yay!! No more ah tiong days for me! cos i finally got my own internet connection. aft so many problems.. n before this gotta go to the library to use the comps there like ah tiong lidat.. anw still gotta thank many ppl for helping me out with the internet prob, namely saint swt(seriously! i see a faint halo above his head. tell u all next time.. he helped me like super alot la), mr farny and resourceful js n mr comp-damn-zai bz. else i tink i'l be dead. ok la.. not so serious but nearly there la.. cos will hve to go sch every time i need the comp den go sch need to climb so many hills n i'l juz die on one of the hills one day la.... hm i tink i'm skippin alot of details here so most prob u muz be tinkg wat the hell i'm tokg abt. ok so i shall start fr the day i left singapore! ok its gona be super long. u can either read everyt (which i tink u'l most prob fall aslp before u can finish) or u can juz not read everyt (duh...). hahahhaah ok kok.

the night before i left was super hectic cos as usual, i super last min n still packing my stuff. (hm i juz learnt in class tt procrastinating n liking to do stuff last min is actually a form of self-handicapping. it means to do things before ur actual 'performance' tt can serve as an excuse later on when u fail and oso to make urself seem good. like eg u try to fall sick before a difficult match so tt when u lose u can say its cos u are sick n not cos din play well.N when u win, u'l tink 'wow i sick still can win. i'm gd.' hahhah make sense? hahahah Short Psych Lesson(SPL) 1. but i seriously dun tink tt's the case here.. i tink i'm juz lazy..) anw, den my mum said to leave my hse at 4am so my parents drove me down to the airport arnd 4am. they were like doin last min checks w me to see if i brought everyt in the car. hm and i tink we were supposed to reach at 4am actually cos aft i reached n checked everyt in, we went for breakfast n aft buyin our stuff we realised my plane already last call.. maybe the last min thing runs in my family.. hahahah

anw got onto the plane den plane fly off n stuff.. the usual la.. den look out of the window den see the airport buildings den feel sad to leave singapore n stuff.. ok. tt's wat happens in the movies la. n since i not in movie so tt din happen to me. i juz went past the customs den go to the gate i supposed to be at. got super alot of security measures la.. den i so sway got asked to check my shoes... so i had to take off my shoes n pass to the officer.. den she took out my insoles to check la.. like hello... i look so nice n innocent... y would i hide drugs or weapons in my shoes?!? the prob is not w having to take off my shoes but w them taking out my insoles cos they are damn difficult to put back in! den the officer gave up aft a while n passed my shoe n insoles back separately.. n i had to stand there like some idiot lidat for 10 mins struggling to put back my insoles...

aft tt stupid shoe ordeal, i got onto the plane, found my seat n sat down. den this guy sat down beside me.. at first i tot he looked kinda like a bad guy fr the movies(hahahah i tink stayin in LA is starting to make me tink like i'm in a movie all the time.. but here really alot of interesting things happen which i tink will nv happen to me in singapore leh.. hahahh read on to find out! whahaahah...)but in the end he turned out to be this super nice guy. he like looked out for me throughout the flight like helping me ask the air stewardess for water n stuff even tho i din ask him to.. so nice rite..

anw aft we lifted off, look out of the window n saw this super nice view. aiya actually all views tt are not usually seenable daily are nice la.. den aft flyin for arnd 8 hrs, the plane touched down at narita airport which is at tokyo. walked arnd the airport for awhile during transit. saw some really delicious lookin jap stuff which i already decided to buy on my way back. slurps! hm den aft tt boarded the plane again to continue the long journey(another 10 more hrs) to LA. on the plane can already feel the culture difference between asian families n american families. realised tt most of the american parents act more like their children's frens. they tok to them like frens lidat. n oso dogs are allowed on the planes.. haah ok abit out of point there but juz sth i found q interesting. hhahh the pets in US really treated so much better! hahah they hve water coolers for dogs in the parks tgt w the water coolers for ppl..

(haaaha ok. time to take a break before u doze off fr reading all this crap.. hahah go toilet wash face or continue tmr!)



Trashy Day

aft reach LA airport, i took this blue colour super shuttle to USAhostels in hollywood. on the way there, the view is really not sth i'd expect of LA. its more like a desert than i imagined it to be. the sun is scorching n its barren almost everywhere.. got some trees n stuff la.. but really little as compared to singapore. reached the hostel den checked in. left my luggage n stuff in the rm n went out to hollywood to walk. hm maybe cos it was a weekday or sth.. the roads were q empty n deserted. walked along the walk of fame and saw some interesting names like the one here!

went to the graumann's chinese theatre to see the footprints n handprints of famous ppl, den went to hollywood highlands and almost got to go on espn.. hahaha i was watching world cup game in one of the shops cos they hve big screens inside. den england scored a goal n den the screen suddenly changed to show fans of england inside the shop where i was at but in front of another screen cheering.. so qiao rite..

anw aft tt i went walkin arnd the area.. got lost abit.. n saw the ugly side of the town. no offense to ppl hu like hollywood but i tink the place is kinda trashy.. half the shops i walked down were sleazy lingerie shops, a third are souvenir shops, a few were restaurants, another few were attractions and the rest were closed. n there were like a lot of homeless a little further away fr the main tourist area. they were juz lying by the roads n like ten thousand years nv bathe le or sth la.. n the attractions were oso not as nice as i expected. maybe cos my expectations of hollywood q high oso la.. i mean like hollywood sounds so class n everyt.. ya.. so yap xinli! dun expect too much fr hollywood ar! den maybe ur impression of tt place would be better. hahahah n go on weekend! cos more ppl den atmosphere much better. i went again ystd w a grp of frens n i tink it was much better. was a saturday.. anw aft walkin for a whole day under the sun, went back to the hostel. n tt was when i found out i was gona hve lots of trouble w my internet connection using the lappy i borrowed fr js. anw, yea, i exchanged my desktop w him for his lappy. luckily he v shuang kuai abt it n tt really saved me alot of trouble. n oh ya.. aft the first day in hollywood, i got sunburnt. N i nv even get sunburnt in singapore when i go sentosa for the whole day la.. tt's how bad the sun was. haha.

21st june '06, wednesday

Start of a beautiful journey!

woke up in the morn den ate pancakes in the hostel! first time cooking pancakes! so fun! den i rushed off to take the subway to union station to take amtrak train to San Francisco. i left really q early la! but as i told u, i tink this last min thing runs in the family n turned out tt when i reach there to collect the train ticket, i was already late n the train already ready to leave. so the person at the counter ask me to hurry up. managed to rush there n hop onto the train in time. even though i got onto the train q late, i managed to get gd seats! i sat on the window seat on the side facing the ocean which is the left side of the carriage (<--yap xinli! u reading this??) and the other seat beside me was empty. anw the train ride to SF was pretty long cos of some delay. some lady fell down on the train n knocked her head so had to get medical help. so instead of riding for arnd 11 hrs, i rode for 13 hrs. but cos of the delay, i managed to get some really great photos of the sunset! the train i took goes along the coast so can see the vast ocean! super nice!

typical oceanside view with fence and pretty flowers.

strong waves breaking against the coast

farmland. got cows oso. but i nv take.

my fave sunset pic! super nice rite! still got alot of nice ones! next time den show u all.. hahahah

hm cos of the delay, i reached the hostel in SF at like 12 plus at night. It was super cold tho its summer and i had to lug my luggage up these steep hills n by the time i got to my rm, all my roommates were slping already. den it was so dark n i din know my way arnd the rm, so i juz skipped my bath n juz went to bed.. haha ok gross but i oso nv do much except for sit in the train wat! hahhaha

(time for another break! have a break! hve a kit kat!)

22nd june '06, thurs

i love 'Spare the Air' day!



my hostel is situated at sutter-taylor street, which is a gd location. close to union sq n market st and oso to chinatown. i went to explore arnd my hostel in the morn.
went to macy's, levi's, niketown, union sq, sak's fifth avenue, disney store, borders etc. hm really liked the exterior of the shops. one of the staff was saying tt SF is v into beautification of the city n they really take pride and the trouble to make the buildings look nice and to grow and maintain flowers n stuff. they actually hve laws in the city to ensure tt every victorian house in the city is of a different colour n design fr the one beside it...

aft walkin arnd, i went to fisherman's wharf. was gona go buy tix for the cable car when i found out tt it was 'spare the air day' and tt all public transport was free! and cable car was considered public transport and it was originally 5 bucks per ride. MUAHAHHAAHA super happy! saved like super alot. anw aft i found out tt public transport was free, i changed my plans n decided to go take the SF subway juz to see wat it was like. i took the subway to civic centre and visited a public library (oso dunno how come i go visit library... hmm...) before taking subway back again to powell station. den i took the cable car (pic above!) to fisherman's wharf.

fisherman's wharf is a really touristy place and there wasn't much nice stuff except for pier 39!! its a really nice place! somewhere i wouldn't mind goin again!

its much nicer in reality cos of the atmospere there.

the carousel on pier 39

so nice rite! the horses so white n pure!


went to alcatraz. hm tink tt place is a really depressing place. tho its already not in use as a prison, but the cells n incidents tt happened there really hit me. the audio tour is really not bad. makes me feel as tho i was really back to the times when it was operational.

the cells are really small and they really had little freedom in there. hm so glad i dun stay in there. haah but den again.. i so law-abiding.. definitely wont end up there one! whahahahah

went to the Ghirardelli chocolate factory aft tt. but its no longer a factory. its now a shopping kinda plce. but got free ghirardelli choc to sample! n its super nice!! yums! =) aft all tt i took the cable car back to my hostel.













23rd june '06, friday

A day in heaven...



ok. it would be more like heaven if there were no cars.. cos i tink heaven no need cars cos everyone got wings.. but still it was so nice!! i went to the golden gate bridge in the aftnoon (and it was still 'spare the air day'! hahaaha) but was a little disappointed to find tt i cant even see the bridge cos the fog was so super thick la! u can really see the fog rolling into the city from the ocean. (its actually quite nice) n it was feezing even tho its summer! but den aft i started my hike across the bridge i tot it was juz damn nice w the fog arnd the bridge cos it adds a mysteriously feel to it. kinda makes it more majestic too cos it really feels like i'm on a bridge in heaven cos when i look arnd me everyt is juz white.. like i'm in a cloud lidat. n when the fog clears up a little, can see the vast ocean arnd u, right left centre bottom. n suddenly i juz felt super small n insignificant n abit lost. den suddenly i saw some ppl actually windsurfing in the middle of the vast ocean la! cant imagine wat will happen if they capsize! the waves n current will juz gobble them up la! GULP! CRUNCH CRUNCH...

haahaha anw the weirdest part is tt it is super sunny on the other side of the bridge!!

before goin to the golden gate bridge, i went to alamo sq in the morning. its the place where most of the victorian houses are congregated. nice?? and u can see the city sky scrapers in the background. really shows the contrast in types of buildings in SF.

den went to haight ashbury. the shops there are really cool. kinda like it there. aft tt went to golden gate park. went to the flower conservatory, japanese tea garden and the de young museum. hm the park is really pretty w alot of nice flowers.


(take another break! dun let ur eyes pop out!!)

24th june '06, saturday

Walk, walk, walk

went on a walking tour organised by the hostel. went to the touristy places n oso places with nice scenery!
view of the city and bay bridge. the bridge is double-decked, top for traffic coming into the city and bottom for traffic out of the city.

a pretty house!!
lombard street. see wat i mean by beautification.. haahah n oso the gradient of the hills...


tink its called chilli beef bread bowl. but the traditional one is the clam chowder bread bowl. i had tt. its actually clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl. supposedly the one fr boudin is the best cos its the original.. yummy yum yum!

<-- sea lions on pier 39!


toilet in the middle of the street.. -->
chinatown.
my room in SF
susan. one of my roommates. she always closes her eyes when there is a flash... took like more than 10 pics.. all eyes closed.. haahah











25th june '06, sunday

Pride Parade



was really lucky to be able to witness one of the largest pride parade in US. juz so happen tt i was there on the weekend tt it was gona be held. got a lot of pics n vids on it. haaahaah n actually caught this guy riding his motorcycle totally naked on tape... haaha next time den show u all.. aiyo! next time muz really show u all all the pics i took here. got so many! hahahah

i din stay for the whole parade cos had to leave for LA at 12pm. took a shuttle n got to LA aft an 8-hr ride. the shuttle dropped me at santa monica beach n i din know how to get to UCLA fr there.. so i juz went to one of the busstops w a sign tt has a bus and says tt it goes to UCLA and hopped onto the bus. den the bus driver told me tt she would be stopping at this place in UCLA tt din sound like anyt to me so i juz said ok. anw i'l be at UCLA.. better than nth.. but tt was the start of a new adventure la..

(u can go take a break here if u want.. hahahahah see.. i so welfare.. still recommend when u shld take breaks.. hahahah anw paiseh so long-winded ar.. really got so much to tell! i'm gona burst if i dun say everyt.)

i reached the sch at arnd 9pm. i was supposed to check into the apartment before 8pm. but they said if i were to check in aft tt i can juz call this certain no.. so i called tt no.. only to find out tt the no they provided is not in use... so i tried calling another service hotline.. n its really a HOT line cos i cannot get through cos engaged.. i tried a few times n juz cannot get through. den i juz super sian diao. so din know wat to do but tot stand down there oso no use so i asked this lady hu happened to walk by how to get to the place i supposed to go if i had arrived before 8pm. the lady was super nice! she drove me there n gave me her no so tt i can call her if anyt happens during my stay here in UCLA n when i need some help. tink in Singapore sure cannot find such nice ppl one lo.. hahaha. anw, i guess they told us to arrive there before 8 pm for a reason cos tt place was closed when i reached there. and since the nice lady left le n i oso paiseh to call n bother her, i decided maybe can try callin the HOT line again. den i realised there got no public phone.. so i went to the nearest apartment n stuck my head through one of the open windows to borrow a phone... so paiseh.. den tried call le still engaged.. den cannot bother the person so i decided to go to the place i assumed i'd be stayin (which turned out to be NOT the place i was supposed to stay) and see how. hahahah so i walked up the freaking hills (this place is filled w hills n slopes la! i tink my calf muscles will be damn gao when i get back to singapore lo) ,and somemore with my luggage, to the stupid place which requires a code to enter.. so again i'm stuck by the roadside not knowing wat to do.. tink this really the first time i felt so lost la! haahah foreign land... den late at night like 11 lidat..den w my all my luggage.. den super damn cold... den hungry n tired cos of the stupid 8-hr ride fr SF and all the walkin up the damn slopes.. den worst thing is no public phones n no nearby apartments cos all need code to access.. n i dunno wat to do!! hahhaah like movie not?!? cant believe it la! so in the end ended up stopping another guy along the road n askin him for help.. borrowed his phone to call tt SUPER HOT line.. but ya... still HOT n engaged.. so he decided to press the intercom for the apartments to ask for help. n FINALLY got somewhere. the person told him tt i shld go to this farny place where i hve again no idea where it is. N i tell u.. the ppl here really damn nice la.. juz like the lady before, he gave me a ride in his car to the dunno wat place n gave me his no so tt i can call him if i need any help.. singapore cant even find one person lidat and i met two here in 2 hours!( thus i concluded tt the ppl here are really helpful and friendly. and they really are. really.) so finally i got to the place to check in to my apartment. the person told me where my apartment was n yea.. again.. i dunno where the hell is tt stupid place...n so.. like i said before.. haaha the ppl here are really nice, one of the staff drove me up to my place. she even gave me a short orientation of how to get to sch n stuff. by the time i got to my apartment, i was like super tired n sian le. hahaha ok so the end of one adventure.

ahaaha anw aft tt found out got a singaporean in my apartment. at tt time dunno to be sian or happy cos at tt time i tot she's damn mean la.. anw aft tt found out its a misunderstanding so now i tink she's ok. hahaa my roomie is a San Franciscan hu is like super nice. she's a senior in UCLA n has been stayin here for past few years. so damn shiok cos she got all the stuff like pots n utensils n spices n water filter n all the essential stuff! damn zai! den she oso knows the system of the sch n stuff so she juz told me watever i wanna know..

i tink i'm fated to be in 11.. in ntu i in hall 11.. here i stay in apartment 11.. and both are super far away fr sch... anw my add here is 558 glenrock ave apartment 11.. dunno the postal code tho.. but its not like u all gona send stuff here la cos tink by the time the stuff reaches i'l be back in singapore le.. hee show u my apartment..
my room. i got the smaller room cos i arrived the last.. so cannot choose.
living room -->
<-- kitchen
toilet -->

my apartment got 4 ppl. 2 singaporeans, 1 san franciscan and 1 korean. the korean girl is damn spoilt la.. hahahahah tink she's a korean bimbo. she wears makeup and high heels at hme and she does manicure when she's free. and she told me herself tt her studies not gd. she q sweet n pretty one.. so i tin kall those stated above qualifies her as a bimbo? hahaah anw she gave another adventure which i din tink i'l ever hve in singapore. haha but tt one i say another day..

this post really super long. n i know u got alot of breaks in between when reading le but i haven had any since i started typing.. hahaah so i gona go slp now n continue another day! anw hope u din find it too boring! i already tried to make it interesting! haahaah my level jiu shi zhe yang le! its 0411hrs here. haha ok nitez! =)

'cindy's life history' online textbook here.

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