Best moments in USA
Best Moments in USA
It's been more than a month since I've come back from the US of A, but I must admit the feeling of staying on foreign grounds, working my ass off together with locals and internationals and travelling in some of the world's greatest cities still linger in my mind till now. I guess it has gotta be one of the best trips I've ever had, but what's more certain is that it's definitely the one trip which I grew most from. I've learnt a lot about myself, my friends and the US way of life.
Setbacks, there were many many. Friendship lost, money issues arose, work problems faced and resolved, inadequate housing facilities and provisions suffered, and never forgetting the exhaustion experienced after every single day of work. (Climb that hill Khas, climb it!) It may seem like it's a trip gone wrong, but there is always sunshine after the rain, does it not?
Sunshine came in the form of NYC, Niagara Falls, white-water rafting at Black & Hudson river, a lot more friendships gained (and still going strong!), earning USD$400 a week, shopping trips to nearby factory outlets & more, Singaporean BBQ Night, awesome colleagues and supervisors, Dr. Phil on TV weeknights (all the 'ooos' and the 'ahhs' and the 'eeewss') and home-cooked rice meals by Taiwanese girls. What's there not to love?
The most amazing thing about USA is not its great cities, the death-defying rides in the themepark, or even the sizzling hot, horny and very liberal American babes, but its spectacular American night sky.
Japan 'night sky' in Hana Kimi.
The real American night sky is tons better than this, I can see Big Dipper, Small Dipper, heck Medium Dipper also can! On certain nights, I can see a large part of the Milky Way. Almost every other night, I see Gemini and many other less important constellations (such as Cancer), the Northern star, Sirius, the brightest star on Earth's sky and even Jupiter, which shines very brightly in orange amidst the night sky! I know all this not because I am an Astro Nerd, but because I have the company of the President of AJC Astronomy Club. The best view is of course on top of the hill, away from the cities, away from lighted areas, and that just fitted the description of the cabins we were staying in!
Other than that, I really miss the camaraderie amongst all the Singaporeans in Gr8 Escape.
Team Singapore BBQ: The thorn among the roses!
Damn, now with the other two thorns.
The theme for Team Singapore BBQ is Red & White, ie colours of the Singapore flag!
SJ's farewell at Johnny Rockets with nearly the whole Taiwan crew.
I still remember this night very vividly, we bought drinks from the bar and played Uno and Heart Attack until 1 AM even though there was work the following day. You could say we brought the whole house down with our Asian noise levels.
Team Singapore: Ian's Bday Celebration & Murni/Faith's farewell party at Red Lobster.
Here you can see Faith's ultra chio hairstyle!
Team Singapore Slumber Party: Betty's room!
I have three girls on top of me, you tell me shiok or not!!! Well that explains the red face.
The Slumber Party is also farewell party for the four SkyCoaster girls and Jean and Fiona.
Team SG + 1 Taiwanese.
By the time it reaches our farewell, all the other Singaporeans have already left to travel! So we celebrated it with our Taiwanese Friends!
With Raphy, Jasmine, Maggie & Dora at UNO opposite Walmart.
Zoe looks so pretty at the back. :D
White-water rafting was one of the best experiences I had in USA. You can never get that volume of fast flowing water in Singapore or even Malaysia, you have to experience it there yourself. The guide told us it was rare that the water level reached that high during this Summer, if I remember correctly the increase in water level was 5 foot in height, so you can bloody imagine how fast the river was bringing our boat! Quote unquote the guide, "THE WATER'S PHENOMENAL!"
Do these pictures look like 4bia's third story? :D
I have a story to tell. At one point during the rafting when the river was calmer, our guide said we could jump into the water if we wanted to. He also advised us to jump on the left cos it was more rocky on the right. So what I did was jump into the river with Ian and we happily swam around and slowly drifted away until we realised the boat was not moving forward to rescue us!
In fact, the guide was busy rescuing some girls who jumped on the right and didn't notice we were already drifting far away from him. 100 metres later, Ian managed to grab the rocky riverbank and stayed there while I drifted further... and further... and further...
I think I was more than 1 km away from my boat when I was sorta rescued by the boat in front of us. Thankfully for that boat, else this entry would have been written from the graveyard.
Oh yah, the photographer managed to capture my face in really weird expressions. My horrified moments, ahem ahem. Before this, the high waves collided with our boat and I plunged into the dark waters of Black River. That was the scariest moment of my life for I thought I was going to die!
I was lucky I was the front paddler because I got to see everything! The high waves, the plunging rapids, the twirling of riverwater atop potholes... in short I got the best view! But the drawback of being in the front line position was that you'd be the hardest hit by the impact of waves, rapids etc, and the probability of falling into the water was high - like say 1 in 3 under turbulent conditions. It's full impact and great view, who's not game for that man? I was, even though I had to paddle twice as hard as everyone else behind me.
I went rafting another time, this time at Hudson River, but our Miss Maggie P deleted all the photographs we took so I have no evidence of rafting on that river. But the water was phenomenal too, and adding on to the fun factor was the onslaught of rain. It was pouring non-stop and the river was as choppy as can be. Shiok!
And then there was SkyCoaster.
This is ze SkyCoaster.
A close up.
See that little man near the top of the pole on the right? Cables are connected from pole to pole to lift people up to the highest point and then once the controller gives the cue to fly, the cord is released and they fly. Yes, free-fall flight. A few metres above the ground, they are grabbed by the harness around their bodies and then they swing like a pendulum until they come to a stop. Rawh, fun!
And then we jump!
Warning: Tilt your head/monitor to watch. I have not received the better quality vid from Betty. So let's make do with this. Yes I am the one jumping - I'm on the left. Not to be confused with Ian on the right, who bent his legs when he's not supposed to.
I took it twice, consecutively. Once was with the two guys and then with two girls, Huong and Inaaaa.
I still remember very, very vividly how my virgin flight occurred. Rene, being the tallest among us three was in the middle and Ian was supposed to pull the cord. As we were being lifted up by the cables, all of us could hear a 'ching' sound as if the hooks were about to give way and then...
Ian: Eh, did you guys hear that?
*silence from the two of us*
A few seconds later,
Rene: Wah, very high.
Ian: OMG, OMG, omg very high.
*silence from me throughout the lift*
At the top...
The fence is made in the shape of a coffin. Sadist bastards!!!
Betty: Flyers, are you ready? 3,2,1 FLY!!!!!!
Ian: Hey guys I pull ah...
*silence from the two of us*
Ian: Ehh, guys, I pull ah.
*again, silence from us*
A second later, I felt the cord being released from our harness and at that instant, I felt everything around us stopped. The three of us were just up in the air 175 feet from the ground, not moving, no cables whatsoever, just hanging by NOTHING, and the very next moment, our bodies just accelerated towards rockbottom by the action of gravity. Shiok dao!
In the second flight, I was in the middle because I was taller than the two girls. Ina was supposed to pull the cord. During the lift, the girls screamed so loud into my ears and made me semi-deaf I tell you.
Ina: Fang wo xia lai, wo hen pa!!!! FANG WO XIA LAI AHHHHHHH! (Bring me down, I'm very scared!)
Huong: Khas, I very scared arh, bring me down... I don't want to ride this arh. HELP!!!
Repeat that at least 20 times. I can still remember Betty's evil no-no smile as the girls begged to be lowered back to the ground as the cable was being pulled upwards to the peak point.
At the top, the two girls were going to sob anytime, or were already weeping??? I dunno. Truth was I was enjoying the moment watching them so freaked out!
Betty: Flyers, are you ready? 3,2,1 FLY!!!
Ina: Huh? How to pull? Khas, you pull for me?
Me: HUHH? I got no hand to pull for you leh! (Both of my arms were entangled in theirs)
She pulled the cord, but not to the point of releasing it fully so we were still stuck there after a few seconds later.
Betty: Inaaa, da li yi dian! (Pull harder!)
Now the second flight was a tad different from the first. Unlike Ian, who told us two times that he was going to pull the cord, Ina in her horrified state of mind didn't give us any form of signal that she was going to pull it. So the second drop was rather abrupt but still fun and enjoyable nonetheless.
The ill-preparedness made it even more thrilling!
And then there was Sky Diving.
Which I backed out at the very last minute. Due tolack of insufficient funds. I got balls okay, but if I had gone for it, I wouldn't have money for travelling. That was what I thought - but eventually, I ended up bringing quite a bit of money back to Singapore. I should have gone Sky Diving!!!
It would be so complete, with me doing all the things I'd never dreamt of doing in this lifetime, ie freefalling from 175 feet and river rafting in the chaotic rivers of the Adirondacks, New York. If anyone's game for Sky Diving, please do not forget to count me in!
I think after taking the SkyCoaster, my fear of heights has sorta faded away. I feel nothing is impossible now. I committed suicide from the 16th Storey once, and survived. What else is there for me to be afraid of?
Will be back with tons of pictures from travelling to 4 big cities in USA.
It's been more than a month since I've come back from the US of A, but I must admit the feeling of staying on foreign grounds, working my ass off together with locals and internationals and travelling in some of the world's greatest cities still linger in my mind till now. I guess it has gotta be one of the best trips I've ever had, but what's more certain is that it's definitely the one trip which I grew most from. I've learnt a lot about myself, my friends and the US way of life.
Setbacks, there were many many. Friendship lost, money issues arose, work problems faced and resolved, inadequate housing facilities and provisions suffered, and never forgetting the exhaustion experienced after every single day of work. (Climb that hill Khas, climb it!) It may seem like it's a trip gone wrong, but there is always sunshine after the rain, does it not?
Sunshine came in the form of NYC, Niagara Falls, white-water rafting at Black & Hudson river, a lot more friendships gained (and still going strong!), earning USD$400 a week, shopping trips to nearby factory outlets & more, Singaporean BBQ Night, awesome colleagues and supervisors, Dr. Phil on TV weeknights (all the 'ooos' and the 'ahhs' and the 'eeewss') and home-cooked rice meals by Taiwanese girls. What's there not to love?
The most amazing thing about USA is not its great cities, the death-defying rides in the themepark, or even the sizzling hot, horny and very liberal American babes, but its spectacular American night sky.
Japan 'night sky' in Hana Kimi.
The real American night sky is tons better than this, I can see Big Dipper, Small Dipper, heck Medium Dipper also can! On certain nights, I can see a large part of the Milky Way. Almost every other night, I see Gemini and many other less important constellations (such as Cancer), the Northern star, Sirius, the brightest star on Earth's sky and even Jupiter, which shines very brightly in orange amidst the night sky! I know all this not because I am an Astro Nerd, but because I have the company of the President of AJC Astronomy Club. The best view is of course on top of the hill, away from the cities, away from lighted areas, and that just fitted the description of the cabins we were staying in!
Other than that, I really miss the camaraderie amongst all the Singaporeans in Gr8 Escape.
Team Singapore BBQ: The thorn among the roses!
Damn, now with the other two thorns.
The theme for Team Singapore BBQ is Red & White, ie colours of the Singapore flag!
SJ's farewell at Johnny Rockets with nearly the whole Taiwan crew.
I still remember this night very vividly, we bought drinks from the bar and played Uno and Heart Attack until 1 AM even though there was work the following day. You could say we brought the whole house down with our Asian noise levels.
Team Singapore: Ian's Bday Celebration & Murni/Faith's farewell party at Red Lobster.
Here you can see Faith's ultra chio hairstyle!
Team Singapore Slumber Party: Betty's room!
I have three girls on top of me, you tell me shiok or not!!! Well that explains the red face.
The Slumber Party is also farewell party for the four SkyCoaster girls and Jean and Fiona.
Team SG + 1 Taiwanese.
By the time it reaches our farewell, all the other Singaporeans have already left to travel! So we celebrated it with our Taiwanese Friends!
With Raphy, Jasmine, Maggie & Dora at UNO opposite Walmart.
Zoe looks so pretty at the back. :D
White-water rafting was one of the best experiences I had in USA. You can never get that volume of fast flowing water in Singapore or even Malaysia, you have to experience it there yourself. The guide told us it was rare that the water level reached that high during this Summer, if I remember correctly the increase in water level was 5 foot in height, so you can bloody imagine how fast the river was bringing our boat! Quote unquote the guide, "THE WATER'S PHENOMENAL!"
Do these pictures look like 4bia's third story? :D
I have a story to tell. At one point during the rafting when the river was calmer, our guide said we could jump into the water if we wanted to. He also advised us to jump on the left cos it was more rocky on the right. So what I did was jump into the river with Ian and we happily swam around and slowly drifted away until we realised the boat was not moving forward to rescue us!
In fact, the guide was busy rescuing some girls who jumped on the right and didn't notice we were already drifting far away from him. 100 metres later, Ian managed to grab the rocky riverbank and stayed there while I drifted further... and further... and further...
I think I was more than 1 km away from my boat when I was sorta rescued by the boat in front of us. Thankfully for that boat, else this entry would have been written from the graveyard.
Oh yah, the photographer managed to capture my face in really weird expressions. My horrified moments, ahem ahem. Before this, the high waves collided with our boat and I plunged into the dark waters of Black River. That was the scariest moment of my life for I thought I was going to die!
I was lucky I was the front paddler because I got to see everything! The high waves, the plunging rapids, the twirling of riverwater atop potholes... in short I got the best view! But the drawback of being in the front line position was that you'd be the hardest hit by the impact of waves, rapids etc, and the probability of falling into the water was high - like say 1 in 3 under turbulent conditions. It's full impact and great view, who's not game for that man? I was, even though I had to paddle twice as hard as everyone else behind me.
I went rafting another time, this time at Hudson River, but our Miss Maggie P deleted all the photographs we took so I have no evidence of rafting on that river. But the water was phenomenal too, and adding on to the fun factor was the onslaught of rain. It was pouring non-stop and the river was as choppy as can be. Shiok!
And then there was SkyCoaster.
This is ze SkyCoaster.
A close up.
See that little man near the top of the pole on the right? Cables are connected from pole to pole to lift people up to the highest point and then once the controller gives the cue to fly, the cord is released and they fly. Yes, free-fall flight. A few metres above the ground, they are grabbed by the harness around their bodies and then they swing like a pendulum until they come to a stop. Rawh, fun!
And then we jump!
Warning: Tilt your head/monitor to watch. I have not received the better quality vid from Betty. So let's make do with this. Yes I am the one jumping - I'm on the left. Not to be confused with Ian on the right, who bent his legs when he's not supposed to.
I took it twice, consecutively. Once was with the two guys and then with two girls, Huong and Inaaaa.
I still remember very, very vividly how my virgin flight occurred. Rene, being the tallest among us three was in the middle and Ian was supposed to pull the cord. As we were being lifted up by the cables, all of us could hear a 'ching' sound as if the hooks were about to give way and then...
Ian: Eh, did you guys hear that?
*silence from the two of us*
A few seconds later,
Rene: Wah, very high.
Ian: OMG, OMG, omg very high.
*silence from me throughout the lift*
At the top...
The fence is made in the shape of a coffin. Sadist bastards!!!
Betty: Flyers, are you ready? 3,2,1 FLY!!!!!!
Ian: Hey guys I pull ah...
*silence from the two of us*
Ian: Ehh, guys, I pull ah.
*again, silence from us*
A second later, I felt the cord being released from our harness and at that instant, I felt everything around us stopped. The three of us were just up in the air 175 feet from the ground, not moving, no cables whatsoever, just hanging by NOTHING, and the very next moment, our bodies just accelerated towards rockbottom by the action of gravity. Shiok dao!
In the second flight, I was in the middle because I was taller than the two girls. Ina was supposed to pull the cord. During the lift, the girls screamed so loud into my ears and made me semi-deaf I tell you.
Ina: Fang wo xia lai, wo hen pa!!!! FANG WO XIA LAI AHHHHHHH! (Bring me down, I'm very scared!)
Huong: Khas, I very scared arh, bring me down... I don't want to ride this arh. HELP!!!
Repeat that at least 20 times. I can still remember Betty's evil no-no smile as the girls begged to be lowered back to the ground as the cable was being pulled upwards to the peak point.
At the top, the two girls were going to sob anytime, or were already weeping??? I dunno. Truth was I was enjoying the moment watching them so freaked out!
Betty: Flyers, are you ready? 3,2,1 FLY!!!
Ina: Huh? How to pull? Khas, you pull for me?
Me: HUHH? I got no hand to pull for you leh! (Both of my arms were entangled in theirs)
She pulled the cord, but not to the point of releasing it fully so we were still stuck there after a few seconds later.
Betty: Inaaa, da li yi dian! (Pull harder!)
Now the second flight was a tad different from the first. Unlike Ian, who told us two times that he was going to pull the cord, Ina in her horrified state of mind didn't give us any form of signal that she was going to pull it. So the second drop was rather abrupt but still fun and enjoyable nonetheless.
The ill-preparedness made it even more thrilling!
And then there was Sky Diving.
Which I backed out at the very last minute. Due to
It would be so complete, with me doing all the things I'd never dreamt of doing in this lifetime, ie freefalling from 175 feet and river rafting in the chaotic rivers of the Adirondacks, New York. If anyone's game for Sky Diving, please do not forget to count me in!
I think after taking the SkyCoaster, my fear of heights has sorta faded away. I feel nothing is impossible now. I committed suicide from the 16th Storey once, and survived. What else is there for me to be afraid of?
Will be back with tons of pictures from travelling to 4 big cities in USA.
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