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!
St Paul, Minnesota
One of the most important spelling word in US’s context, is Mississippi. For some reason the many “S’s” and “P’s” make this a popular question posed to preschoolers. People will often think that Mississippi river originates from Mississippi, but they are wrong! The river actually starts near St Paul’s, Minnesota.
Being a twerp, I actually screamed at my friend to slow down as we were crossing this bridge where the river ran underneath it. It was a historical moment for me. A pity I didn’t manage to snap a good photo of it.
As we didn’t really have time exploring St Paul’s we just buzzed around the State Capitol and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. I even had the honour of popping into a chapel for a good 15 minutes.
So here are some photograph of my friends and I fooling around in the park and beyond.
Poonam and I taking a snap shot of the State Capitol, at the road divider.
The Chapel which we hopped in for a 15 minutes service.
Inside the Chapel
And one of my favourite shots. Except for the cut off Chapel.
And we went amok in the sculpture park…
Apparently this is quite a famous sculpture - Spoonbridge and Cherry.
Framed.
I’m swinging…
Glass Fish housed inside the sculpture building.
Ahh.. Fall, one of the loveliest time of the year…
Ahh.. The good life of an exchange student
Minneapolis - Mall of America
About two years ago, I took a 6 hours drive down with my friends to Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Because I was travelling so much, 6 hours was really easy-peasy.
Our first stop, was to have breakfast at a pancake house (can’t remember where it was). We headed to our motel much later (after our shopping trip). It was quite a hilarious sight squeezing 6 people into a tiny room. The girls had the beds, and the boys had to sleep on the floor or any available space in the room.
Thereafter, it was a FULL day of shopping at the biggest mall in America, “The Mall of America”. It is suppose to be huge, but to a shoppaholic, I had secretly hoped it was bigger. We had about 6 plus hours to conquer the entire mall. We left the mall at about 1900? I can’t remember why, even though the closing time for the mall is slated to be at 2130.
In the Mall of America, there are 4 departmental stores - Nordstorm, Macy’s, Sears and Bloomingdale’s. There is also Barnes and Nobles. I still remember that we parked near Bloomindale’s. The stalls were all so alluring, I bought quite a lot of stuff - even though I was a broke student.
I bought this pair of slippers for US$2 from Charlotte Russe - wore it to death as my dorm slippers. And I bought the forever 21 top from the flagship store for US$29 (I think).
I also bought a pair of pretty flats for US$19.90 (sale!) from famous footwear, which I also wore to death throughout my adventures in Canada, US and even in Singapore - I only had 2 pairs of sports shoes and 1 slipper when I went on exchange - how dumb ehz?
I didn’t buy any knickers from Victoria Secrets. but I remember spending a good amount of time in Abercrombie and Fitch - I was so tempted to buy this US$80 hooded jacket. Sigh, I was such a poor student, that I didn’t visit the Club Monaco store in MOA - wait, I think I didn’t know of its existence till 1 month later. J Crew didn’t leave an impression on me, so my friend and I didn’t go into the store. I didn’t remember seeing a H&M store then, if not I would have bought lots of stuff. We did stop by Auntie Annie’s to grab a pretzel. And I so should have gone into True Religion! The jeans would have been such great buys at such cheap prices, given that it was the sale season. Darn.
I was also a Chanel-idiot then - can you imagine, I actually gasp at my sister for buying the Chanel classic pearls necklace - If not, I would have spend most of my time getting my hands on one of the 2.55. When it was WAY much cheaper. Who cares about lugging 3 luggage bags, 4 paper bags, and one laptop bag? A 2.55 would have been puuurfect.
Other sights worth mentioning is that there is this a Nickelodeon Universe right smack in the middle of the mall. There is a roller-coaster, a mini-pet farm and a mini underwater world.
Nickelodeon land in the day
Nickelodeon land at night
Oh there is Lego shop too! And did I mention, level 4 is a theatre wonderland. Plus a hooters.
Food-wise, there are plenty to choose from. My friends and I ate at this cutesie place called Kokomo’s Island Cafe (level 3). We ordered a big palette of seafood and pork ribs. What joy.
Notice the braid in my hair? I did it Disneyland in LA. 
I would do anything to have it done again.
Coming up sometime this week, a continuation of my adventure in Minnesota - to the lovely St Pauls.
Up and up!
Reaching out for the sky and beyond.
The beauty of faith.
Late last year, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel North America. I have been able to witness the beauty of many famous sites like Niagara Falls for example. Ever since then, for the past couple of months, I sat at home and pondered about the wonders of life.
We are really living in a beautiful world.
Snip Snip
Snip, snip.
Prune, prune.
For a big and tall tree like the ones in red woods.
And with roots so deep, it has a strong firm foundation!
Miss the magnificent aroma and freshness you get after a short walk in the Muir woods. It’s like, up one year worth of life!