U.S.A.

Taking a break from revision now to post something happy amidst the dreary mood!

My family visited the States last December, and before I continue I’d just to start by saying that I am very thankful for such an opportunity, and for each and every one in the family who made this trip such a memorable one. Papa for working so hard and willingly and wanting to bring us overseas to explore the US, Mum for constantly looking out for every one of us, my sister for helping in decision-making, and my brother for showing us how he’s growing up and becoming more sensible. (Haha sounds so cordial and all but yes I really do mean what I type)

Here are some snippets of the trip in photographs:

Los Angeles, California

The inn we stayed in the first two days had a really cool DIY waffle-making machine, and that got my sister and I quite excited, haha. They tasted not bad too!

We travelled around the city by the bus before we collected the rented car, and in the buses you don’t have bells to press to signal the bus to stop, but rather these cords that connect to some circuit and activate the “bus stopping” sign once someone pulls on them.

At the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It felt so surreal to be in Hollywood. That whole street and the ones surrounding had famous stars’ names displayed on the ground, and we saw names like ‘Winnie the Pooh’ too, haha. One might think that the Walk of Fame would be extraordinary, but really, it was quite like any ordinary street, just that the floors had the stars’ names. It was quite fun to go around looking for names we recognized though!

Hollywood wasn’t really like what I expected – and I liked that it wasn’t bustling with hoards or people, human traffic was normal (less crowded than Orchard Road even, if I didn’t remember wrongly) while we were at the Walk of Fame area. But like what I mentioned earlier, it was really surreal – we used to watch American Idol on television and see so many people scream in delight when they get the yellow ticket, or when the judges exclaim, “You’re going to HOLLYWOOD!!!” (and the American Idol hopefuls start jumping up and down and shouting for joy). And we were right there, in Hollywood! Mm I just felt very blessed, because so many people in America don’t even get to travel and explore their beautiful country, and many dream of going to Hollywood, the land of fame and stardom. Very, very thankful for the opportunity and privilege to travel, and see the world.

Graphic T-Shirts

Disneyland :) The quote really is quite true, I thought! Being in Disneyland is like entering childhood again, and the mood in there was just happy, with all the cheery music and candy floss and chocolates and colours, and kids and adults smiling – how not to be happy too?

Christmas decorations at Main Street, USA, Disneyland

A TREEHOUSE. Got really excited upon seeing it because it’s exactly like how I imagined a treehouse to be like when I was young. (Probably because storybooks drew treehouses that looked like these) A pity it was closed due to bad weather and the slippery surfaces.

A very unglamourous photograph of the family, hahaha! But I thought the photograph caught our priceless expressions that are worth remembering and laughing over! Oh, and apparently nothing very much fazes my dad, brave man.

Trying to act like some FBI agents… ? Haha.

The gorgeous view of neatly-lined palm trees.

Reindeers at the Christmas parade. I really loved the Christmas soundtrack that was playing throughout the park – the songs were so cheery and with all the bells in the background, there was such a vibrant Christmas mood throughout the park, and you can’t help but hum along~

Some amazing talent there :)

HUGE turkey leg that was SO GOOD.

:)

Disneyland at night – it was really beautiful. A pity the fireworks show got cancelled!

Disneyland, Anaheim was the very first Disneyland to be opened, and the rides were frankly all very mild. We specifically chose to go on the rides that had the ‘high-speed’ logo beside them and stuff like ‘not suitable for children below this height … …’ and while on those roller-coasters we expected that plunge where you feel your heart take a giant leap, but… it never came :( but that’s beside the point, we still enjoyed our day there anyway. I guess the ambience played a huge part, it was very stress-free and it was very interesting to people-watch and see people from different countries and all. I really love the sets of all the rides and shows, they added such a magical touch to the experience.

And a quote to end this post off: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Winnie the Pooh

:)