ about 9 plus . Reach Grand Canyon after a 1.5hr drive from flagstaff on highway 180. First stop was Mather Point. WOW! The first view is always the best man. Totally breath-taking. The scope and the expanse of the place. The depth and drop of the canyon. All coz of river colorado over the years. Next stop, Bright Angel trail but first bought another postcard haha. Hiked down the trail for about an hour before realising we did not even descend much at all as it was winding down. Went back up but it was an experience non-the-less. The narrow trails and steep incline, mule droppings and people of all ages. Haruki had stomache prob due to his smoked mussels dinner but was getting better. Went to Maswik Lodge, Yavapai Observation Point before bidding aidue to Haruki as he went off to Powell Point to catch the sunset. Lucky him.
Took the shuttle back, bathed, had dinner, watched rockstar before gg to catch the greyhound. Bus was an hour late! Die man. Might miss the connection.
23 AugustReached Las Vegas an hour off schedule (yes we had to re-route back there), but guess what the connection zao already. So the most natural thing to do? Took a day tour of LV of coz haha. Temp was abt 37 degrees man. Super hot.
But at least the photos today will be much nicer. Went to most of the bigger hotels but first went to World's Largest Gift Store - Bonanza to get some stuff. A few gifts for BB again! Hope she will like the XXXXXXXX XX. XXXXX. Quite nice man. Went to watch free show at Circus Circus but midway BB call. Stupid cockroach man. Played some of the games in Circus Cirucs and Adelene managed to win a frog. Next up were the hotels! Super big and posh and filled w branded goods man. Super pretty. Decided to go Bellagio to get a slot machine voucher as souvenir. But was hungry so went to eat lunch at Panda Express (expensive chinese fast food). Was abt 6 bucks for 1 entree(meat) and steamed veg. Managed to catch the stupid Atlantis Show @ Caesar's Palace before the real highlight again! Fountains of Bellagio haha. This time round caught the fountains playing to the American National Anthem and (yes!) Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's "Time to Say Goodbye". The most outstanding song for the fountain (to me at least). After that played a slot game at Bellagio before gg off to Glenwood Springs. Sigh but BB angry w me abt the cockroach incident.
24 AugustReached Glenwood Springs abt 6.50am but first bus was 7.50 so slack at the petrol kiosk. Took the free Glenwood Springs Shuttle (Ride Glenwood) to the hostel, booked a rafting tour for 12.15pm before heading up to Walmart.
Bought some snacks in preparation for the 2 day bus ride man. Came back first and prepare for the rafting. Got fetched at the hostel by the rafting company and went to register once we reached. Got some instructions, life jackets and on the magic school bus to the Shoshone Rapids! the water was super cold but at least the sun was up (initially). Adrenaline came early but after that the trip was pretty tame. Took in a smelly hot springs before continuing. At this point, it almost rained. So cold so cold so strong the stupid wind. Sky was dark too. Went past this house built into the mountain side and not to forget also Jerry's private land with dogs and his .44 . PLUS his personal "cable car" over the river to the other side of the land. Came back to wash up and went to buy souvenirs. Had another SUBWAY (AGAIN). Wrote diary and back to pack for tomorrow.
25 AugustWoke up and slacked arnd in the hostel abit before making our way down to the bus station. Really dreading this man. 2 whole days on the bus. Quite uneventful the first part. Glenwood Springs to Vail to Frisco to Denver Amtrak and finally to Denver. Met this very nice lady at Denver who was taking the bus to Kansas City. Her name is Mdm. Mary. A 75 year old grandmother who is visiting her brother in Denver and on her way back to her town. Told me so much abt herself and I learnt some life lessons from her. She used to be very fat. Got diabetes and now trying to live healthy. Husband died of cancer 15 years ago but she got on w life. And even has a BF. Well an incredible woman.
26 AugustFrom Kansas City to Pittsburgh I met another another amazing person. Mr. Samuel Alark. He was an airforce pilot and now stays in Guam after living in Greece and Morocco. A very unique person I may add. A staunch Christian but he studies other religions as well and was very knowledgeable abt it. One thing I really liked is the fact that he hated pple who go arnd asking pple go church haha. He was very rational and due to his life experiences was able to share many meaningful lessons w me even though he tried to put it in the way of Christian sayings but I still managed to grasp the essence of it. Fascinated w Chinese and our Culture and I let him listen to some Chinese songs. He even watch China movies and was able to recommend me some!Truly amazing man. And very fatherly at that. Now on Guam he will tutor and look after delinquents. Went to Guam coz he protested against Iraq but now gg back to US to visit his dad coz he's scared that the middle east thing will escalate and US will get nuked. Well. Was kinda stunned when we parted at pittsburgh coz he gave me his New Testament (Part of a bible) and even wrote a msg on it. We changed address and phone nos. too.
27 AugustHad abit of flu so the rest of the ride was basically sleeping for me! Slept all the way till New York. Minus the talking time on the phone haha. Reached back and took the subway to NYU 26th Hostel! That will be another entry though. The ride was not too bad. Guessed used to riding the stupid bus arnd! But really dirty thats why i'm getting the flu man. Jialat. Plus its so rainy!
P.S My address is now
334 East 26th Street Apt #23B1 New York, NY 10010. Pls note though that only packages from USPS, UPS, Fed Ex and DHL are accepted.
Bonus picture - Me in front of Stern NYU!
