Boston 2008

I went to boston on the 1st of january 2008, took a united flight lasting 12 bloody hours, i watched like 3 movies on the lousy airplane...let me try to remember, not that u'll be interested anyway but it's just for memory's sake, u know, just to remember one of the worst times of your life...lol. I watched hairspray(which was pretty good btw, hoping i can maybe catch the musical in new york or something), the champ (starring the ever gd looker josh hartnett with his oh-so-cute small eyes, just like mine, a-hem), the movie was pretty touching btw, cried on board the plane...what a loser huh? lol, luckily most of the people were sleeping. And finally, i watched the darjeeling limited(starring owen wilson and the guy from THE PIANIST). Oh well, that was 1 bloody fulfilling ride huh....the flight took me to chicago where i transited and...oh, did i mention, missed my next flight to boston. What luck. That's cause the plane from narita airport in japan to chicago was delayed and so bee and i couldn't make it in time for the connecting flight which was at abt 1.45 pm i think. we reached the chicago airport at like 12+pm but with all the customs and declarations and blah blah nonsense, we ended up being late and so, with hell's luck, we had to take the next flight at 4+pm if i'm not wrong.

We met up with bee's friend, Huilin, who studies in kansas. When we stepped out of the airport, there wasn;t much lights, it's nothing like singapore or japan, it's more dreary in boston. We took a short shuttle bus trip to our hotel, hotel airport boston-logan hampton inn. It was pretty cosy and gd for the price we paid and it was convenient too as they provide free shuttle services to nearby train stations as well as the airport. We were pretty confused on how much tip to pay the drivers though and in the end, we decided to be stingy asians and gave only the driver who helped us carry our huge luggages. lol. The first night, which was...what do u know...new year's eve(time difference between japan and boston, japan was new year's day already but boston was still the 31st of dec, u know what i mean). We spent it at this tiny restaurant called jevalli's restaurant where i ate chicken casear salad while bee ate lasagne(with no meat, don't ask me why, they serve lasagne without meat over there, unless they specifically tell you on the menu, really weird). Food wasn't that good. New year's eve was just like that. Tired and cold, we went back to the hotel to get some rest before we go travelling again the next day!

Boston, hmm, what can i say....well, it wasn't much of an adventure, there's no jungles or rivers for me to cross...unless u include mountains of white snow. Boston was pretty cold compared to japan, the coldest being -13degrees on one day(I practically died that fateful day). But you definitely should try the clam chowder at quincy market, yum yum yum (look at the pic below, don't envy me, lol) There's lotsa yummy looking food at quincy market bt i didn't wana eat too much so i just had my clam delight. That's oyster biscuits by the side in case you're wondering, not that they're made of oysters or anything even close, i think it's just the name.

So what else, can i show you...we went shopping around south station for 2nd day. There was a coach shop, urban outfitters, american eagles and a few other shops. There was hard rock cafe too. And it was snowing and raining, stupid weather i tell you. one minute you're covered in snow, another minute, you're soaked. And below is a picture of us at the train station, i like the red block buildings in boston, it's sooo...how do you say....nostalgic? historic? harry potterish?

We also went to....HARVARD UNIVERISTY(the land of noble prize winners and all other genius)!! It was really nice, the architecture of the building is really a sight to see and well, just standing right in the middle of the compound was an experience all by itself. I mean, this is harvard, not lousy, ulu-ated ntu. Haha, after the visit, i immediately went to the harvard right across the street to purchase harvard tee! Such a poser! i know i know...

KK, this is like 2 posts at one shot, my fingers are aching, and my butt is rotting and most importantly, nature calls. I will update again on more of boston sights and sounds and whatever left there is and of corz, more of an even colder fredericton!

japan 2007 - part 2

Kk, here's the second post, lol, i know i've been really really lazy so i guess i'll just keep this short. The top picture just shows one of the car rides i took in disneyland, it was pretty fun, abit like go-cart but with tracks. And the second picture shows...guess! it's where the youngsters in japan hang out and where you get to see the cosplayers during the weekends! Yepz, it's harajuku!! I luurve this place! Especially after shopping around at places like shinjuku which are pretty expensive, clothings cost an average of 50+sgd!! Harajuku is one of the MUST SEE places in tokyo, corz clothings are relatively cheaper(though still expensive by singapore standards :S) and you get to see totally kawaii girls in the all so infamous jap uniforms(complete with short skirts and high socks, i wonder why they don't freeze to death...) and jap guys are sooo good-looking. Even the ugly ones make up for their utter deficiency in outer appearance with their awesome sense of style :) I should have taken shots of the fashion there...wasted! And when you're in harajuku, you've gotta try the crepes, there's this store which always has a long queue but it's worth the wait corz it was delicious!! I tried the vanilla ice-cream with strawberry, whip cream and cheese cake 1. *licks lips* I also went to shibuya, which looks extravagant in the night! Just check it out for yourself, it's the following pic (look at the lights, the picture doesn't do much justice to the place though, lol):

The photo was taken at this cross junction where all the cars from all 4 directions will stop for people to cross. And mind you, the people don't cross just left or right, they can cross diagonally or any friggin direction they want, if you're crazy enough, you can just run a few rounds at the cross junction just for the fun of it. Just be sure to return to the pavement once the red man shows. And you see the second pic! That's the largest dog i've ever seen in my entire life!! It was about 3/4 my size! It looked like a tiny pony! I happened to pass by this man sitting at the alley with his huge, HUUGE dog. Many other jap people were crowding around, trying to take some shots with the magnificent creature. THe number of people crowding around it...you would have thought that takuya kimura was there or something. lol.

I think i've described more or less my short trip in japan. It's one of the best places i've gone to, and i really do wana go back again some time. I regret not being able to catch the cosplayers in action though and also not being able to visit the final fantasy store :( Oh wells, any one interested in going japan, call me yar!

Japan 2007

Hey guys, I've finally gotten down to starting my travelling blog! Yay! So now u'll get to hear about all my travelling exploits, and yes, i'll post plenty of pictures so u not only get to read about it, you'll actually get to see the places i visted as well :)

This is so exciting! Okay, first up, i went to japan from the 26th of dec to the 31st of dec. It was an amazing experience. I got to stay at bee's jap teacher's mother-in-law's house(complicated huh?lolx) which is slightly out of tokyo bt still very convenient because it's near to the train station. The train network in japan is seriously the most comliplicated piece of work i've ever seen, in singapore, u only get the green, red and purple line(pardon me, i forgt what lines they're called alr, haha). In japan, there's sooooo many lines, it looks like tiny capillaries criss-crossing one another, and i'm not even kidding. At the shinjuku station, there's like 14 platforms, and even if u got the platform right, you have to be careful not to take the wrong train cause on the same track, the train may go to different destinations so you really gotta check, check, check the board the the train timing. I heard it's possibly the most complicated train station in the world.

And there's soooo many people in japan, it's always busy busy busy. They're always rushing here and there, even if you're taking a picture, they wouldn't even bother to stop to let you take a good shot. Thank goodness i still managed to take some good shots of the lovely city.

First picture shows 2 elderly women, the one on the extreme left is o-ka-san(meaning mother, well, that's what bee calls her so i just followed) and the other women is her friend. O-ka-san is the mother-in-law of bee's teacher. She was really really nice to us throughout our whole stay there and she was also very generous, always giving us treats. The first day we arrived, she treated us to this really really expensive jap restaurant serving authentic sashmi and exquisite jap stuff(though i didn't know what the heck i was eating but it was delcious nonetheless). It was fine dining jap style. And we also had shabu shabu there which is basically beef soaked steambost style and then dipped in walnut sauce, yum yum, it was really good. Anw, this is totally out of point, but o-ka-san's house was big compared to the tiny apartments u typically c in tokyo city. I loved the house cause it was made completely out of wood and had the cosiest living room and kitchen. I wana retire in a tiny wooden house in japan when i grow old, well, if i had the money that is.

And in the second picture, u can see...it's kinda obvious right? I went to the most amazing place of all time, disneyland! It really is a land of magic and dreams and yes, a place where u give money away in a daze and end up with so many mickey souvenirs that u have no idea who to give to. Back to disney again, it had the most amazing rides since well, disneyworld in florida, lolx. The technology in japan is so fantastic, i went to watch a 3d movie about the movie "i shrunk the kids"(rememer the show?). It was so real and when they showed little mices crawling all over the big screen, u really felt them tingling at your legs which freaked me out for a second or 2. haha. But u've really got to see it to believe it. Every single ride i took was amazing and i've gotta give them 5 thumbs up for their fantastic digital effects. Everything in japan is so advanced, most of their toilet bowls are also so advanced, there's like a series of complicated buttons fwith options for you to spray water up your ass, to heat up the toilet bowl so your butt doesn't freeze up and so on. And practically all the taps and soap dispenser and automatic.

Okay, i'm tired of typing for now, will update again when i have more time, haha, toodles and do check back to hear more about the land of harajuku and crazy fashion.