I’ve got to say though, if you had to ask me what kind of an American girl I’d call myself, I’d have to say I’m more of a west coast girl. Having spent 14 days in New York, 3 days in Washington and 5 days in Orlando, the only thing I’d really miss about the east side (or just New York – Washington DC and Orlando were great!!) is shopping, Central Park and Rockefeller Centre (for its wonderful memory I will never ever forget…). Other than that, NYC is too much of a busy place for me to survive in. Oh, I’d never forget the day the snow blizzard arrived that Boxing Day, when we met up with Rica, Ray and Jug for lunch at this awesome Japanese buffet place, as soon as we went outdoors, it started snowing – the nice, white Christmas kind of snow, the kind that makes you feel like running around making snowballs. But little did we know this snow actually caused the city a riot, being one of the worst snow blizzards in decades. The very next day (after celebrating that we actually had a white Christmas-ish in NYC) all the streets were covered in inches of hardened ice, pavements smothered in slush, cars embedded in snow fills and New Yorkers finding it extremely hard to go anywhere and do anything, it finally hit me that snow is a wonderful sight to see, but too much of it can get annoying. So annoying, that the next few days of this snow blizzard madness, I was beginning to wish the snow away because every single time we decided to go outside, my shoes would end up soaked and frosted; a feeling I’m not going to miss at all.
The start of the dreaded snow blizzard of 2010 at Herald Square.
On the way to the Comedy Club, feeling like a kid again with snow :-)
Before I let go of a negative vibe I’m starting to feel about NY once again (whenever I feel cold all I can think about is the death NY made me feel, walking through the busy streets and feeling frost bite in every single bone and muscle in my body, a cold so foreign to me I’m glad San Francisco is not so bad..) I’ve got to remind myself that it’s a new year and this calls for more positive thoughts. One more thing though, if someone ever tells you ‘wouldn’t it be a good idea to spend new years eve in Times Square’ I’m gonna tell you now, DON’T DO IT!!!! We never expected what we experienced that night. And we were prepared too – with VIP New Years Eve Passes that promised easy access around Times Square, with free drinks around bars and restaurants and a special area designated for all VIP pass holders to clearly see the ball drop. Did any of this happen? Just the free drinks – everything else was considered impossible by most of the police patrolling Times Square. Our passes were useless to say the least. So where did we spend the count down? Stuck at an exit hallway at Madame Tussauds.
The crowd at Times Square on New Years Eve, not packed enough...
With my childhood faves :P
So funny!
This ones for you Koko :-)
With Elton John hahaha..
The 6th N*Sync member
Ok, I was a bit negative there. We tried our best to enjoy the night together, and in fact we did – posing with the wax celebrities while drinking free Budweiser’s. To a more positive note, our train trip to Washington DC was great. It opened up my eyes to how this nation began, the hardships along the way and just how this country is striving for better. One of my highlights was during our night tour to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, where I found myself at the very spot Martin Luther King did the famous speech ‘I Have a Dream’ and watching the sunset at the Ellipse. And to stay on a positive note, we spent our last day in NYC by walking the Brooklyn Bridge and seeing the city lights from Brooklyn at night.
At the Abraham Lincholn Memorial...we couldn't believe we were there.
At The Capitol
Martin Luther King stood right here...woah.
Watching the sunset at the Washington Monument :)
On the first day of 2011 and last day in NYC, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge
...and a last photo of NYC!!
Fast forward, 4 days ago I turned 24. I actually had to look for the number 4 key on my laptop just then. Although I may seem old, I wanted to spend my birthday feeling ageless, and what a better way to do so but to spend a whole day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the Orlando Island of Adventure Resort! The 1 hour wait to get in was worth every single minute. It was like jumping into the book and just being in a world surrounded by, well…wizards. The people who work here all play the role and dress in robes. You couldn’t imagine how excited I was. We started the day with lunch at The Three Broomsticks and a taste of frozen butterbeer – a mix of butterscotch and coke, maybe? But good stuff. I rode all the rides except for the Dragon Challenge which I left for Ryan to ride on his own as he is on a whole new level of brave compared to me. I’ve gotta say, the ride inside the Hogwarts Castle was the most amazing ride ever!! It felt like you were on a broomstick playing Quidditch, then all of a sudden being thrown around in the Whomping Willow – face to face with all sorts of humongous creatures, then flying around with Dementors!! I was actually freaking out because the Dementors get right up in your face and you can actually feel the cold too. This birthday is one I will never forget. Orlando Disney World and Universal Studios is a place I’m sure to add to my future places to visit.
After 1 hour in line, we finally made it!! :D:D at Hogsmeade!
Frozen butterbeer!!
Infront of the Hogwarts Castle!! :D:D
Browsing through Hogsmeade
For dinner I decided to give him something to smile about haha so we ate at the NBA City Restaurant :-P
After all the theme parks, we scrored ourselves another game at the Amway Center! Awesome stadium!!
Courtside seats (again) - GO MAGIC!! :-)
More recently, we arrived in San Francisco yesterday and spent this entire day on a hop-on hop-off bus. Having only been here for 2 days, I’ve slowly and have surely fallen in love with this beautiful city on the bay. One thing we’ve been looking forward to was to have fresh seafood by the pier and this was no disappointment; something we are planning to do every single day here. Although, I do regret one thing though, staying on the top deck of the tour bus for our two hour round trip as it was beyond cold up there! (Reminded me of NYC again…) but nevertheless, we survived and had the opportunity to see the Golden Gate Bridge. For the rest of the day, we hopped off at a strip on Haight and Ashbury where the young people like to hang out. I can totally understand why – great clothing stores, lots of little cafes and boutiques and a history of the hippie times. But as soon as it started to get dark, the atmosphere changed and I immediately felt like I was in Mt Druitt after hours – the homeless, drug dealers and people who talk to themselves came out of nowhere. Other than that, Haight Street is one of our favourite shopping strips; up there with Harajuku Street in Tokyo and Soho in New York.
I’m loving our stay in San Fran so far, so much I want to imagine ourselves back here one day.
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