31 Dec- New Year's Eve

Road trip the entire day.
Left Vegas to head back to LA.
On the way, we stopped by an outlet store.
Super good buys there.
Levi's for 10bucks and Converse for 20bucks.
Bought a pair of bright orange Converse. Super love it.















Anw, future shopping trips will be held at outlet stores.
The prices are too low to be true.
Dinner was at Popeye's.
No fish at all. Totally chicken.
It's ironic, cos Popeye is a sailorman. Dont sailors eat alot of fish?
But anw, I had to settle for Macaroni and Cheese.



















Which is just that. Macaroni. And cheese.
Super sick of it after awhile, so had to resort to adding ketchup.













Thank the lord for ketchup.

29-30 Dec- Las Vegas+Hoover Dam

Las vegas!















While driving there, there was pretty scenery again.















You cant tell from the photo, but the wind was super super super strong. We stopped along the freeway to take photos. The car door just swung open so violently that it looked like it was gonna break off.
All the time yx was driving, he had to grip the steering wheel soooo tightly cos the wind was blowing against some steering thingy.
And we chanced upon something that is extinct in Singapore.
A&W



















We stayed at Hard Rock Hotel for 2 nights.















Las Vegas is really a money-sucking place.
Using the wireless requires $$. Even the ulu places we went to earlier provided free wi-fi.
Ah well, anw, the hotel was way cool.
Had many memoribilia of rock stars.

















































Checked out the casino in it too.
Smoking was allowed.
So imagine the smell of smoke and booze interwined together. Pretty nauseating.

































And all the lady dealers at the tables had one common characteristic.
Low cut V-necks to reveal cleavage.

The next day, explored some more.















Las Vegas looks just like any other city in the day. It is a city defined by its night lights.
Anw, there were vending machines selling....



















Iphones!
Pretty interesting.
You know how they say everything in US is supersized?
Well, Mcdonalds seems to be the exception.
Normal Singapore sized.
















Next was a drive to Hoover Dam.
Along the way, we stopped at some scenery spot first.













































So scenic that it looks like a painting. Hard to believe that I was actually there.
Hoover Dam!
















Another cold place.
Ok most scenic spots are cold, cos theyre usually at some high point.
Again, more pretty scenery!





















































Nighttime, headed back to Vegas, to explore The Strip.















































But first, we stopped for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.















Really cool deco around.
Interactive TV at each table.















Awesome pasta and shrimps.





























eating the last shrimp!
However, I don't like the green, red and black stuff.
So awesome level downgraded abit.
Did some laundry at the hotel.
Clever me did not bring any socks for the trip. So I had to buy a pair in San Fran..
And sinces its gross to rewear socks, had to wash and iron the socks. plus my thermal wear cos I just felt like being clean.















Random photo
There were tons of people giving out these on the streets















Very very very obscene. Yet highly amusing.
Again, this paradoxical state.
Such obscene shit are allowed to be distributed around the streets.
Yet, music played on radio is censored the same way as Singapore.
no F word, N word, even Ass.

28 Dec- Road trip

The whole day spent road-tripping.
Just driving from Yosemite to Las Vegas.
Very long drive. More than 6 hours.
Stopped by some scenic place (as usual) on the way.
Scenic=cold

27 Dec- Skiing (sucks)

These 2 days have been the coldest period of my life.
Today, skiing.
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich to start off the day















I must be the world's worst skiier.
Out of the 5 of us, I fell the most times.
While the rest were getting the hang of it, I was struggling to move.
It was really the worst experience ever.
Kinda like ice skating, where I have no sense of balance.
And also where the lil kids around me were skiing pro-ly, and there I was, struggling to just take one step.
Really hate winter sports man.
We even signed up for beginner ski lessons.
And it was quite obvious that I was super lousy, cos the instructor kept teaching new moves, and let the others try the new moves. But he said it's good enough if I master how to stop.
Good news is, I eventually got the hang of it. Near the end of the lesson.
But by then, I was so tired. It is really really tiring if you are a beginner.
Firstly, the skis are really heavy. And as long as there's a slight incline, you can't ski up the slope.
The ski area was filled with tiny inclines.
So to get around, you have to do this slow method. Either that or take off the skiis and walk up.
Both were equally tiring.



















I look happy right, cos I stopped skiing already.
And me, being super suay as usual, got my eye hit by a ski.
The guy was carrying the long ski on his shoulder, and swung his body. The ski connected with my eye and BAM. OW.
That thing Im holding with my right hand are the heavy as hell skis.



















By the time we were ready to leave the ski place, it was frigging cold again.
When you ski, its like exercising, so you dont feel cold and may even sweat. But once you stop, the cold hits again.
By then, I was sick of snow. Snow is just like the ice you get at ice skating rinks and Snow City. no difference.
Unless you're in a hailstorm but that's a different story.
So anw, I've had enough of snow for the rest of my life.
Grossly overrated. There is nothing cool about making snow angels if you have to get your back frozen into an icicle to do it.
The cold is seriously unbearable.
Recently then I found out that the temperature there was below 0 degrees.
Fyi, I was dressed in 5 layers. And I was still freezing.
Cold sucks.
Had a nice dinner though, my first delicious fish ever yum!















Let me reiterate, this resort stay was our most expensive accomodation. Really exorbitant. But well, all for a new experience.
View from my room



















I think 'cold' is my most frequently used word throughout this whole trip.
But seriously, it is the most apt word to use to sum up my entire trip.
because it IS cold.
And I hate it.

26 Dec- Road trip

An apple early in the morning before departing!
Aiding in my bowel movements.



















Our destination for the day was Lake Tahoe.
A snowy place.
To prepare for the slippery roads, we bought snow chains.















Its supposed to decrease friction I guess?
Anw we ended up not using it at all.
What a waste of $.
It was pretty much the most dangerous ride of my life, because of the slippery roads.
First snow sighting















Everyone in the car got really excited.
From this















to this





























Whee so happy right, seeing snow for the first time and all.
Slowly, the temperature began to dip.
And soon the car was frigging cold.
And the roads were congested cos everyone was driving slowly. Driving slow=take super long to reach. The car was practically crawling.
Besides, visibility was really bad. The windscreen kept fogging up. Had to keep wiping.















By then, the euphoria had ebbed away.
After very long, we finally reached Cal Neva Resort
This resort was the most expensive hotel we staying in during our entire trip.
And the beds arent that comfy at all.
Fun fact: This resort belonged to Frank Sinatra, hence Sinatra songs that kept playing in the lobby.















Some cheesy dinner at the restaurant.
Not bad, but really too cheesy already.















Typical eating shot















Yx totally crashed after dinner.
Poor guy, drive too much alrdy.

24-25 Dec- San Francisco

Very pretty place, but sigh, why so cold.












































Look what we found!



















It was really a pathetic lunch. So we just koped the tortilla chips around the house.
Mind you, it was a huge bag of chips.
Everything here is huge, as usual.



















After lunch, visited the City Hall in SF.
Pretty architecture.















Weird sculpture on the lawn outside















The inside of City Hall
Most of the pretty photos are inside my digital cam.
Clever me didnt bring the cable to transfer so zzz...


































Nightfall, explored the Union Square in SF.
Kinda like the Orchard Rd of Singapore.
Every city has its own Orchard Rd.


































Dinner at some kinda atas restaurant.
Actually, this was my first proper meal with proper food.















Fucking good. Anything with shrimps automatically turns out good.
After that, we wanted to head to some countdown party at Fisherman's Wharf.
Counting down to Xmas!
Is that a lizard?
















That's a lizard bread!















Saw it at a bakery around that area. Uber cute.
Anw, Fisherman's Wharf was pretty much deserted... Disappointed much..
Cheat our feelings, no countdown at all pls.
So we headed back to our apt and counted down there!
By Monopoly Dealing and cam-whoring




Next day was a short day, cos everyone slept the entire morning away!!
Had one of the best lunches ever though.
At Chinatown.






























Frigging FRIED RICE and DUNNO WHAT CHINESE VEGETABLES OMGGGGGGGGGGGGZXZXXZZXXZXZX
It was a really huge plate btw. Almost equivalent to the $5 portion of fried rice in SIngapore.



















I finished the whole damn thing.
Tasted exactly like the kind you can find in Singapore.
But more generous here with their prawns.
The rest had duck rice roasted pork rice etc, which were super huge portions too. The rice they gave equals to 2X the rice they give in Singapore
The veggie was really good too. You cant find these type of veggie in supermarkets at all. Look at the egg omg....
So good, and so full, totally didnt need to eat dinner already.
Its always a blessing to have Chinese food over here.
But alas, it was Xmas dinner that night.
Courtesy of Chen Dan's aunt.
Totally didnt touch the turkey and pies and wtv.
All the space in the stomach was taken up by fried rice.
Cute paper plates and napkins which she used.















At night, we drove to the Twin Peaks.
A high vantage point.
To see the night lights.
Very pretty, very freezing.















Really, really freezing,