The Day I Caught The Holiday

The San Francisco post will be up shortly.

Anyway, just got home from watching "The Holiday", starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. It was a nice, heartwarming holiday movie, perfect for happy couples everywhere. Not so perfect for a bitter, single nerd like me. Couple of ang mohs were making out in the seats beside me.

Imagine that.

PS: My flight has been postponed to 8th January 2007. Will arrive in Singapore on the 10th.

The Day I Toured Old Town Pasadena

There are some great finds in LA if you're not with a tour group. Tour groups = rush rush rush = buy buy buy = commercialized holidaying = no fun. Was visiting the downtown area in the evening and I discovered some "Uniquely US" stuff.



We visited a store selling yoghurt:


You must be thinking, "What's so interesting about yoghurt?" Well, the yoghurt here comes in a large variety of flavours as well as toppings. What's fun about it is that the toppings are mashed into the yoghurt in a manner similar to teppanyaki:


Chop-mash-chop-chop-mash-mash...

Take a look at the selection as well:


It was 5 degrees outside and we were having frozen yoghurt! Craziness! But it was worth it cos the yoghurt's so so good!


Imagine That! I know you want to!
Say "AH...."


Other than yoghurt, there's of course the apples-on-a-stick, which I like to call the "ironic apples". Think "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" and "cardiac arrest". Take a look for yourself:


The world-famous "ironic apples". They've got apples coated in caramel, chocolate fudge, Oreo cookies, white chocolate, sugar sprinkles etc etc. Basically it screams "SIN".

They also have satay in LA!


There are really ALOT of Asians here, which explains the bountiful supply of Asian cuisine here. Feels like I'm back in Singapore. Heh.

After a long (and filling) tour of Old Town Pasadena, Huaxia drove us up to Mount Wilson. When we got to the peak, I had a breath-taking view of the entire LA state!



And the sky was beautifully lit up with stars! No clouds at all! I tried to take a photo of it...



...but failed miserably. Don't blame me. I'm not a professional.

The Day I Saw The Olsens

I woke up at 2 o'clock today. In the afternoon.

Let me break a myth here today.

Myth:
Only American food is cheap and nice here. Asian food is sh*t.

True/False

I've been having quite a lot of Chinese food here and it's comparable to what we've got in Singapore. Just that they come in bigger portions. Speaking of which, burgers are really killing me. If you give me grass vs meatloaf like right now, I'd take grass.

As for the Olsen twins...


Aren't they pretty?

Yesterday

We were at Universal Studios!


If there's one word to describe it, it's "overrated". But I've got some nice photos anyway. Enjoy:


I'm a biker!

The houses of Wisteria Lane (think "Desperate Housewives):

The Day I Returned From Las Vegas

*EDIT: Photos have been successfully uploaded*

Just got back from Vegas! I had a couple of "First Times" there. All I can say is, Vegas is really pretty (all those lights at night!!!) and it is truly Sin City. Just walk around long enough and you'd bump into a few whores. Either that or signboards advertising whore services.

My friends (Huaxia, Sandy and Milo) and I stayed at The Bellagio. It was anything and everything I could ask for. Really.


The Bellagio

First Time (1):
I saw snow falling from the sky! It was freakin -1 degrees last night! Thank God for hot chocolate and cigarettes (they do wonders in winter). I CAN BRAG ABOUT EXPERIENCING MY FIRST SNOWFALL IN VEGAS!!! WOOHOOO!!! Exciting.....

First Time (2):
I've never gambled in my life until this morning. We spent time playing slot machines. It was mindless and boring, but definitely an experience. I didn't win any money though, if that's what you're wondering. No such thing as beginner's luck for me.

First Time (3):
We visited the M&M's World and the Coca Cola store. Pretty interesting for a country bumpkin like me.

It's off to Universal Studios tomorrow!

Before I go, here are some shots:


At the foot of a Christmas tree made of balls!


Magarita from a vase



The world's largest chocolate fondue fountain!


It is really just a cake; Chicken Little is merely an illusion.

And both the fountain and the cake are found at...

The Day I Landed In The US

It's 5 degrees Celsius here. My ass is frozen.

I managed to survive the 16-hour flight and the stringent US Security checks. Just got home from dinner at a chinese restaurant. I still don't understand why their "doggy-bags" are in Chinese-Temple-style boxes. And my fortune cookie makes no sense.

Driving down to Las Vegas tomorrow!

*EDIT*
Photos!


On the plane


Saw this on the plane! My eyes are sooo sharp la!


My friends. In case you were wondering, Huaxia is Sandy's boyfriend and Milo is Huaxia's schoolmate.


The house I'm staying at.

The Day Of SYC 2006, Day 3

Just returned from the airport, supposedly to pick up an indonesian journalist. But thanks to a communication breakdown, the journalist went back to the hotle without us.

It's so different being a facilitator and a participant. Participants get tired from fun, while we get tired (and frustrated) from waiting and waiting and waiting.

I miss my bed.

The Day Justin Discovers! - Episode 2

Welcome to an all-new and much delayed episode of "Discover! with Justin". In today's episode, I will take you through the weird and the interesting sights of Singapore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. First up, I arrived at VivoCity, Singapore's largest and newest shopping complex that houses the state of the art cinema, 3 food-courts, an open-air wading pool... oh you get the point. At the jam-packed crowd-favourite Candy Empire, I encountered a boy with a strange dress sense. Here, take a look for yourself:



If you look closely, the left sleeve of his top has been unprofessionally ripped off to reveal his arm. What an interesting way to wear clothes.

Imagine that!



2. We try to be as racially/religiously sensitive as we can, being in a multicultural country and all, but sometimes, irony bites us in our ass and all we can do is look at it and laugh it off. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, take a look at this (taken outside Banquet at VivoCity):


And right opposite the Nasi Bryani stall is...




















































The most non-Halal of non-Halal stalls!

I know it isn't equivalent to bringing non-Halal food into the Halal area, but it's still quite ironic, don't you think?

Imagine that!



3. Hidden within the housing estate of Bedok, behind the hawker centre of the Bedok interchange, lies the famous Bedok curry stall! Try the chicken curry! It's fantabulous!



I bet you can't even Imagine that!

The Day Before My SAT

I'm sick and I have an exam tomorrow. Urgh.