Off to visit my friend -- Lady Liberty!

Sex Sex ...MORE SEX! been watching loads of sex in the city! ROCKZ
That's the load of food we ate at STORM

I've Conquered the statue!
Three good friends :-)

Did u know that the tiles on the ceiling and floor are exactly the same?? Symmetrical!

Blogging after a long break is seriously damaging to health! Especially if you want to cover a whole month's journey! Regret..Should have done some at Neil's place..it's taking me forever to cover this story!

Anyway, bear with me my children. Here's a history lesson number one for you:

The great statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World" that stands in upper New York Bay on Liberty Island (Bedloe's Island until 1956), a national monument since 1924 and one of the most cherished landmarks in the modern world, was created by the French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in France, transported in 1885 in parts on the French navy frigate Isère to the United States, and finally reassembled on Bedloe's island in time for dedication ceremonies that took place on October 28, 1886. The dedication day was proclaimed a national holiday, and President Grover Cleveland presided over ceremonies attended by about 1,000,000 people. (The actual presentation of the statue to the United States took place two years earlier in 1884, however.) Bartholdi's statue of a woman clad in flowing robes, with an uplifted arm, holding a torch (or flambeau) was constructed of 300 hammered copper sheets, originally stood 151 feet high and weighed 225 tons. It was based on the sculptor's own nine-foot model of a French seal. The purpose of the statue was to commemorate the enduring friendship between the people of France and the United States, as well as the centenary of U.S. independence (1776) and France's own revolution (17989) . Although the statue was first conceived by Bartholdi in 1871, its conception followed a proposal by Edouard de Laboulaye, a French Statesman, made at a dinner party in France in 1857 for the joint Franco-American endeavor.

The costs of constructing the statue and its pedestal were originally estimated at about $584,000, a quarter of a million of which was to be borne by the people of France with the remainder forthcoming from American sources.

WAKE UP WAKE UP!!! Are u yawning already? haha.. ok la, i shan't bore u. But the queue to that place was amazing. Fortunately we had our tix bought over the net, but we still had to join the q to board the boat. It took us a bloody 2 hours lor! There was nothing much except the statue. Afterwhich we went to Ellis Island. Had to take a short boat ride AGAIN.

here's history lesson number two: (have u put on the toothpicks on your eyelids?)

From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Through the years, this gateway to the new world was enlarged from its original 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres by landfill supposedly obtained from the ballast of ships, excess earth from the construction of the New York City subway system and elsewhere. From 1794 to 1890 (pre-immigration station period), Ellis Island played a mostly uneventful but still important military role in United States history. When the British occupied New York City during the duration of the Revolutionary War, its large and powerful naval fleet was able to sail unimpeded directly into New York Harbor. Therefore, it was deemed critical by the United States Government that a series of coastal fortifications in New York Harbor be constructed just prior to the War of 1812. After much legal haggling over ownership of the island, the Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State in 1808. Ellis Island was approved as a site for fortifications and on it was constructed a parapet for three tiers of circular guns, making the island part of the new harbor defense system that included Castle Clinton at the Battery, Castle Williams on Governor's Island, Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island and two earthworks forts at the entrance to New York Harbor at the Verrazano Narrows. The fort at Ellis Island was named Fort Gibson in honor of a brave officer killed during the War of 1812

I must say Ellis was rather interesting. If you're an American, you can find out who your ancestors were through some software. As we took the cruise back to shore, we were astounded to see how long the q was. At 4pm it was still pouring with people! Anyway, I decided to be Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and instead of Rodeo Drive, we went 5th Ave! Come all the way to New York of coz must go 5th Ave rite? The crowd was amazing! So many people walking. It was a jungle. We met Esther and had dinner at STORM. Yum! Finally real food! Calamari, Mussles (That was fantastic), wings, chips with spinach....n of coz loads of Booze! Rubbing our stomachs, we drove out and stayed at a bar motel outside New York. Terrible condition! we didn't dare bathe that night. And the bed was utterly flat i could feel the springs. needless to say, Sex was out that night!haha

NEW YORK CITY here we come!

New York City.. Crossing the Washington Bridge

yes, the empire state building is closed for reno. But it doesnt matter. U have to pay to go up!
Firemen are a big thing. There were like 2 to 3 fire engines along the read with whole lot of hoo ha but no fire!!
Time Square. Ten years ago, my baby was here with his frens counting down to the New year. Now he's with me. :-)

Departed for New york City at 730am. Yawn yawn. packed some of our barang and hopped on that 20 yr old jeep. was nice of Neil to lend us his trusty jeep. Arrived at destination at 10am. Stopped and had BK along the way. Met up with Jiazhou and wanted to go Ellis Island but there was a super long q. Walked to 5th avenue, wall street, Rockerfella, Bryan Park, central Park, Madison, Time Square, all within that day. We covered it all in one day so what was there to do the next?haha. Ate Chinese food that night. hey..not bad ok. opened by Taiwanese. had chicken, duck, brinjal, bubble tea and fried rice. Went out of New york city to look for place to stay. got a little lot and coz it was raining, we stopped at Marriot. Gosh i love the place!

next day 27/12, wanted to go Liberty but Chou was sick. Thus we headed to Woodbury instead. THere was a jam @ Washington bridge, as usual. left @ 1130am o go to new york but reached at 2pm!!! Had dunkin donuts for breakfast and headed for shopping. by the way, donuts were damn sweet!Bought loads of things. there are over 200 stores at Woodbury. Dinner was seafood udon. it was nice. but ex. USD$10. Searched n stayed at ulu hotel along Route 17 @ Chester. Real dark but not bad a place...with even a microwave, fridge, bathtub n a king size bed. (ie. holidayInn Express)

Christmas day! 25 December 2007

Shopping @ Limerick. With your usual Nike, Adidas, Coach, Charlotte Russe (my fav) etc etc
Nitney wondering who is the new kid on the block (Marryann's Xmas present from Neil..isn't that sweet)
Big Bird!
Honey relaxing at the backyard with a beer. Dont we all wish everyday can be like that?
Just look at the amount of sugar put on the table! how not to put on weight?

25/12: We slept till almost 10am that day. Work up and the Ross family were already up and preparing food. I thought they were busy making breakfast. But alas! it was xmas dinner which they were actually making. They skipped breakfast and i wondered why. Later i realised why. It was the feast they were waiting for! It's somewhat like our chinese new year reunion dinner. It was to be held at Mary's sis's (Patty's) place. which was only next door. It was pretty amazing, we had the traditional turkey with stuffings and ham and loads of sweet desserts like cheesecake. "dinner" started at 2pm and we ate n ate n ate till 4 or 5pm. hung around and watched tv whilst they played Jeopardy (simpson's style). Halfway, i had a running nose n din feel too good. Perhaps it was sinus acting up, but i feel feverish and had to go take a nap. Slept all the way till 9pm!

24/12: All this talk about food and I've actually forgotten to update u about my shopping!! Gosh. So sorry! How could I. BAcktrack: on the eve of Xmas, we went SHOPPING @ Limerick. Bought shoes and lovely dresses at Charlotte russe. Really love their stuff. N bought myself a beautiful kate spade handbag. checked out King of Prussia but it's a place for the rich. It's the same as the outlets, only no discounts!Hahah Hubby bought a tee at Limerick for USD3.99!! Happy like toad! That night, we went to the supermarket and bought some chicken breast and had a BBQ. It was realli shiok to do it in winter. n it's simple too! somehow it tasted better than in Singapore!

Pre Xmas Party @ Allentown

Outside Tom and Priscilla's house
Bethelham Downtown

Dearest playing pinball at Neil's basement
Holding a slab of snow for the first time in my life!

Allentown is approximately an hour and a half's drive from Neil's house. we were cordially invited to Tom and Priscilla's house (two new frens whom we've never met) for the pre xmas party of the year. apparently, they host two parties each yr. one in the summer and the other during winter. People from everywhere will come. N it was a real experience coz i saw SNOW! YES SNOW! it was cold, about 40 F. Their house was huge, with a basement that had a pool table, a lounge area and a workshop to do some handiwork. oh n there was a jackport machine too!hehe..seems like gaming is quite big for these folks. Neil also has a whole lot of Arcade machines in his basement. With games like pinball and that shooting game we used to play when we were kids..oh n mini bowling! Who needs to sleep in that house! not to mention the beer was just within reach coz the basement had a fridge too!

The party was interesting, with many people not knowing exactly where or what is Singapore!The food was great and in fact, we were gonna try to make those BBQ honey chix wings in slowpot when we get back! The next day, Sunday, we went to visit the quiet little town of Bethelham, where Jesus. We watched a cute little skit about Jesus Story, put up at the Putz (some cathedral). We left later that day as there wasn't much to do (NO SHOPPING). It was 60F..very comfortable and hot by my darling's standards. WEnt back to Neil's town and had seafood at Lew's Place. haha, the funny thing is, they pronounce my darling's surname liew as Loo and Lew as Loo as well. Phonetically, i guess we are a little different. Had seafood there

! the clam chowder was great and the little neck clams were amazing!!!!!Very sweet. Would really love to have more! But as usual, portion was huge. but u know what? I FINISHED MY FOOD!

Meeting the Ross family -- Philladelphia

Cool right? having a nicely decorated house for Xmas. Apparently, decorations are big over in the States, with many inflatables
Neil's Pride and Joy-- mobile home
Isn't she just Adorable??
The Culprit who slammed onto my leg in the middle of my sleep!
Neil and Ai-ni

now now...let's see, which day of my honeymoon am I at now?...hmm..it's 21/12....ok, we were losing track of time but who cares, it's my HONEYMOON! After all the fun at Vegas, we got ready and left for Philly. The weather condition on the last day was amazing! it's as if a storm was hitting this dessert. In fact, the night b4, we went to Hard Rock n sand started blowing into my eyes. OUCH! Anyway, before we left, i insist that we went to Denny's one more time for our meal but after searching for nearly half an hour, there wasn't a Denny's or Mac in sight and we were very near the airport already. so we went back to the Strip where there's a Denny's, wanted to dine there but there was a huge q. it was freezing that day n the wind was so strong, the road signage were coming off. The police had to cordon an area to prevent any accident from happening. End up, we went to find uncle Ronald and had our burgers! There was a 1/2hr delay for the flight. n the code sharing between United airways n American airlines caused us much confusion. after sorting out which plane we were supposed to board, we went up. BOy do i appreciate SQ and now know why it's one of the top airline in the world!!! United was so lok kork!it was a small plane n the 4 hour flight was extremely bumpy. There wasn't any beverage except water n coke since it's cheap. no food. nothing. n if u wanan watch tv, they have a central tv along the aisle but u need to purchase ear phones at USD5 from them! crazy. best of all, they din have any free alchohol. how am i to know that! i ordered myself baileys n had to pay USD5 for at miniature bottle!>KAOZ...smart ass. anyway, after approximately 4 to 5 hours, we arrived. It was approximately midnite but Neil n wife Maryann were real nice to come pick us. Mary was in her fluffy mink coat and she gave me a huge bear hug. made me feel really welcome. Went straight on for dinner at a bar. Yum, the burger n appetizers n beer were great!

Arrived at their house which was located in the suburbs of Philly...it's a two storey house with a basement which housed 2 adults, a child (Cameron), 1 fat dog (nitny) and 2 fat cats! That night, we were sleeping in the living room on the sofa bed when suddenly i felt a slam on my leg. Thinking that it was my dearest who slammed me with his leg, i sat up in a shock and wanted to slap him. only to realise it wasn't him! It was Snuggles! the cat!Haha..i was at her spot apparently.

Day 6 & 7 -- HUAT AH!!!

Volcanic eruption @ The Mirage


So Romantic...N Expensive!
At Casears' PalaceThe Rip off Buffet ..but the clams were excellent and there were crabs too! Eat until leopard crawl

Day 6: After winning some money on the slot machine, we decided to treat ourselves to a sumptuous buffet lunch at Plannet Hollywood casino. The food there generally is cheaper than other parts of US. we paid onli $16.99 per pax for the buffet. it was quite a feast, only problem, my feet was extremely swollen by then. I had to hide in the toilet to take out those boots and relax my poor feet!! Heng the toilet was nice and clean! nxt we went to seach for the Las Vegas outlet @ Charleston but to no avail. Saw many nice landed properties on the outskirts. As it was getting dark by 4pm, we decided to go back to the Strip to see the Mirage Volanic eruption. It was magnificent. By day, it's a water feature, by night, it transformed into a volcano which erupt every hour at the hour. It was a play of lights and fire. Before that, we had to try our luck of course....guess what? Lady luck wasn't smiling at us this time. we lost money and settled dinner at Denny's.

Day 7 (19/2): Set off early for Hooverdam. luckily we weren't stupid enuff to sign up some package and take the little plan or helicopter up there. It was a steep drive but the structure was amazing. Can't imagine how those ppl built that dam in those days. After walking around (ourselves. once again, we weren't stupid enuff to hop on those tours which cost $$), we headed for the long awaited VEGAS OUTLET!!! Searched high and low for a nice pair of sneakers but ended up buyin Sketchers @ Fashion Mall. Comfort finally dawned my feet! my poor aching swollen feet! Now i can RUn, jump, sprint! We visited the Venitian which was quite a place. there were shopping galore eg Gucci, kate spade etc etc....but of coz, it's ur mini paragon, thus the price was a little out of reach too. The place was nicely decorated in Venice style, with gondola and people singing whilst rowing the gondola. Dinner was settled at Casears Palace. stupid us, didn't know that alcoholic beverages were chargeable and ended up chalking up a bill of over US$100+!!! End up, sweetie got real pissed and went to gamble roulette and won $100! My Hero!

Day 5 -- Las Vegas Here we come!

We were upgraded to this room at the Flamingo. I love the bed!
Though it's an old establishment, it has modern tech.
Am i in Paris?
The Venetian...There're even gondolas in a manmade river
The Belagio. WE could see its fountain displays from our room, nightly!

Treasure Island -- There's even a pirate ship at its entrance. Talk about grand!

Stratosphere

Do u know there's a monorail running along the Strip?

New York New York! Now who needs to go there to see the actual Statue of Liberty when there's one right at the entrance of this hotel!

Day 5 (19/12): Oh my, this is getting tirin...not the trip la...trip's find except for the contant map reading...but the blogging part is the tiring part! But it's part of my new yr resolution to blog down memories..so I MUST PERSERVE! We checked out real early. so early the Indian fellow in charge of the inn wasn't even awake. had to buzz the bell several times. loaded our luggage n were ready to go. Along hte way to Vegas, we saw this interesting road -- ZZYZX!hahaha..what a name. After travelling for about an hour, we arrived at Disneyland @ 8am. yes, we thought that the early bird catches the worm, but apparently, there were many sparrows around too! But fortunately the q was a short wait. Bought tix and cost us $66 per pax! GOSH! had breakfast, al fresco style at a cafe. Shared and spent $20 on one set!!! at exactly 9am, everyone started Cheonging. N being Singaporeans, how can we not join in the fun? However, the entrance was very lovely. With flowers and castles...we just had to stop to take a photo or two. Many ppl however were rushing off. I wonder why. until much later did i realise they were rushing off to the rides. The queues at the popular rides like the Nemo submarine was amazingly long. I tink the waitin time would have to be 4hours! I'm not kidding u. Thus, we end up taking kiddy rides like the Pinnochio ride and the "it's a smal world" ride. i almost slept boy! They were nice, but i guess we've outgrown it. We walked around till1 2noon before deciding to head off to Vegas. but along the way, how could we resist yet another shopping opportunity?!..bought loads at an outlet. had mac for lunch. *getting sick now*

Arrived at Vegas, The Flamingo Hotel. An old but nicely decorated hotel. Smells a little funny though. Walked the Strip but my feet were killing me. Those boots coupled with the water retention from sitting too long in airplane, totally hurt my joint. the sides of my feet were so pain i just couldn't walk. Coupled with the fact that I was still bleeding, the whole journey wasn't pleasant. I could sense that my dearest wasn't too happy but there's nothing much he could do but sulk. Oh but the nice thing was, we stopped at Planet Hollywood casino n played the slot machine. I slotted in $10 n won $40!!hhaha lucky me. that solved the next meal! At night, we headed to Dennys...again, for the usual buffalo wings n gorgeous Oreo Shake!

Day 3 & 4-- Disney or Shoppin?

what a beautiful morning
The "MId Size" car I was telilng u about

Shopping at Rodeo Drive? nah..not within my budget

Day 3: Mac for b/f again. It's still ok. The weather in LA was nice n cool. Ok, was a little cold in the morning but tolerable. Wanted to head off to Disneyland at Anahem. Had a deprived childhood la, thus had to die die go. Paid parking of $11, sat on tram to get in only to see a snake long queue. We aren't gonna get our tix for the next 3 hours, thus we decided to leave and went to an outlet instead! b4 that, we took some pix at the entrance. hahaha gonna come back Disney on MOnday. At the outlet, we or at least I Went totally wild! THe branded stuff were reasonably priced and so much was on sale!!! Went back hotel to sleep at 530pm coz was freaking tired n Menses came. Sianz...no sex tonite i guess. Poor baby. woke up only at 11pm. The time difference still din quite set in. Fortunately there was always Denny's round the corner and we found one at Sunset Blvd. The Buffalo wings n Oreo Shake were fabulous!!!!!!!

Day 4 (16/12): It's a beautiful Sunday. the birds were freezing, the sun rays were filtering thru our radiated "suite" and we woke up at 7am. Wanted to go to Santa Monica Beach but went up Highway 10 instead. OPS! Passed by Walnut Grove and saw Ikea. headed to Dessert Hill outlet mall and shopped from 1030am till 610pm. n they say men can't shop! Geez.! it was about 86 miles drive from hollywood. Took us about 1.5hrs.

Day 2 -- Universal Studio & the Walk of Fame

Remember Forest Gump?

I told u it wasn't cheap, luckily we had coupons n had a discount of $4!
Waterworld. It was a fabulous performance! Whilst waiting for the show to start, the performers entertained us with their hilarious antics
Flash Flood.

hmmm it was getting late. which way to go?

Chinese Theatre looking grand.

Several prints were made on the flooring in front of the Chinese Theatre. There was some familiar prints! Even John Woo was there!

Day 2: Woke up super early. 6am n the both of us were rolling about in bed. Hey..not what u think la..it's a bit too early for that. Went to recee the place and found Mac Donalds. They had interesting stuff. Ate the Mac Girdle which was actually like Mac muffin just that the burger is soaked in maple syrup and it has a nicer bite...Darling dearest had the Mc Skillet which was actually burito. Nice on the first bite, but thereafter it's gets a little overwhelmingly flour-y!

After a hearty b/f, we went to Universal Studio. we were there at 8am n they were closed. But that's good, coz we went round takin shots. Boy did we managed to get some nice shots. But we couldn't bum around till 10am thus we drove out to Ventura Blvd to check it out. I thought there were some nice shops at that place according to my online research but i guess it's either bogus or it closed down. nevertheless, it was interesting to dr around. Finally we went back at 10am, n SHIT LA, we had to pay $10 parking!! But okok, it was worthwhile coz we spent the whole day there. The tix wasn't exactly cheap though. We bump into Spongebob, spiderman n several other characters. Saw the infamous Waterworld. THat was realli a sight. also hopped on the tram to tour the studios. It's so amazing that they erected the whole town from Desperate Housewife and created a plane crash scene from War of the Worlds. it's also equally amazing when we stopped by this slope where the tour guide "Made" it flood! it was a flash flood which was real!ever imagined how the fires in subways were sparked? well they did a live demonstration n boy was it hot!we also caught a glimpse of the various vehicles used in movies and the set of fast n Furious. we then went on to the special effects section where they demonstrated how some effects were done. they made a "wolf" come to life! We later visited this place called DRIFT where there was an explosion (meant to be of coz). it was all 100% real! the fire was super hot. Drift i think was name after this show about air trapped in placed like a lift or room, causing great explosion when the door opens to allow oxygen to enter. U can imagine the impact. It totally rocked! Universal was super huge, but it was soon dark (it was only 4+pm though), and we decided to head off. Contemplated to eat at Hard Rock but thought of doing the walk of Fame along Hollywood blvd. So off we went. Prior to that, we saw in the mag that there's this place called Pig N whistler n though we should try out. It was near Chinese Theatre. We found it but it looked ex, went to Hooters but it was packed, n ended up having more buritos at Baja Franchise. Some mexican food. THe portion was yet again, HUGE. now why am i not surprised.