I Went To Prison... Almost... I managed to persuade my dad to drive down to the Embarcadero area the next morning for the Alcatraz trip. Since we had drove past in the cab the day before, have the GPS system in the car, maps and research on where to park, it was not going to be a headache. And it turned out kinda easy. Even when we got lost when we made a wrong turn, the system would go "recalulating" and still bring us to where we wana go. It was also really easy to find parking space, maybe because it is a "tourist-y" place.We gave too much time allowance and turned out that we reached really really early. While waiting for the booth to open to collect our tickets (which turned out that we need not to), I was happily snapping away at the waiting and queue area, displaying some exhibits on history and ex-inmate quotes and regulations when it was a federal prison the waiting and queue area.Alcatraz was a maximum, high-security federal prison. Many have tried to escape. Most were either dead or recaptured, except for a few whose whereabouts are still unknown. I could feel what the prisoners were feeling upon stepping on the island. Here I am, on an island surrounded by freezing, rushing currents. It was a feeling of "that's it." If that wasn't enough, the lost and helpless feeling was worse upon stepping within the walls of the actual prison building.We left my sister at home because she was running a high fever and since Embarcadero is where Fisherman's Wharf is, meaning pier, meaning sea, meaning strong winds, we did not want her to fall sick even more. After the Alcatraz trip, we went back to get her, and then drove out again to sightsee.Also drove past Chinatown and experienced the hilly-ness the San Francisco. Damn scary. Try directing your dad with the GPS system in the front seat when you have the fear of heights and taking a roller coaster ride, with steep slopes, at the same time.I love seafood and I want Bubba Gump in Singapore because they cook shrimps in so many different ways!!!Went home after dinner and started packing. Remember how worried I was when I saw the spoiled luggage in this entry? Thank God! Everything was intact and nothing inside was damaged, even my F.R.I.E.N.D.S complete series boxset didn't suffer any dents.A lesson learnt... Don't pack the luggage full, because when TSA opens it, they will not have the time nor remember how you arrange your stuff nicely. If your luggage can't be closed properly, chances are that your luggage might be damaged and things go missing because they fall out. Help TSA and yourself out.Meanwhile, more of my mum's cousins came over to say hi and goodbye because we were driving back to Los Angeles the next day. Honestly, I can't remember when was the last time I saw these aunties and uncles and I hope it won't be the last time...Los Angeles adventure coming right up! TSA Spoiled My Luggage!!! The main thing I love about Las Vegas is the shopping, the fact that I can walk around the Strip at 10pm and there are still lots of people and that the city is very compact because everything is at most only 30 minutes away. But, still gotta move on...As we went to the airport shuttle and onto the shuttle bus to collect the rental car, nothing could calm my anxiety and anger. I was really damn worried and anxious to rip it open and check because my textbooks and notes were in it, my graduation gown and Phi Kappa Phi medallion were in it and my F.R.I.E.N.D.S COMPLETE series BOXSET was in it as well! I've also heard enough horror stories of things missing after TSA opened to inspect it and with these horror stories playing in my mind, nothing could help calm me down...We then drove back to my mum's cousin's place and settled down. It was damn kind of them to put us up in the San Francisco leg of our tour, and they were really nice hosts! My uncle brought us to Costco, which was Walmart in a bigger and cheaper way, to get a replacement luggage and things which we need. In the end, we settled for a 4 piece luggage set because we reckon that there will be more shopping and we might as well get it now since we would not be bounded by any more domestic flight baggage regulations.We then had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Finally, DECENT Chinese food, although Panda Express does help curb the need for Chinese food... BUT, FINALLY, DECENT Chinese food!!! Wah lau, try being in my shoes lah. For like almost 5 weeks, Panda Express was the only (kinda) decent Chinese food, buay tahan one lor!Got back, washed up, booked a cab and slept early. We were going Yosemite the next day and since the meeting time was damn early and we were not familiar with the place and especially where to park, my dad wasn't really keen on driving down to the Embarcadero area where the meeting place was, so we had to book a cab.The thing about me and Yosemite is that I'm NOT AT ALL impressed. After seeing Wichita Mountains on day 4 of my on-campus residency where the colours are damn beautiful and clear (blue is damn blue, green is damn green, brown is damn brown) and heading out to Grand Canyon while in Las Vegas, Yosemite really pales in comparision with its blobs of varying degrees of brown. Adding fuel to fire, Yosemite is at least 5 hours away, which meant we spent a whole 10 hours on the bus, which also meant a waste of time to me, although we caught both sunrise and sunset on the bus.More San Francisco adventures coming right up! Finally!!! Its OVER!!! NO MORE exams!!! Wooooooooohhhooo!!!But I'm not feeling as high as I thought I should. Don't mind me if I sound weird, I'm actually crying now and its not because I'm happy exams are over, its because I feel USELESS! I only want the best for the community and for everyone. I should never be a mediator again in future, huh? Or rather, I should NEVER EVEN TRY to be a mediator... I tried, I really tried. But it didn't work. 手心是肉, 手背也是肉 (the palm of the hand have flesh, the back of the hand also have flesh) I only want the best for the community!!! I tried, I really really damn fucking tried. But still... Sorry guys, I didn't try hard enough... I really feel damn lousy, damn freaking useless now. I can't even do anything constructive to help!!! And I still dare to say I love the community to death! But I didn't do anything to help, did I? I'm really really sorry...Maybe seeing A*Mei win the best female vocalist later will perk me up... The Devil And The Angel Fights Again... Fight, fight only... Only know how to fight!!!So, eh you the devil, stop asking me not to read through my notes lah. Listen to the angel on the other side of my shoulder!!! So what if you look like Man U's mascot huh? Must listen to you meh? 13 hours only!!! And that 13 hours includes sleeping time!!! Eh zai... Tahan... 13 more hours only... If can finish the paper earlier, hiak hiak hiak, muuuuuuuuuahahahahahahaha... Ganbatte ne!!! Angel, I think I need words of encouragement... Aiyah, both of you can fight it out lah, I feel like sleeping now...THE COUNTDOWN STARTS TO NO MORE EXAMS!!! (oops, sorry for the caps... too excited liaos...) Wooooooooooohhhhoooooooo!!!Yesh, naggy angel, must read notes first before sleeping... Rant... ARGH!!! I need to kaobei! I want to shout! I want to sleep! Me essay ish keeling me!!!Family planning in India, Thailand and China huh? China I know how to hantum, but the other 2 parts are ripping my brains apart!!! Although I have done 5 pages already, every sentence is punctuated with "(author page)"!!! I have no input on my own sia... I've been trying to find the policies on the governmental pages, but I can't find anything helpful!!! And it doesn't help that I can only understand damn simple and basic Thai like kop khun ka and although I have a half-Thai boyfriend, we can't read Thai! I've been to the English sites, but nothing...Then I still have to prepare for my exam. Thank goodness our lecturer gave us a list of questions that she'll choose from for the exam, BUT I have not touched on those yet!!! I want to go back to Oklahoma and/or the US, BUT not for on-campus residency lor... Cannot fail and pressure's building... My friend say textbook can find the answers, hopefully easy to find lor.AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!Rant done, back to the fucked up essay... China Travel Scam Or Not? I received this a few days ago as a comment posted on one of my entries. The reason I'm not approving this comment is because there is no "credible" source to it. Anyone else got this? How true is it? (Click for a bigger pic) The Thing About My Boyfriend IS... Sometimes I really feel like knocking him hard on the head for his irritating-ness. I guess most of you already know who he is...Anyway, here are some conversations that took place in the past week...1) We were talking about why some kinda girls only appeal to some kinda guys...Dear: Guys like that girlfriends to be presentable, so can bring out mah. Like trophy like that.Me: So I am trophy lah.Dear: Something like that lah. Me(Starting to get irritated already): Than I what kinda of looks, what kinda trophy?Dear: Erm, that kinda girl-next-door look lor.Me: I don't look like your neighbour mah.Dear: But the look is different one.Then he took one of my friends and say that her look is the "upper-class girl-next door" look and that she has a different kinda look compared to my "girl-next-door" look.Me: But I still don't get it leh.Dear: Got the village girl, 土乡, look.Me: So it's the country girl look lah?Dear: Something like that, very hard to describe lah....Say I look toot say so lah...2) I slept over at his place the other day. We met up at slightly past midnight, on the morning of 24th.Dear: Happy Birthday!I was so damn happy lah, because this guy sometimes damn goondu one. BUT when we went for lunch the next day...Dear: Today what date ah?Me: You asking me? How can you forget my birthday?Dear:i know today your birthday and it's on 24th, but just cannot connect....Somehow, Dear's brain is wired differently from us, the normal human beings... 3) I finished my paper and we were having lunch just now. He was telling me about his friends getting married and they got together around the same time as us.Me: Wah, they so fast get married ah?Dear: Ok lah, we together 3 years coming October right?I stared at him.Dear: Not 3 meh? 3 or 4?...dot dot dot...4) Today I felt we had kinda good telepathy. Over lunch just now, we were talking about the kopitiam stored-value card and the discounts for each different kinda card. He said something while I was having food in my mouth. So I twisted my index finger and middle back and forth.Dear: Yah lah, reverse one.Me: Wah, you know what I mean ah?Dear: Yah lah, I clever one.Me: Your 10-years-series throw away liao ah? In this case should say, of course, I understand you mah.Dear: 把到了(Get already), 10-years-series still keep for what?...Pure irritating-ness... THE Experience In Vegas! Kinda sad that we are leaving soon, and it is also a very slack morning/ afternoon for us, while the real fun kicks in at night!And so, we got up real late, ate the remaining donuts for brunch and while my parents and sis went to Ross to buy another luggage, I stayed in the hotel to book day tour tickets for our next leg of the trip. We bought another luggage because it's cheaper to pay for additional piece of baggage than have an overweight baggage and we did toooooooooooo much shopping that even though there is space in our luaggage, the weight limitations means we have to get another luggage.So, maybe you thought last day no shopping. You thought wrongly lor. We spent the afternoon at Fashion Show Mall before moving to Fremont Street for the Fremont Street Experience.The first show will start roughly about 8.30pm or when the sun fully sets, goes on for about 15 minutes, returns again at 9pm and at hourly intervals and the last show of the night will be at midnight.We got to and from Fremont Street by riding on The Deuce again and from the top deck of the bus, looking down on the lights of the Strip, BEAUTIFUL lor!!! Again, no photo evidence because lost in transmission, argh!Back to the hotel, we packed and packed. Trying to make sure each luggage will not exceed 50 pounds. But before I pack, of course must take photo first lah...- Right at the top, 2 Aeropostale shorts and a black underwear.- Footwear (on the right, from top to bottom): black Anne Klein wedges, black Marc Jacobs flip flops, 2 Timberland flip flops, brown and black, DKNY casual wear and white BCBG wedges- 3 Calvin Klein bottoms on the left.- In the middle (from top to bottom): baby blue CK top, grey BCBG top, grey DKNYJeans top, Banana Republic spaghetti strap, black AX top, no brand dress from Ross, DVD on Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton (its very special to me because my favourite designer is a Creative Director for my favourite brand), Marc Jacobs Daisy solid perfume and (ultimate splurge) Marc by Marc Jacobs Groovee in Black from 2008 spring collection.San Francisco adventures coming right up! On The 4th Day In Las Vegas After 2 whole days of shopping madness, its time to relax... Although I do seriously think I can go on physically, so guess where we went...Final day in Vegas coming right up! Krispy Kreme Was Disappointing... As I was saying, I was looking forward to Vegas because of the shopping. And guess where we went the next day...But when my mum saw this, I kena niam, "We have in the fridge right? How come you buy again? One whole box in the fridge haven't finish and you buy again..."Besides staying in a good location justifying the lok kok kok-ness of the place, there is another point to justify the lok kok kok ness... On the ground floor of the hotel, there is Krispy Kreme. And so, on the very first night, we had already bought a dozen (argh, photo lost in transmission) and had tried them for breakfast the morning before going to Outlet Center.Verdict: KK TOO DAMN FREAKING SWEET lor... The dough had the donut "oomph" and since KK is the "bread-y" kinda of donut, seriously, it is not soft enough. When I took the dough with icing/filling together, I can't taste the dough anymore and I felt like rubbing bittergourd all over my mouth to neutralise the sweetness that was making me cringe. Before I went on the US trip, I had tried J Co a couple of times since it's in Singapore already, and J Co scores landslide win over KK lor. J Co, also the "bread-y" type, after refridgerating, is still SO DAMN FREAKING BLARDI SOFT! The dough has the "oomph", the icing/filling does not overpower the dough and it not too sweet too. Honestly, once you tried J Co, you can forget about KK liao. KK really let me down. As a DD fan, to be fair, the "bread-y" ones (glazed, jelly, etc) win "ommph" over KK and J Co, but in terms of softness, it loses to J Co since it is very close to KK. But the "cake-y" ones, DD is KING! "Oomph" to the max, soft and melts in the mouth!!! Now, can someone airfreight me 50 chocolate munchkins?Sorry ah, digress too far... So, anyway, we took The Deuce, a bus that travels up and down the Strip to the Outlet Center and back. You can never miss your stop unless you have fallen dead asleep or there is some technical fault, because the bus driver annouces the street name or the location of the stops or plays a traped recording.Seriously, Vegas is the only city that I see crowd (i.e LOTS of people) walking on the street at 10pm...After 2 whole days of shopping, do you think we took a break? *Evil laughter...* Hehehehehe...4th day of Vegas coming right up! Enough Is Enough So what if the blog post has been reported on the papers? So what if the guy has come forward with his side of the story? To me, the whole matter has been blown out of proportion. I also seen several blogs paparazzi-ing the happenings. Is that at all necessary?Yes, our blogs are not private and are public but we post what we want to post, even our darkest secrets. If you do not have constructive comments, then keep your hands off the keyboard. Who are you to scold and say or-bi-good? Who are you to make judgements or analysis of the case?At times, our judgements may not be that good and people do make mistakes. If so, let the parties concerned solve the problem themselves. What has happened has happened, as outsiders, no point scolding or trying to pin-point blame also right? Enough is enough. Let them have their peace... First Few Hours In Las Vegas = First NSFW Post On My Blog On the cold morning of 23rd May, we took a bus from Anaheim to THE sin city, Las Vegas. I was actually very looking forward to the Vegas part of our itinerary mainly because of shopping! Seriously, you tell me lah, with an outlet mall each on both ends of the Strip, with Ross just opposite the hotel I'm staying in, and with 2 shopping malls about 15 to 20 minutes away, HOW to resist shopping you tell me?!Upon reaching Las Vegas, we freshened up, went to hunt for dinner and explore the area a little. Staying right smack in the middle of the Strip and right on the Strip itself justifies the cheap, lok kok kok and spacious Manor Rooms we are staying in Circus Circus. The moment we stepped out of the hotel onto the Strip, we saw a foodcourt opposite the road and decided to eat there.Guess where we went next? Ross lah of course! We then went to Walgreens, which was beside Ross and got drinking water because the lok kok kok hotel room did not have a coffeemaker (at least) to boil water. While walking through the aisles, we saw a USD9.99 electric hot pot and decided to buy it and use it as a kettle. We then went back to the hotel to prepare for "war" the next day and not explore further...As to why Las Vegas is sin city... Besides the gambling that happens everywhere, there are strip clubs too. If that's not sinful enough, I had photo evidence of pimps men distributing pamphlets in luminous green t-shirts that read in the context of "want girls in your room in 20 minutes?" But unfortunately (and fortunately for them), as you would have read in the previous post, I had some photos that were lost in translation transmission. Also lost were pictures of vans carrying billboards making their rounds up and down the Strip, advertising "girls in your room in 20 minutes".*Disclaimer: Even if you think this pic is not raunchy enough, it is for my G-rated blog. Comparing "standards" this is deemed NSFW for my blog.More Vegas adventures coming right up! Trip To America's Very First Theme Park, And It's Not Disneyland... Another good thing about booking with Disney is that you can personalise your trip! We added in a trip to Knotts Berry Farm and all we had to do was to call to confirm pickup date and time!It may not be the theme park on top of everyone's mind, but there was so much history about the place. It all started with Mrs Knott's chicken. There was development around the area and to make ends meet, she sold fried chicken to people who stopped by (it was once near/ along a freeway) to get a bite. As the chicken got famous and queues grew, Mr Knott build a "ghost town" to entertain the people. From then on, the "ghost town" grew into a theme park.Over at Knotts Berry, you also get to know about the Native Indians. Every inch of the place had a country/ western touch to it and that was also the setting for Knott's Fool's Gold Stunt Show.The rides there are SCARY! Which is why we did not get on them all except only 2. I had some pictures of the rides, but somehow while transferring them from my handphone to my laptop, it took too long, communication was lost, and I lost them, together with some Disneyland photos. All I can say is that they are taller, faster, wetter and more upside-down-er than the rides in Disneyland Resort. When I was looking at those rides, I felt like a doll being thrown and tossed around by my owner (which was why we left Six Flags Magic Mountain out of our itinerary).We bought the famous jams and da bao-ed the famous fried chicken home for dinner. The mashed potato was good but the chicken was just chicken... Not too sure if the jams are avaliable in Singapore though...Las Vegas coming right up! Getting REAL WET This Time Round On A Special Day One BIG HUGE MAJOR advantage of booking the entire package with Disney is this!After the madness, we went back to Fantasyland to fulfil my sis's wish of taking pictures with the Princesses. We queued one and a half hours to take pictures with only 3 of them lor! If we were to take with all the Princesses, I think have to spend one whole day queuing and re-queuing because they rotate and take turns too.We then went back to California Adventure Park's Hollywood Pictures Backlot to catch what we missed, the Aladdin Musical. Thankfully again, since we booked the package with Disney, we had "preferred seating" for the musical. There was another queue specially for us and we could enter the theatre first, while hundreds waited outside. Hehe! The entire Aladdin animated film was presented musical style, with the Genie being the goofy-est and modern-est character. To me, this was the most entertaining attraction in the whole of Disneyland Resort.1) When Aladdin summoned the Genie the first time unknowingly and got a shock, he asked Genie who was he. Genie's reply, "I'm a Mac and you're a PC."2) Genie was holding an umbrella in a scene and guess what happened? He went, "Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh."3) In the film, Genie wasn't a kid per se, here in one scene, Genie threw a tantrum like a kid.4) Towards the end when Jafar was gotten rid of, Genie turned to the pet parrot and said, "Now it's time for the Tiki Room reject."5) The Genie's script was the only one being updated to suit the modern day. Everyone else spoke lines from the film. There are snippets on youtube and you can actually tell how Genie has been updated.We then proceeded back to the Golden State area for the WETTEST ride in the whole of Disneyland Resort. The only way to stay dry in this ride is to seal yourself up in a poncho or waterproof yourself some way or another. With each bump, water flooded in. We were then on the track up to a mini fall, after the a-few-feet plunge, I was half wet while some were a quarter wet. My sis and I were discussing how wet we get is depending on heng or suay, and whether we land first when we do the final plunge down. But we were so damn wrong. At the final plunge, water was sent into the raft, making the bottom half of our bodies wet (I could feel water going into my underwear lor) and water was sent up into the air, landing into the raft, making the top half of our bodies wet. There was no escaping regardless of where you sit or whether who lands first.Drenched, we proceeded on to the "Soarin' Over California" ride, which was a simulator ride, suspended in mid-air with an Omni Theatre sized screen, minus away the sharp movements.We then moved on to Paradise Pier, which was like a fun fair. Of so many rides there, we only took the Mulholland Madness, which was a roller coaster ride. Some were blah like the ride where you are brought up in mid-air and go round and round as though you are flying on Dumbo, while some we did not dare to take on, like the roller coaster that goes upside down, the vertical tower plunge down thingy, or the ferris wheel, Sun Wheel.With that, we bade the rides and attractions goodbye and shopped for souvenirs. Seriously, it was a good thing we had the 5-Day Hopper Tickets. There were too many shows, different parades taking place, too many rides and there was too much to cover in the Parks. To catch every single thing avaliable, weekends are the best days as all shows and parades will be avaliable, however, also because it is the weekend, it would also mean more crowd and more time will be wasted on queuing up for the rides and attractions. Although you can cut queues by getting a special ticket for a higher price, which is valid for only one day, there is still no way to cover everything even with that ticket in a day.While I was having fun, Man U won the Champions League title! Dear was sms-ing me, giving live commentary. Hehe...Another joyous thing to note, David Cook wins American Idol!!! I did not manage to catch the final showdown nor did I manage to catch the result show. Heng hotel got wireless and I was able to go online. Hehe... The Trick To Staying Dry In A WET Ride We got up earlier and made it to the entrance of Disneyland Park at 9am. However, there was already a queue to enter the Park. When we entered the Park, we made a dash for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. When we got there, the queue was damn long already, but thankfully we are not at the 90 minute mark, but 70 minutes is still a long wait lor. As we queued, we saw families sending representatives off to buy breakfast and they were eating breakfast in the queue. Guess who I saw queuing up too? Anais, Fiona, Jo, Sam, Daryl, Stephy and her friend!There was something different about this ride. Like all other rides, it uses a track too, however, the whole ride takes place under water where you ride in a submarine looking thingy. When the ride starts, there are announcements, giving you that feeling that you are in a submarine, exploring the world under. Then bubbles appear outside the window, giving you the feeling that the submarine is submerging, going further deeper into the water, however, you are still at the same level as when you board the ride, hehe...We then moved to Fantasyland to finish up the last ride which we missed, Peter Pan's Flight. It was interesting in a way even though it was just like the Snow White and Mr Toad rides. Instead of having the ride go through on a track on the ground, in Peter Pan, the track is in the air, so you are really like Peter Pan, flying through the adventures.Frontierland was next. We took a river cruise on Mark Twain Riverboat and we were starting to feel hungry. And so, we settled down in one of the eateries in Frontierland, The Golden Horseshoe, before proceeding on to the rest of the attractions.The performance was such a bonus! After lunch, we explored Pirate's Lair On Tom Sawyer Island and took a roller coaster ride on Big Thunder Mountain.New Orleans Square was next. It was just beside Frontierland, at a corner, and they both complemented each other in a way as both were very country/western. We went into the Haunted Mansion, which wasn't really that all scary, and the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride, which was like Nemo, but not in a submarine, but a boat.Cirtter County, home to Winnie the Pooh and friends, also just beside both Frontierland and New Orleans Square, complemented to the country feel to the entire area. We went on Splash Mountain, which was a WET ride. While in the queue, my sis and I saw...1) A notice, displaying that the seating arrangement was a single file and advising that the bigger sized people should sit at the back of the "boat".2) Some people getting REAL WET while some looked like they were just splashed with a little bit of water.3) There was this lady, who was 4 times my size, in the queue with her friend behind us.4) There was this group of 5 teenage girls in front of us.My sis and I then went into a discussion/ speculation saying that...1) The person right in front will get real wet while the people at the back not so wet.2) We would share the "boat" with the lady and friend behind us because the girls would take up one "boat".3) Which also mean we would have to sit in front, bearing in mind the bigger sized people have to sit at the back.4) Which also mean we would get REAL WET!We were saying jialat liao, wet liao, don't know if can squeeze in with the girls, if we get the front seat then how we are going to use our dad's waterproof jacket to waterproof ourselves, etc. At the boarding point, after the staff assigned the group of girls to their seats, she asked my sis how many people are there in her party. My sis replied 2 and she asked if we wana squeeze into the back. OF COURSE want lah!!! Turns out that the seating arrangement was a "T" shape, which was why bigger sized people have to sit in the back. And so, we siam the front seat and the situation of beaing REAL WET. The "zee pah dee do dah" song that accompanies you all the way to the top of the ride was a smokescreen lor, not a wonderful day after all if you kena the front seat. As we made our way to the top, my sis and I came up with a wonderful idea to shield us from the water. Since we are sitting side by side, we treated our dad's big jacket as a blanket, wearing it dom-ba-lek, putting my left arm into the jacket's right sleeve and my sis's right arm into the jacket's left sleeve and using our free hands to hold up the collar and duck ourselves inside the jacket. So, we did not get wet, except only our feet! Woohoo!Adventure Land was next. We saw robotic singing birds in the Enchanted Tiki Room, went down the Jungle Cruise filled with robotic rhinos and robotic piranhas, climbed up Tarzan's Treehouse and got to know his childhood and went on a mini roller coaster ride in Indiana Jones Adventure.Although we have decided to leave Mickey's Toontown for Wednesday morning, there was still time, so we decided to take a look and get onto a ride or 2. On the way to Toontown, I met my friends again and they were commenting that Toontown was really cute.After the ride, there wasn't time for another. So we went back and rested, waking up early for a program that was only for the privileged the next day.Last day of Disneyland adventures coming right up! Singaporeans Not That Kiasu Afterall... We started out Day 2 in Disneyland Park's Tomorrowland. We did not get up really early, and when we got there, the newest attraction, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage had a 90 minute queue already. We decided to forgo that and come back really really early another day for it.We first got on Autopia, which represented the cartoon, Cars, and all you have to do is to step on the pedal and go. Watched a Jedi training session where kids went up on stage to be trained as Jedis while having lunch. Went for a 3D show next, Honey I Shrunk The Audience. Know the film, Honey I Shrunk The Kids? This time round, the invention was on an awards show and it accidentally zapped the audience, which was us. We had water drizzled on us and wind rush past under our seats when rats appeared on screen escaping.Innoventions was next. It was a some kinda showroom telling everyone what to expect in the future. It featured exhibits including console games, interactive touch-screen computers that let you envision how you look like when you are old and how life would be like The Jetsons and Honda's amazingly flexible robot, Asimo. Honestly, after watching the presentation on Asimo, I really want one for myself! See Asimo dance and run! Space Mountain was next, a roller coaster ride with damn beautiful lights. We then went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Think arcade gun shoot shoot game, except this is a ride and you shoot as you go. I never really figured out how to score the points and my sister managed to win me by 10,000 points.Star Tours was next. It was a simulator ride, bringing us into the world of Star Wars.We then went over to Fantasyland, the land of the Disney Princesses, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Peter Pan and much more.Snow White's Scary Adventures was next, followed by Pinocchio's Daring Journey. It has a similar concept as Mr Toad, just that this time round, it tells the story of Snow White and Pinocchio.In the last entry, I did talk of the nightly parades. So, being kiasu Singaporeans, we left Fantasyland and went back to Main Street to catch the Parade of Dreams. As the Parade starts from Fantasyland itself, we decided to stake out nearer to Fantasyland and so we can go back to the attractions if there is still time and beat the queues. We found a bench and sat down to wait for the Parade to start. This time round, we were not that kiasu, there were others more kiasu! Our bench was one of 3 that were still unoccupied and families were starting to sit along the pavement with their picnic mats. The Parade was, well, think Chingay, with those movable platforms and people prancing around.After the parade, there was still time left. So as planned, we made our way back to Fantasyland and took the Storybook Lan Canal Boat. We we sailed down the man-made little river, we saw minatures of houses of different stories such as 3 little pigs. There was still one ride left for Fantasyland, but the Park was closing already. So we decided to go back to the hotel to get some rest and order Pizza for dinner.While having dinner, we were discussing to get up a little earlier and run straight for the Nemo ride first thing in the morning and leave out Mickey's Toontown, which is in Disneyland Park till Wednesday because we are the privileged ones. You guys will know what I mean when you read that entry later.Day 3 of Disneyland coming right up! Getting To Know Disneyland, Great Food, Kiasu-ism At Its Best I had my first breakfast in Staybridge Suites, Anaheim on 18th May, which was part of the hotel package. I walked one round the buffet area, and started to miss Oklahoma all over again.1) The breakfast spread in Oklahoma was bigger and better.2) The eggs in Oklahoma were REAL scrambled eggs, not some pancake-looking pieces of eggs which tasted like flour.3) There was only caffinated or decaf tea. In Oklahoma, we had green tea, chamomile, earl grey, etc., on top of the caffinated and decaf red ceylon tea.4) One big bowl of plain yoghurt makes me wonder if they clear out the yoghurt or just keep topping it up. In Oklahoma, yoghurt was served as above and we had Yoplait.5) In Oklahoma we have cheese sauce!!! Over here, we have shredded cheddar.6) Maybe its because I had been eating this for 3 weeks already, I'm starting to get picky. Bo pian right? So have to make do with whatever I felt like eating lor.The night before, we were discussing not to take the Anaheim Resort Transit (ART) to Disneyland Resort, but instead, walk and get to know the bearings of the place. So after breakfast, we walked to Disneyland Resort. It was not a long walk and we noted on the map eateries that we would want to go to fill our stomachs with. The entire area is called the Disneyland Resort. Once you pass the security check area, you enter the Main Entry Plaza where you will see the ticketing area next. As we had the entire package done for us by Disney, our tickets were already given to us in an envelope when we checked into the hotel the night before, so we did not have to queue to get tickets.The Downtown Disney District will then be in front of you. It is where the Disney Hotels are and the entire area there is almost like a small town, complete with eateries and shops. To the right is where Disneyland Park is, and to the left is where California Adventure Park is. We had the 5-day Park Hopper Tickets, meaning that we have access to both Parks, everyday for 5 days!As both Parks were huge and we did not know how or where to start, we decided to first get the maps, take a look and then start walking around. Within each Park, there were different sections of different themes/"worlds"/era, which made deciding even harder. We then noticed that Disneyland Park had a few modes of transportation within the park. So we decided to hop onto those, starting from Main Street, to get an overview of the park and let us have a better understanding of how to move around.At the stop in Tommorrowland, we dropped off.We then continued on the Railroad back to Main Street. Main Street is practically a street. Along this street, you can find a vistor center (City Hall), a musemum, shops and eateries. To get to to the other sections, where most of the action is, you would have to walk down this street, whether you like it or not, as they are situated on the other end. Although it only takes a short while to walk up and down Main Street, for the lazy ones (hehe), there are Main Street Vehicles that you can take from one end to the other end of Main Street.There is also a Horseless Carriage, but I didn't manage to get a picture of it. These Main Street Vehicles are only one-way and we only realised it when we were on the Omnibus, the only one we sat on. As we reached to the end where the attractions are, everyone got down, but we didn't bother. The driver then called out to us and told us that the bus only goes one-way and if we wanted to ride it back to Main Street, we would have to take the next one. As we got down, he asked where we were from. I had heard enough "horror" stories about how people thought where Singapore was, so I was kinda thinking, this guy better know his geography. My dad answered Singapore, and one way to tell that he at least knows Singapore is not in China and in Asia was when he said that it was a small country, his wife is from Thailand and although he was working for Korean Air, he did not get a chance to visit Singapore. I then asked if we could join the queue and take the same bus back to the other end of Main Street. He said that we are able to, just that because it is a one-way vehicle, technically, we would have to get down and join the queue.There were different shows, character meets and bands playing throughout the day and nightly parades in both Parks. There are also some shows which take place along the open areas that only happen on weekends. A lesson I learnt is to really take a look at the show schedules and different opening hours of the Park to help plan your way through the Parks. Since its a Sunday, and the fireworks only happen on weekends and we were hungry, we decided to have lunch, move to California Adventure Park for the rest of the day and then come back later for the fireworks.Luckily we only order 2 mains, don't see picture small small, the servings were huge lor. The fish was fresh and the sauce was yummy. The ribs were soft and chicken, was just normal grilled chicken. The salad, was just salad. But overall, the food was really quite nice. But the pancakes, ohhhh, the pancakes, killer sia! I'ver NEVER EVER eaten such FLUFFY and SOFT pancakes ever before in my entire life!!! I want IHop in Singapore!!! And so, after the damn filling lunch, we proceeded on with the itinerary for the day.We had missed the showtimes there for the day and so we went straight for the rides and attractions, coming back another day just for the shows.Every inch of the Parks has a damn good set design which relates to the theme/"world"/era of the sections and even right down to the different attractions and the area surrounding it, such as the queue area. Take the Monsters Inc ride for example, it was done up to look like transport terminal with posters around it.It was a playground of sorts for little children with an area where they can play with water and splash around (think Bugis Juction fountain and Vivo City), and lots of teeny weeny sized rides. Already damn impressed with the set design earlier on, I really felt like a character insect in A Bug's Life when I saw this.We then walked over to the Golden State section, set up with a western/ cowboy/ historical feel, which covered almost half the Park. It was subdivided into several different areas. We walked around Pacific Wharf and learnt how tortillas and sourdough bread were made. We caught a film by Whoopi Goldberg called Golden Dreams about the history of California at The Bay Area. As we had to rush back to "chope" a good place for the fireworks happening at the other Park, we did not manage to cover the whole of Golden State. We quickly took some picture of Paradise Pier (another "world" in California Adventure Park) and went back to the Disneyland Park. But the best thing is, we don't know where to stand! As we have heard that the fireworks will appear in the sky above the castle of Fantasyland, we decided to stand sit on Main Street. But which exact spot? Since Main Street is a street, a straight road, and if you stand on the entrance gate end of Main Street and look straight ahead, Fantasyland is directly in front of you, we decided that was the best spot. We were right when we spotted Disney's cameramen behind us and there was this uncle who had set up his videocam and tripod. And we waited for about 40 minutes, with more people joining us at our good spot 25 minutes later. The entire display was 15 minutes long, so I can't possibly load it here, so, here is a snippet of the display. With the end of the fireworks, the day ends and we made our way back to the hotel via the ART.Day 2 of Disneyland coming right up! Getting To The Starting Of Touring With A Lost Taxi Driver Upon reaching back to Los Angeles, I hung around the departure area of Tom Bradley International Terminal (upper level of the terminal), where there is a foodcourt on the 2nd level to fulfil my hungry stomach, while waiting for my parents' and sister's flight to arrive. Having been to the same foodcourt when we arrived from Singapore via Hong Kong to kill time to wait for our domestic flight to Oklahoma 3 weeks earlier, the foodcourt looked totally different now. The first time I saw the foodcourt, probably it was way past midnight already, only McDonalds was open out of like 10 eateries there. When I got there this time around, the eateries were all open and there were lots of people there. I had Celest and her family for company too. Coincidentally, her boyfriend, brother and brother's girlfriend were on the same flight as my family.I managed to get my sister's SMS telling me that the plane has touched down already. As it would take some time to pass through the customs due to the long queues. I waited for a while before trying to call them. They were also trying to call me. Somehow, the handphone connections went kukoo for a while before we could finally get each other.Celest's family kindly helped me jagah-ed my luggages while I went to meet my family downstairs. They were feeling a little hungry and so we went upstairs to the foodcourt. At the foodcourt, my dad say we should get an airport shuttle instead of a cab, go back hotel, cook instant noodles and share. And so we bade Celest and her family goodbye and we back downstairs to the arrival level to try to get a shuttle. It was late already, I'm kinda tired also and I was damn lazy to figure out how to get a shuttle to take us to Anaheim. After trying to figure out the not-so-automated booth for transport, accomodations, city guide, etc, I gave up and told my dad not to waste time and let's get a cab instead.At the taxi stand, we saw Celest and her family as they were also leaving for their hotel. Finally, we got on a cab and were on our way to Anaheim. The cab driver wasn't that all familiar with the area and so were we. What was supposed to be a USD90 cab fare (stated on a few websites) from LA airport to our hotel turned out to be USD105 as we went up and down West Katella Ave and Manchester Ave looking for our hotel.At the junction where he was supposed to go straight towards the freeway, but not enter the freeway and instead keep right on Manchester Ave to our hotel, he made a right turn twice. Maybe he was afraid of going back into the freeway and losing his way more. But no pain, no try, no gain right? When we ended up on the juction again, I specifically gave him instructions. He was unsure, so was I, who was already tired, cranky and ready to take the wheel even though I had no license. I guided him away from the freeway entrance by pointing out to him the big signage that said "Manchester Ave" and said let's try. And tada, me is genius and we found the hotel.As a helpful cab driver with excellence customer service skills, he helped us in unloading the luggages out from the cab. When I handed him USD120, he asked me how much change should he give me back. For those who are not familiar with the tipping culture in the US, please do not scold the cab driver and question his math skills. The main reason is because he needs to know how much you are willing to give him as tip if you are. And so I told him to keep the change, secretly hoping that USD15 will be enough for his gas back to downtown LA.And so we finally checked into the hotel at 1am in the morning. Thank God the genius me booked the entire package at Anaheim with Disneyland Resort, so we don't have to queue for tickets the next day nor buy tickets for Knotts Berry a few days later. Actually, there are a whole of of advantages in booking with Disney, which will be revealed bit by bit throughout the next few entries.Disney magic coming right up! Act Cute, Silly-ish, Sexy-ish Photo, Cam-Whoring And Departure Before I move into the studio cam-whoring part as promised in the previous post, please let me rant about my missing soap dish and reveal the background of an act cute, silly-ish, sexy-ish photo before revealing the photo.When I went back to the hotel after class on Thursday, my white soap dish bought at Muji was discovered missing. I would usually place it on a piece of face towel provided by the hotel and then place them on my toiletries bag. Since both were white, I suppose when the chambermaid took the towel to clear, the soap dish went along with it accidently. The hotel staff checked and double checked, but did not recover it.About this particular photo, it was taken by a friend of mine in a room where we were supposed to robe ourselves before the graduation ceremony the previous Saturday, and which I only managed to sneak it off her facebook just moments ago...Being noobs to wearing a graduation gown, we have simply no idea where or how certain parts of the robe should fall into place, especially this one small little white piece of cloth of weird shape. So I was trying to be a heroine and figuring it out where it should be placed to be part of our gown and it was no point asking the guys because only the girls had it. I was placing the white cloth all over my gown, as though it was a piece of jig saw puzzle, seeing if the ends and corners fitted into any part of the entire jig saw. I then decided to goof around and then shouted out to my friends, "Don't tell me like that hor!" They laughed and said I looked some milkmaid, Dutch Lady, farm girl, etc and I added that the windmills are the only things lacking. If you do not know which Dutch Lady, open your eyes next time you go to a supermarket and look out for the condensed/sweetened milk brand, Dutch Lady.I was trying to be funny and acting cute lah. But after I saw the photo, I found it silly-ish as well. Seeing myself "role playing" (machiam Jap AV) makes me feel a bit sexy-ish, and here I am, playing 2 roles! One of a student in a graduation gown (I have not officially graduated yet) and one of a Dutch Lady! LOL! But I swear it was damn accidental, the AV thought of it came only I saw the photo!Ok, back to what I had promised, studio cam-whoring. We were allowed to take pictures of the studio on Friday only after recording all 4 segments of our 30-minute show, but I had taken a few sneak shots here and there durind the week during lunch and other free time... Hehe...And I also saw this on the notice board.With this, it marks the end of 3-week long on-campus residency. Then it is back to hotel to pack up as we are all leaving the next day. Some of us are going back straight to Singapore while some of us will be touring around before returning.Since it is a domestic flight and check-in baggage charges have started, to avoid paying a single cent, we have to have only one baggage which weighs below 50 pounds. The 2nd piece of check-in luggage bears a USD25 charge while any overweight baggage within 20 pounds bear a USD50 charge. Any luggage over 70 pounds would be rejected. Tell me how is it possible to have only one luggage when we have 2 thick textbooks (one was hard cover) and a huge load of shopping...So I managed to pack, with the help of the weighing scale in the gym, till one luggage is extremely close to 50 pounds. The other was half filled, but exceeded 50 pounds already. Luckily it was still below 70 pounds. So, I was prepared to bear a USD75 charge.The bus came to fetch us to the airport because we were the biggest group to leave at a certain timing and it would be cheaper and more convenient to get at least 6 cabs (or maybe more as there were 13 people and 26 huge check-in luggages). On the bus to the airport, I was missing Oklahoma already. The people were damn friendly and the hotel staff really made sure we felt at home. Shopping malls were less than USD20 away by cab and the variety of food was great. And comparing to the other hotels I stayed during my entire stay in the US, the Marriott Residence Inn at Bricktown Oklahoma City was the best!At the airport, the system did not prompt the guy at the check-in counter to collect the baggage charges and I guess he forgot, so a majority of us managed to check in 2 luggages without paying a single cent while a few of us at another check-in counter had to pay for the 2nd check-in baggage. Heng ah... Hehe!Touring details coming right up! More Field Trips And Treats! On Tuesday morning, we went to a publishing house and TV news station as part of our TV Studio Production module that we were taking for the final week of the on-campus residency. We were not allowed to take our cameras into the publishing house and thus we only took a few shots of the exterior of the building. But at the TV station, it was cam-whoring all over and over...We then went back to school for classes in the afternoon and in the evening, we went to our lecturer's place for dinner. I was concentrating watching American Idol and I did not manage to take much pics. Hehe...SOME photo and studio cam-whoring coming right up! Happy Belated Birthday! Erm, it was way overdue, but at least we got it done! On the first night of week 3, the MDIS Student Council (or rather the majority of the SC members who were in Oklahoma) celebrates the birthday of one of its lovely Exco Member, Anais! When we reached back to the hotel after class, we worked hard to make dinner possible and in time to fulfil hungry stomachs.And of course, one for the album! There were a few cams on auto placed together, so some of us may not be really looking into the cam that was taking this picture...More of Week 3 coming right up! This Post Is Dedicated To Molly Let's all take a moment of respect and silence for yet another brave woman who did not give up her fight against cancer. She is Molly, founder of WeAreWonderWomen.com, the very lady who took the initiative to rally all women cancer survivors together. The lady who dished out advice on her blog to cancer survivors, patients and their care-takers.I was blog-hopping and got to knew of her passing just moments ago. I'm almost 2 weeks late to knowing to news. But I know her fighting spirit is with all of us and that she is in good hands. Papa in Heaven, take care of Aunt Mona, Jo and Molly k? Graduation, Walkaround and Guns! Sorry for the long break in updating posts. Back in Singapore already, but was touring and due to the tight schedule and long days, it is acutally kinda hard to update... You guys will know what I did soon! Ok, back to where I stop updating after talking about my induction into Phi Kappa Phi.On Saturday of Week 2, it was Graduation Day! Well, considering that I have 3 more modules to be graded on, it was not really a graduation per se. It was more of a formality ceremony kinda thing plus the fact that we are here for the on-campus residency.After the ceremony, we went back to the hotel for our afternoon off. A few of us decided to tour the Oklahoma Bombing Memorial at night as Dr Winn had told us earlier that the lights were beautiful there at night.The memorial was bound by 2 gates with a pool in the middle, with "9:01" and "9:03" on them, representing the time frame of the bombing. I did not manage to get good pictures of the gates, which is quite a pity. I heard the security guard telling to another group of vistors that there were 2 or 3 pairs of siblings who died in the bombing.I got to know of the bombing while taking the PEAF (American politics and history) class. It was related to another event, the Waco Seige (linked, but Wiki if you want to). In short, these domestic terrorists decided to retaliate against the government in regards to the Waco event. Stepping onto the ground where a truck filled with fertilizer bombs was parked and the bombs were ignited in a building where there were government offices, there was a feeling of loss and emptiness. Especially to know the fact that many children were killed as there was a childcare center in the building.We then went back to freshen up to go join our other classmates at Citywalk, a local club. Yes, people got drunk, but not me, I didn't even drank a drop of alcohol.On Sunday, I woke up a bit earlier, and saw Man U won and lifted the Premier League title.It was then lunch at IHop for a few of us. During lunch, Fin told us what he saw during the night before at the Memorial. He saw a little girl, half burnt, squatting behind a dustbin. Dan also said he felt chills. But I didn't feel nor saw anything. I was kinda thinking, if I'm the one who saw the little girl, I really don't know how to react. Would I stand there crying? Would I try to comfort the little girl? Or would I just scream the daylights out of me? Fin did later revealed that his sightings did not stop after that night and that there were others in the studio during our class the following week.After lunch, we then walked around the Bricktown area. We first went to Bass Pro, which was beside our hotel. The entire shop was done up as though it was a theme park and there were "photo spots" around the shop! It also goes to prove how readily firearms are availiable and why America is sometimes "violent"...We then walked out towards the Botanical Gardens.More pictures of the Bricktown area...To me, it was an eventful and eye-opening weekend; and it started on Friday with the induction into Phi Kappa Phi...Week 3 coming right up! Revealing That EXCLUSIVE Letter Not anyone can have the privilege to receive such a letter. Only a selected few out of an entire intake of students will get it. The letter contains an EXCLUSIVE invitation to a society whose members includes US President Jummy Carter and author John Grisham. (Psst, enough clues already?)Well, a clue is found in this picture...Can't get it still? An even more obvious clue...I think most of you would have gotten it by now. Even if not, I'm gonna reveal the answer now!Woots! I'm offically a member of Phi Kappa Phi! Only the top 10% of the cohort will receive the invitation to be inducted into the society, which recognises those who have received academic excellence. I'm kinda surprised and honoured. I don't know if I really deserved this but I kinda felt that working so hard for this degree really paid off.During my Poly days, I could hardly get good grades as our grades were kinda dependent if the lecturers like our work or not, which is totally subjective and objective. During Poly, no matter how hard I tried, I never got the grades I hoped for. Since I have the chance to prove myself wrong, I tried hard and worked hard and I'm glad that I got rewarded. But receiving this letter also adds on unexpected pressure to perform even better and at least to maintain the current performance. This means that I feel even more pressured to perform for the last 3 modules that I am doing here.During the wellness classes, I tried so damn hard to claim whatever bonus and extra credit points as possible that I felt that I was desperate. To me, it seems that every single point mattered as it would divide a A from a A-. During the Environmental Science classes last week I was also trying to do my best for the worksheets and try to score as much "in-class" points as possible. Usually back in Singapore, I would also try my best, but this time round, I felt that there is an added pressure to perform since I was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, one of the top students in class. I felt that I became more competitive. Sigh, dunno if this is a good thing or not...Weekend adventures coming right up!20:09 OK time I Treat You, You Treat Me... I can't help feeling that all our lecturers here are darlings, especially the older ones who want to make us feel at home and treat us as though as we are their own children. Last Sunday, Dr Winn hosted us at his place. And on Wednesday week 2, Dr Olsen, our Behavioral Science lecturer treated us to Strawberry Shortcakes during our lunch break!And thus, we decided to host Dr Winn at the guys' room and cooked up a meal for him on Thursday.Revealing of the EXCLUSIVE letter coming right up!07:50 OK time... Tornado Hits Again! After an eventful weekend, week 2 of classes then started. This week we had a module called Personal Lifestyle. It is more of a wellness, P.E kinda module and yes, we did whatever that needs to be done to complete an IPPT.Our lecturer was Dr Slatham. She has a young cute daughter with loveable-pinchable cheeks (she showed us her photo once). She is also very cool, spunky and taught us in a very fun way. Instead of plain lecturing and lecturing into details, she would get us to do labs, a kinda workshop thingy where we would go to the computer lab or open up the textbook to give reports or act out skits. She gives me this very "garang woman" kinda feel.On the 2nd day of lectures, after the morning IPPT workout and doing bench presses (I can lift an amazing 55lbs), we went to a fitness center. 2 classes went in total but our lecturer did not go. Over here, there were basketball courts, many gym equipment, a swimming pool, whirlpool and suana. We wanted to go to the whirlpool, but as there was lighting and the whirlpool is situated beside the glass walls of the place, they decided to close the facility for a while. So, while waiting for the whirlpool to open, I decided to try the suana out.Shiok lah! I haven't had the feeling of wet hot air landing on my skin since I came here. Not that I miss Singapore's weather extremely, but that little humidity and warmth came at the right time when I'm damn sick of the cold dry weather here, especially when the scab in my nose builds up bigger and faster. The scab cleared in Singapore after a week is half of the scab here clear in 3-4 days. Also, the skin in my nostrils are cracking up due to the weather and there is slight bleeding. Now, if only there is a moisturizer for the nose... K, too much information already...So the bus drove us to the Asian Market to do little shopping after the fitness center trip. Then, the tornado warning siren came on. The lecturer of the other class sprung out of the bus and ran towards the supermarket. Meanwhile, the bus driver switched on the radio to listen to the weather alert. The lecturer then ran back towards the bus and was on the phone, saying that her house is in the path of the tornado or something. I was then kinda hoping to see the tornado but at the same time hoping not to see it because I'm in a bus, not in a building where I can find somewhere to hide!As the bus pulled into school, my class had to switch to the other bus as the bus we were on had to pick up another class at another building (there were a total of 4 classes on this trip). For the first time in my life, I ran in a storm. The wind was damn strong and the rain was pouring down so heavily. Running one bus length like took forever, with the wind blowing against me, I felt I almost flew backwards. Lifting my legs to run was tough too.On the other bus, there was good news (or not so good news) on the weather alert. The storm is changing direction and moving away from where we are and so the not so good news is that we can't be storm chasers. Besides that, the shopping trip scheduled for after class is also cancelled for safety reasons. Apparently, the storm is moving towards that direction... But we did reach the hotel safely!More of week 2 coming right up!00:18 OK time... Wonderful Dinner At End Of Week 1 On Sunday night, our dear Values and Culture lecturer Dr Harbor Winn hosted dinner for us at his house. He came over to fetch us to his place from our hotel and because there were too many of us, he had to make 2 trips.At the end of the dinner, both he and his wife drove us back. He also took a chance to make a detour round some places around school to show us where we can walk out to have lunch. So sweet right?Week 2 coming right up!23:20 OK time... End Of 1st Module And SHOPPING!!! Friday finally arrives and it was only half day. Class tradition, last day of module, TAKE PICTURE!!!Dunno why I close my eyes lah...So the rest of Friday, I slacked at the hotel, tried to update my blog as much as possible. ;-)Saturday, the school arranged for us to go to Dallas, Texas to an Outlet Mall for SHOPPING!!! Damn excited because it is my first shopping trip after coming to the US! We set off at 7.30am from the hotel as the mall was 3 hours away.Along the way, we stopped at a petrol kiosk which has a funny name, but it is damn cute lah...I was busy shopping and shopping and did not manage to take any photos. But I did managed to take pics of what I bought bought when I got back to the hotel...Don't ask me how much I spent in total. I refuse to calculate till I get back to Singapore...Wonderful dinner coming right up!18:37 OK time... Day 4 - I Almost DIED At The Hands Of Mr. Tornado... It was a damn long day and I felt I almost died over and over again on Day 4 of my first module of my on-campus residency here in Oklahoma. I can't find much words to describe what happened, so this post will be filled with photos as a picture paints a thousand words.Dr K brought us to the Wichita Mountains. We set off really early in the morning. The bus picked us up at the hotel at 7.30am.We then went to Mount. Scott, which is one of the peaks at Wichita Mountains.Besides the whole day hike which was a tad tiring, when we got back to the hotel, it seemed that everything was just like any other day, washing up, having dinner, preparing for the next day, etc. I was watching tv and then the program was disrupted abruptly. A weather update came on. There were loads of details and it seemed gibberish to me. What caught my attention was the word "tornado". My lecturers have warned us before that the period we were coming over is the tornado season. But I did not expect to meet Mr. Tornado so early into the trip.My classmate Dan then called my room. We decided to stay in our rooms while the rest of our roomies went out for dinner or for a smoke. He asked if I heard a siren and what was the siren about. I suspected it was a tornado warning siren because of the weather update that disrupted my tv program.When the next weather update that again disrupted my tv program came on, I listened to it more carefully. There were reports of golf-ball-sized hails in some parts of Oklahoma and it seemed that there might be a chance that a tornado will hit Oklahoma City, the city I'm in. The tornado alert was on for about an hour, but it kept prolonging and prolonging and through the weather updates, it seemed closer and closer.By this time, some of Dan's and my roomies were back already. Will aka Uncle, Dan's roomie, called my room. He was on the phone with Felicia and told her to go up to see the storm. Before he could finish what he needed to say (actually he wanted us to bring the dishwashing liquid up lor), Fel hung up the phone and told me about seeing the storm. I grabbed my phone and we went out of the room. Ad our room was beside the laundry room, we, being so damn excited, told everyone in the laundry room to see the storm. The next moment, you will see 10-ish people running out of the laundry room, down the corridor, squeezing into a lift, knocking on the guys' room door, running past the living room and into their balcony with Will looking shocked and standing by the door. When we reached the balcony and saw nothing, Fel and I asked Will, what storm. When we knew it was a false alarm, Fel and me just stood there laughing and laughing till we both squatted down. So damn freaking paiseh lah!But I was damn tired already and needed sleep. It did not help that I'm sleeping the closest to the windows and in any chance of a tornado, windows should be avoided at all costs. I was excited and kinda scared. Excited because I've never seen a tornado before and kinda scared because I don't think I should meet one. So I went to bed, hoping the tornado will change course and not suck me out of my room window.About an hour later, Fel came into the bedroom and shouted "Jasmine, wake up! Hailstorm!" When I could finally open my eyes, she has already ran out of the room. I was too sleepy to venture out to the lobby or upstairs to the guys' room to take a look, instead, I opened up the curtains and took a look. The thunder was loud and the wind was strong. My windows were vibrating!I was actually kinda scared. Lucky for me, the tornado did not come on full force. If it did, I might have been sucked out of the window while sleeping. Given that I always sleep soundly, as evident in my reaction when Fel came into the room, I don't think I could have made it to the shelter in time.Shopping coming right up!19:47 OK time... Field Trip!!! Dr. K brought us to 2 places on Day 2 of classes that tourists may not even choose to go. Initially I was thinking why I had to go to these places as they are of no interest to me. We went because it was part of our curriculum. So, I ventured into an oil well and a lake.The day started with a lady from OERB (Oklahoma Energy Resource Board) telling us briefly what OERB is all about and a history of the oil and gas industry in OK. At this point, I started to lighten up, thinking that this field trip might be interesting after all.We first went to an oil site, where oil is still being pumped out. As we turned around, we saw a house that was build on the remains of a drilling derrick.These places are managed by OERB which will help conserve the oil being pumped and help restore the site of the house into a flat ground.We then drove down to the Oklahoma History Center where the Devon Energy Oil and Gas Park is housed. Over here, we learnt of the history of the oil industry in Oklahoma and saw equipment of the old days which have all turned rusty.Some pics of the Park...We then went for lunch at the famous Route 66! The restaurant is called Pops. I wasn't that hungry and plus the servings here are GIANTIC HUMONGOUS-LY BIG, I opt for a soup and salad. It's not very expensive, about USD8 including tax and tips.After the interesting morning and lunch, the afternoon was kinda boring and tiring... We went to Arcadia Lake to learn about nature and what the lake is for. We saw loads and loads of plants but no animals. We went along a trail, but because it was sunny and warm, a few of us were commenting how come it's like never-ending. Never really took pictures because it was so damn boring to me lor... Anyway, here's a general view of the lake.Day 2 just went past like that. And so did Day 3, went by with me trying damn freaking hard not to fall asleep in class...Interesting Day 4 coming right up!22:45 OK time...