Grand Canyon Day Tour
If you’re visiting Las Vegas for the first time, you should take a day off to visit the Grand Canyon. You can enquire about the day trip at any of the hotel concierge along the Strip.
Usually, it’s blazing hot in the Grand Canyon, but on the day that I visited… It was so cold! Thank God, I brought my jacket.
First stop, Hoover Dam.
This is where the miracle of Las Vegas begins - it powers the entire city.
The Grand Canyon is truly a sight to behold. I feel so tiny!
Everyone takes a breather at Bright Angel Lodge. You can purchase stones and other memorabilia.
Or… Snap photos at the viewing porch outside the lodge. The scenery is really gorgeous.
Too much backlight. Oops!
Happy weekend =)
Day 3 in Las Vegas: NY NY and M&M’s
Las Vegas is famed for its dazzling casinos. And each casino has its own attraction.
At New York New York… It’s a roller coaster.
Looks easy?
You bet… I just love the loop don’t you? It’s like taking a regular dive in a jet plane. Except… I don’t have a pilot license and I hate the feeling of dropping out of my seat!
Check our how cool and comfy I was before I sat the roller coaster ride.
But my mind was racing… negative g force. negative g force…
The moment I sat on the roller coaster, I told my friend: “why did I even agree on taking this……… ahhhhhhhhhhhhh” and off we went.
After thoughts? I shudder at the thought of sitting roller coasters. And I’m one of those people who dread the re-opening of the dueling roller coasters in Singapore. *Glup*
Onto happier thoughts. I pop by M&M’s stall in Las Vegas!
It’s all about the chocolate, baby…
I purchased an M&M’s cup and I’ve been using it as my milo & hot-choc mug. It makes me happy.
It is a fun place to be in. I heart the life-size M&M’s!
Oh the care-free student life where all that matters was comfort… You can get away with super casual wear and clashing colours… Yet… now, I will think twice about wearing a pair of shorts out of the house. If only I was half as cool as this guy…
Or maybe I should pick out a pointer or two from Mr. Coca-Cola.
I just love Polar Bears. Don’t you?
=) Happy weekend!
Day 2 in Las Vegas. Magaritaville, Caeser Palace & TI
It sure takes much commitment to blog regularly, especially when I have to balance a 9-to-5 job and I am not paid to blog full time… Anyway, I took some time to have more hair snipped off. Am I’m lovin’ it!!!!
Now onto day two of Las Vegas.
At our first stop, Kunali and I checked out Magaritaville - famed for their gigantic glass of magarita.
The waiting area is so cosy…
Now when you are at Magaritaville, a must-have is their 20 oz. pilsner glass worth of margarita. You can also try the super-duper tall Magarita-to-go at stand-up shops along the Strip.
I like!
Thereafter, Kunali and I went on a bird hunt at The Flamingo…
Spotted!
En route to Caeser Palace, we spent sometime at the fountain outside the grand hotel.
I presume this is Zeus… The greatest God in Greek mythology. By this time of the day, I’ve already purchased some goods - do you spy the paper bag? Shoppaholics!
I tried my luck at the penny machine in Caeser palace. After all, this is Las Vegas… The home of Casinos. I won 11 cents on the penny machine! Well, it is not about gambling or winning money… But gaining the luck according to Chinese tradition.
Now this is one of my favourite shots inside the Casino.
It spells ‘Revolution’.
The last stop for the day was at Treasure Island or TI.
There is this gigantic pirate ship outside TI. Do catch the evening show, where the performers take on pirate roles and thrill you with their mini musical. A pity all the photos were blur, so I deleted them already. =(
Lastly, inside the TI… I fell in love with this stunning bike. I love the haunting eyes.
Happy weekend!
Day 1 in Las Vegas. The Venetian & Stratosphere.
Liberation!
If you are wondering why I have been so awfully quiet over the past few weeks, that’s because I’ve been so exhausted going for courses after courses and needed some time off to rest my body.
Took the time to sort out 2 of my external hard disks - after hard disk #1 crashed on me leaving me in pieces for a good two months. Fast forward… and I’m now a proud owner of three hard disk, and have sorted out every single folder and its content.
Hooray!
I’m overjoyed beyond description. And as promised… here are my pictures from my exchange trip to North America.
First up, let’s pull in at the glitzy city of LAS VEGAS! Show me the money… baby!
Now, I was pretty tired after having travelled 8 hours via GreyHound down from Los Angeles (I’ll blog about this another time) and definitely grumpy having left my beloved handphone in LA. But, the thought of stepping into this miraculous city in the middle of the desert perked me up.
The first stop I made was at the Venetian where I booked a ticket to watch Phantom of the Opera. I’m a broadway lover, so I just had to watch this no matter how much it costs. I think we watched an afternoon session as it was cheaper and it was the best fit into our schedule.
Here’s Kunali and I outside the Venetian. Kunali was my house mate for 4 months. She’s a party girl and I’m a homey.
Here’s the stage in the theatre. The chandelier that hangs in the middle actually moves!
At the Venetian I ate a bowl of delicious noodle soup. It cost me US$9! But totally worth it for I had not had a proper Chinese meal in one month. I was sick and tired of the roasted potatoes, pizza and cornflakes combo. No… Basmati rice does not cut it, no matter how much it cost. I want CHINESE FOOD!!!
Here I am with zero make-up, one strand of braided hair (I miss that so much!) and one big bowl of noodles. YUM!
This was how much I love the noodles. Close friends of mine know that I never finish my carbs, not so much because I’m on a supposedly-permanent diet, but because my stomach is really small.
I can even remember how the noodles tasted. Mmmm….
More photos of the Venetian…
Walkways with huge archs.
And really happy people.
Typical tourist shot. Lol!
More photos of Las Vegas…
Such a magical city… really…
There are free shows in most of the Casinos, and for Circus Circus, it was all about acrobats.
Night was a crazy affair.
Say hello to Stratosphere!
This place has the most amazing view of the strip at night. Check this blurry photo of mine. Pardon me… but, this is the best that you can get with trembling fingers. It was freezing at the top! We are in a desert after all… remember?
Steady… steady…
There! To Las Vegas and beyond!
Let’s move it, move it!
A month ago (yea, this is pretty back dated) I brought my adorable niece to Universal Studios. She was in love with the characters from Madagascar. Mind you, when I say in love… I seriously mean crazily in love.
She has been saying “Let’s move it, move it” every single day since ONE MONTH AGO!!!!
So here we are with the characters from Madagascar.
Here’s the lion…
Here’s the Hippo… I like Hippos!
And here are the penguins!
And the monkey…
Er, I guess it speaks about Gwyneth’s love for the monkey…
But I secretly love the giraffe the most…
What I wore: Spaghetti dress from Uniqlo - oh so comfy in the burning 35 degrees, LV pouchette. Did I mention that I got a bad burn after being in the sun that day?
In the Madagascar zone, there is this carousel filled with almost life version of the characters. Due to Gwyneth’s enthusiasm about the whole “move it, move it” movement, we took the ride 4 times.
Here’s Gwyneth’s solo picture with the gang…
I know Gwyneth is looking forward to her next Universal Studios outing to do more “Move it, move it”
And I’m looking forward to waffle fries at the Friar’s counter. Yum!
Turkey - Istanbul Part 3
Rounding up my stay in Turkey… the Bosphorus Cruise. This cruise trip takes you from the Sirkeci Station at Istanbul out to the black sea. We didn’t exactly dwell in the black sea per se, but we went far enough to see for ourselves how the black sea looks like.
Waving goodbye to the port at Istanbul.
Up next is the Ottoman Imperial Palace - Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinsk. It looks pretty grand… You can also stay here at a premium.
Now, this building is known as the Dolmabahçe Palace. This is the final place where Ataturk resided in before he passed on.
Chugging up the river, we come across the famous Bosphorus Bridge. 
With the Ortakoy Mosque seated beside it.
Looks gorgeous under the noon sun. This scene strangely reminds me of Sydney harbour. (I shall get around to blogging my trip to down under)
Moving along, from afar we spy the Rumeli Hisari, a huge fortress guarding Turkey.
I can imagine the number of soldiers who spent days at this fortress.
Soon, we passed by an Albanian Village, Arnavutkoy. The pretty water houses that we see here are known as yalis.
Please indulge me as I show you the many pictures that I took of this photogenic water village.
Not too far away, a hill side covered with clusters of housing. What a stark contrast to the water city.
The last stop at the end of the Bosphorus river… Anadolu Kavagi.
We took yet another steep climb to the top - it could rival climbing up to Tokapi Palace.
I had quite a lot of fun snapping shots at this site.
This was not some random hole that we found. This is the hole to get through if you want to explore the fort.
And look… I did see the Black Sea in person!!!
We were very lucky to have such great weather.
On cloudy days you can’t see that far into the horizon. Yes, we were very very lucky indeed.
Now you can’t exactly see how nervous I was taking this shot, but trust me… If the wind was any stronger, I would have fallen down the cliff.
And I just had to make my friend take this shot for me.
By lunch time, I was famished. We ate seafood at a restaurant near the port.
All vegans pardon Ganny’s shirt.
Lunch was sumptuous. My tummy was happy and so was I.
On the way back, we saw more sites.
This is Beylerbeyi Palace.
And this is the Maiden’s Tower.
When we docked, we explored the nearby market.
Leeches for sale. Said to help people with blood clots. I’m serious.
Duckies for sale…
And last but not least, we made one final stop to the spice market to grab some tea.
This place sold more than just spices and tea. They sold non-perishable items as well.
Well that pretty much sums up my trip and stay in Turkey. See you at the next destination! =)
Turkey - Assos
Assos also known as Behramkale, is a town where Aristotle lived for a period of time. This place that was once a thriving civilisation, now lies in ruins.
I can’t remember the real reason why my friends and I decided to make this stop before heading to Istanbul. It could be because this was a half day trip and it fitted nicely in our itinerary.
What remains of Assos is surprisingly little. There are two main attractions. The Athena temple and the port.
This was the view from the top. A little patchy, but imagination does wonders. I bet it looks luscious during spring.
You have to take a bus to the site of the Athena temple. Do be aware of which stop you want to get off at for my friends and I missed a stop and had to be in the bus for another 10 minutes for it to make a loop.
There were strange sharp plants at the temple. It was rather painful when pricked.
The view from the top was cool… Very Athens.
Whilst my friend Limin was trying to get her cool jumping shots. I got Ganny to take this for me.
It’s the sun, the sea and the mountains.
We took the same bus down to the village. This place is touristy…
We soaked our aching and sun burnt feet into the inviting waters. Ahhh… after such a long time…
Ganny took the time to even her tan.
No those ain’t her shoes. She’ll rather die than to ever wear them.
I had my ice-cream break too. My two must haves when I got travelling. Ice-cream and corn. They make me very very happy. Really.
C’est La Vie.
I know you’ll be wondering why some of my photos have watermark and some doesn’t. My 3rd hard disk and my lappy was threatening to crash on me when I was doing the watermark for these 2 photos… I don’t know what’s with me and my anti-electronic karma. But it’s definitely driving me nuts. My 3rd hard disk is only 2 weeks old… T.h.e… a.g.o..n…y……..
Turkey - Canakkale and Troy
The air in Turkey sure took a toll on my skin. I was breaking out in pimples! But I was loving my tan. And my corn on the cob of course…
An 8 hour ride took us from Kusadasi to Canakkale. By the time we reached, it was night fall.
By this time, I missed the food at home terribly. This was also the time I told myself I’m never going to eat kebabs for a long long long time to come.
We took our dinner at this kebab stall. It was inexpensive and probably the only food shop that was open at that unearthly hour.
There was a dessert stall open though…
I didn’t feel safe walking on the streets of Canakkale. I’m used to walking down streets alone, but the vibe in Canakkale… was strangely eerie and uneasy. So we headed back to the student hostel after we were done with walking the two main streets.
The next day, I woke up in a way much better mood.
We made it to the famous land of Troy!
I finally ditched my tees for a spaghetti top. Which I later regretted because I incurred a very bad burn.
3 of us made it to the top of the horse. We were 3 extremes. My friend Ganny (far right) was ridiculously burned by this time of the trip. My other friend Limin (centre) was avoiding the sun like a plague. She wore this cardigan everywhere she went. And I mean everywhere regardless of the temperature. I on the other hand, liked the sun but totally regretted being burned.
This was probably the saddest part of the trip.
Despite the glorious story of the battle at Troy. Whether it was a myth or not…
This land called Troy was…
Flat land.
Flat land.
Flat land.
You get my drift…
It was so boring, the sight of purple flowers made me smile.
Where are the ferocious men of Troy!?!?!?
So if you are tight for time in Turkey, skip Troy totally. It is not worth the time or effort.
Thereafter, having sometime to spare we headed to Galipoli.
We visited this fort museum.
But we couldn’t snap pictures indoors. And it wasn’t interesting. So we left soon enough.
I had more fun by the seaside.
We managed to convince some kids to take pictures with us!
Er… and here is the head of the horse.
Dinner was delightful. I had grilled fish and muscles. YUM!
See you at the next stop! Istanbul…
Turkey - Kusadasi & Ephesus
I’m deeply embarrassed. But I’ve finally gotten around to blog about Turkey - after reviving 2 external hard disks!
Travelling through Turkey was a breeze compared to the blazing weather in Egypt. Do wear sleeved tops out of respect of the Turks.
After docking at Kusadasi, we took some time to explore the city. Even though the city is really small, the tourist area is rather colourful.
When you are in Turkey, you need to try some of their local “sweets”. Try it with their turkish tea or apple tea. Be warned, they taste really really sweet.
Looks yummy right? I loved this flavour!
And of course, you have to eat the Turkish ice-cream! Cheeky ice-cream sellers - if you know what I mean.
Is it just me or the names of the tea are just queer. Rose hip tea and sex tea?!
Kusadasi is the transit point for most visitors travelling from and to Greece. It will be worthwhile to make a day trip to Ephesus whilst you are in Kusadasi. My friends and I were exhausted by this point in the trip, so we chose to make a half-day tour around the main sites of Kusadasi. On hindsight, I would have loved to spend another half of the afternoon visiting the Mother Mary site.
Ephesus is also the place where the book of Ephesians was written. I mean it does make sense doesn’t it?
Anyway, in Ephesus the place to visit is the library of Celsus.
After visiting countless of sites with rocks and pillars. I say this library stands out. I like it.
I can imagine it in its grandeur. Imagine the number of books stored here!
Hail to civilisation.
(One of those rare photos of me without make-up)
And I had to take a picture with a statue. There was this insider joke throughout the entire trip of me being fascinated with statues and I had to take a picture with all that I saw.
No. I ain’t kidding. I really did take picture with all the pretty statues I saw.
This is the place where I took this picture as well!
Washroom for the modern man and woman. I like.
Even the cat likes it.
These are evidences of the thriving civilisation in Ephesus - just like how they were written in my history texts.
Oh and Ephesus is famous for being the first in the world to have advertisement.
Unfortunately, it is advertising about the world’s oldest trade. That is a heart next to the hole. That is indeed a depiction of a foot. And the hole is really meant to be there. I shall not elaborate more. Let’s just leave it as it is.
What a way to end my trip in Kusadasi and Ephesus. =D
Next up, Canakkle and Troy!