Day 1 - The Long Awaited Day

Firstly, before you start reading this blog that i have created especially for my trip to US, please let me say a few words. Well, I'm not a professional blogger and i admit that i am in fact very lazy to blog. However, after much consideration, i decided to start one for this trip. The purpose of my blog is to serve as a site to store my memories that i have in US such that in future, there is a place for me to trace back my memories. And of course, i hope through my blog, my friends and family are able to share these moments and be a reference site if any of you ever plan for a future US holiday trip to California. Hope you will enjoy reading my blog and without further ado, let's get started!! (",)

Getting All Ready.... Yeah!

Finally, after waiting for 11 months, this day is here. Not only does it marks the day where i will be once again seeing my boyfriend who had went to US for an exchange programme since 11 months ago, it also marks the day where i will be going to US for 3 weeks - The longest holiday trip that i had so far. Feeling extremely excited, i woke up at 2am early in the morning, earlier than my planned time. My father woke up even earlier than me, preparing to accompany me to the airport. Besides my father, my sister and her whole family also made a special effort to wake up at this awkward timing to drive me to the airport. By 330am, i'm all ready to set off to the airport to catch my flight at 6am. I have arranged to meet my boyfriend's mum who is going together with me at the airport.

First thing to do is to check in for my flight. Well, the procedure for passengers going to US is more troublesome. I was "interviewed" by a police officer who asked a lot of questions. Argh... The questions were making me so nervous. This "interview" lasted for 5-10 mintues. And that's NOT all. After his "interview", he told me there will be another round in US. Anyway, these are just normal procedures. After checking in, a group of us (10-15 people) went for breakfast. At 5am, it's time to say good bye to everyone to board the plane. And the plane took off promptly at 6am and i'm stuck inside for 7+ hours before reaching my next destination -Narita, Japan.

Northwest Airbus A33o - The plane i took from Singapore to Japan to US!

The time when i reached Narita was 220pm local time, which was 120pm Singapore time. Narita's airport was jampacked and hence, the landing time was delayed. My next flight was at 405pm. After subtracting the time for alighting, security checks in Japan, checking the next flight details and boarding for next flight, I'm left with only miserable 30 minutes to tour around Narita's airport. Nevertheless, i still managed to capture some photos on the cute stuffs i found in Narita's airport while walking past the shops.

Cute right? The biscuits are in the form of Hello Kitty and chick shapes. Anyone interested to calculate how much they cost in S$ dollars?

Another 2 photos on Japanese's creative packaging.

Haiz... Before i could go on to look around and take more photos, it's time for me to board my next flight. Reluctantly, i boarded the flight and again, the plane took off promptly at 405pm and i'm stuck inside for even longer time - 10+ hours before reaching my final destination - San Francsisco Int'l Airport, US!!!

It was such a torture to sit in a plane, with limited leg space and uncomfortable head rest for 10 hours. Worse still, there was NO leg rest and my kneecaps were so painful! With this torture, my urge to reach San Francisco Airport asap was even greater. From daylight to night time, i have TOTALLY lost track of the time from Japan to US. All i remembered was sleeping, eating, and more sleeping! Occassionally got up for toilet and exercise break. And my lips were so DRY. When i finally reached San Francisco Airport, i was so relieved. And of course, the thought of seeing him again made me so happy and eager to get off the plane quickly. The time was 930am 29th June local time, which was 1230am 30th June Singapore time. So in total, i took 18 and half hours to travel from Singapore to US! OH MY GOD! This is the first time i ever travelled so long in a plane. Feel a sense of satisfaction yeah! =P

As what the Singapore police officer had told me, i was "welcomed" by another round of interview. This time, i'm required to scan my 10 fingerprints into their computer. And the questions made me even more nervous because US custom has the rights to detain me and deny my entry into US if they are not satisfied. Luckily, the officer although quite fierce looking did not made it difficult for me though i feel that i gave some funny answers. And i cleared the custom in 15 minutes. After collecting my luggages, my mind was so pre-occupied with the fact that i'm finally in US and i could see him again, until when i saw him standing outside the door and stretching his arms out, it took me a while to recover from my daze and realize that means a hug!! Haa... It seems to be a dream, one which i had always wanting to fulfil, and finally it had become a reality.

During my trip in US, i toured mainly California - Silicon Valley (where he was staying), San Francisco, San Diego, Monterey and Los Angeles. I also visited Las Vegas in Nevada and Grand Canyon in Arizona. First thing on our list was to drive back to his junior's place at Milpitas to put our extra empty luggages before going out to tour around. It took 1 hour to drive from the airport back home. And i was so excited, eagerly looking around. It was so different from Singapore, with sophisticated roads and uneven land terrains.

Sophisticated roads because US is very big and their main transportation route is by roads.

Uneven land terrains resulted from earthquakes which are more prominent in San Francisco which will follow up the next day. Interesting terrains which could not be seen in Singapore.

The weather was very nice. There's sun but yet cooling unlike Singapore. After putting our luggages, we were all ready to start our 2 weeks trip according to our itinerary. Firstly, it's shopping time at Gilroy Premium Outlet which is a factory outlet housing numerous well-known brands such as Levis, Nike, Coach, Adidas etc. And the good part about this outlet is that you can buy these well-known brand stuffs at very cheap prices. A very good lobang for those who are crazy about these brands.

Lunch at Applebee. Nice decorated restaurant....

Serves very big portion. Quite common in US so most of the time we ordered only 2 portions and shared among the 3 of us. This is half left of what we ordered.

Well, i only bought a school bag from Gap Outlet for my niece and shower gels from Bath and Body Works for my friends and colleagues (The jetlag made me feel so tired and sleepy with no mood for shopping). The factory outlet closed at 6pm and we went to Safeway Supermart, which is just like our NTUC at San Jose to buy dinner.

Our dinner was a picnic at Mount Hamilton, the tallest mountain offering a nice scenic view of Silicon Valley. The sunset time was 830pm during summer and just after we finished our dinner, before we could get to see the sunset, we were chased away by a police officer (Because the area is private property and non-residents are not allowed to park their car for too long. Guess the residents informed the police about our long parking time). It's a pity we can't get to see the sunset from the mountain. I believe it will be a very nice picture. Nevertheless, these are some pictures on how the view looked like before sunset.

On our way down the mountain, i managed to capture a shot of the sun starting to set down and the view of Silicon Valley.

After a day of shopping, I'm physically very tired, thanks to the jetlag. So it's TIME to rest and have a good sleep at my first hotel - Country Inn & Suites Sunnyvale. Zzzzz!!!!