Travelling along Route 66, Arizona
San Franciso International Airport
World First Disneyland, Anaheim
Las Vegas, Nevada
Calico Ghost Town
Lake Mead
PATH OF HONEYMOONERS
United States, West Coast (20 - 30 Sept)
20 Sept (Thur)
We departed from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at around 0930 hrs. Weather was not exceptionally warm but our heart-beat were fast; we’re excited about our trip to the States.
Our SQ-012 flight transited at Narita Airport, straight after a toilet break, we’re on another near 10 hours journey to arrive at Los Angeles. Journey was long. Meals served on the plane were delicious. You could choose either an International meal or a Japanese meals.
We took nearly 2 hours to clear all Immigration Check at the LA Airport. Finally arrived at Wyndham Anaheim Park Hotel at 1700 hrs local time. Temperature was approximately 18deg cel. Unpacked our luggage, we had our very first free-&-easy walk round the external hotel premises. We tried KFC. That’s all for the night. TV was boring. We slept early. Trying to recover from any jetlag if possible.
21 Sept (Fri)
Joanne constantly woke up in the middle of the night, while I’ve got a wonderful sleep throughout the night. I think that apply to whatever place I travel to. The one and only activity for today was Anaheim Disneyland, the world first Disneyland. Truth enough, we stayed till 2145 hrs before making our way back to the hotel. We tried lots of theme park rides. Most of them made our adrenaline pumping real hard and high. Lucky Joanne was in pants today, the tour-guide managed to lure her to join in some of the exciting rides. Beside involving in many unforgotten rides of life, we bought some souvenirs too. We’ve got another exclusive Disneyland-made Precious Moment Figuring being added to our latest collection.
22 Sept (Sat)
We visited the Universal Studio, Hollywood, today. We embarked on an exciting tram which showed us the behind-the-scene production. Now I can understand why Hollywood’s productions were so successful. It was raining today, but we still managed to try some rides and attended some performances. Later in the noon, we did some shopping at the Universal CityWalk, had a Chinese oriental dinner too. Early night off to bed as this was going to be our last night in Anaheim, we’re moving to Laughlin.
23 Sept (Sun)
We’ve got a great time shopping at Tanger Factory outlet. Joanne spent nearly US$300 at the famous Coach outlet. Well, I spent US$85 though. Other than the wallets and bags, we helped ourselves with Levis and Polo Raphn too. Noon, with the arrangement from Alan, our tour-guide, both Joanne and I got married again at the Calico Ghost Town. We were issued with an America Calico Ghost Town Marriage Certificate which was long expired in the late 18th century. Night fall, we arrived in Laughlin, checked into River Palm Hotel which we’re going to spend only one night before heading to the Grand Canyon the next day.
24 Sept (Mon)
In order to hit Highway Route 40 as soon as possible, we left River Palm Hotel as early as 0900 hrs. After leaving Laughlin, heading towards Arizona, our coach broke down in the middle of Highway Route 40. Our coach’s engine caught fire and we were forced to evacuate from the coach. All passengers were standing by the road waiting for the rescue team to arrive. Instead of worried, all of us were making use of this rare opportunity to have our photos taken with the heroic fire-fighters and fire engine. Another coach arrived to send us back to Laughlin before a back-up coach from Los Angeles picked us up and headed towards Williams, Grand Canyon.
We were constantly reminded not to spend too much time on lunch and toilet breaks as we’re really in a hurry to capture Grand Canyon by sunset. Kudos to the tour-guide, we managed to have a few photos taken with the one of the world seven nature wonder, Grand Canyon, with style. Temperature dropped dramatically in Arizona. It was freezing cold, but the delicious spaghetti and mash potatoes compensated all.
25 Sept (Tues)
Today was a long day. We started our day by waking up at 0500 hrs, rushed to the National Park to watch the Grand Canyon sun-rise. It was freezing cold for all of us. After breakfast, we made our way to Grand Canyon Canverns. It was a rare, highly preserved natural dry cave which was near 21-stories below the ground. We had got Bacon and Cheese-burger for lunch. Straight after that, we hit the road again. This time round to Historic Route 66. I was pretty excited about this Route 66. Few hours of car-ride, finally we’ve arrived at Las Vegas. Checked into the hotel and once again, we’re on our way for our Las Vegas night tour. It was a very convenient tour considered we just have got to pay a small sum of money and we’ve got a coach sending us around Las Vegas. Particularly places like Mirage, Caesar Palace, Treasure Island, Bellagio and etc. Joanne and me were dead tired although the both of us were truly touched by the Ballegio‘s water fountain display. It was a dozen time much grand and better than our Sentosa's. The night tour ended just before 2300 hrs and we’re glad that we do not need to wake up that early the next day.
26 Sept (Wed)
We went to Lake Mead for a fish-feeding session. Hoover Dam was the next destination. And finally back to Las Vegas strips. It’s photo-taking day in and day out. Day time of Las Vegas is attractive too. Every single hotel has it’s own characters and uniqueness. Every hotel has it’s own world within the hotel itself. This is amazing. Joanne and me even said if we’re coming back to Las Vegas again, we’re going to stay at Bellagio. Once again, tour-guide, Alan, couldn’t keep his promise of giving us some free-time to shop around strips. Sight-seeing timing was delayed and we did not manage to have 3 hours of free-&-easy to shop around. Evening, we went for the Bally’s Jubilee topless show. Fantastic.
27 Sept (Thur)
Our United States domestic flight to San Francisco was delayed for an hour. This is the my first time I’ve encountered flight delay. According to reliable source, United States vice-president was on Air Force-1 from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and so we’ve got to give them total security to touch down before we’re allowed to fly off to Oakland. In flight, I chatted with an American old lady, Kim, throughout the whole flight journey. She even invited me to stay with her family if evenrwe’ve got an opportunity to come to the States again. The weather in San Francisco was so cold. So much different from Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It really makes you shivered down the spine when the wind starts blowing. For your info, the wind never stop blowing. Golden Gate Bridge and Union Square were spectacular. During our 1 hour free-&-easy at Union Square, Joanne and me just didn’t have any idea of what to do. We went window-shopping at Levis, Nike, Gucci and etc. Didn’t spend much money as our main shopping sprin will start tomorrow at Gilroy Factory Outlet.
28 Sept (Friday)
We spent nearly the whole day doing last minute shopping at Gilroy Factory Outlets. I spent nearly US$150 on items like Adidas shirts & bags, Guess's shirts, Levis's T-shirts, and lots more. Joanne had got her fair share of spending too. Travelling to and fro San Franciso and Gilroy was not easy; journey was long and boring. Night, we're at the San Franciso International Airport, ready to fly back to Singapore.
29 Sept (Saturday)
Flight departed at midnight 0130 hrs. Once again, have to undergo those tight security "shoes/belts off" immigration check
30 Sept (Sunday)
A near 12 hours straight flight to HongKong, and another 4 hours to arrive at Changi. By then, due to those complicated date and time zone calculation, we touched down in Singapore on the 30 Sept, 12oo hrs. Home sweet home. Trying to catch a nap at 1700 hrs but who knows, both Joanne and me slept till 0130 hrs. We woke up realising tha we've missed our dinner which we've been craving for, especially Char Kway Tiao and Hokkien Mee. We ordered Mac delievery at 0200 hours. The time now is 0552 hours. I am having jetlag. I am still awake!
