Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Of Pot Brownies and Biker Bars

I am so falling in love with couchsurfing. :p

Monday - Met up with Naomi, and had great conversations with her. She is a really inspiring person with a very determined character, and her life story spoke of strength and maturity through all the circumstances she'd met. I'm glad i had the chance to spend quite a few days chatting with her! I felt that i identified strongly with her thoughts and beliefs , which was rare haha.

You know your host is in the hospitality industry when she gives you this for showering.

Met up with Izzy and Indy - perfect coincidence, that we are again connected through Naomi! We were just talking and she mentioned one of her houses was just rented out to a French couple. And I thought, no way! But half an hour's drive later, we were reunited in sheer serendipity :) We arranged for a drink later on at night.

And nighttime arrived, at the Fremont Street Experience. Get ready for a neck-straining, psychedelic "experience" indeed, as you look at a ceiling formed from thousands of monitor screens playing out a fuzzy rendition of songs from the Doors, etc.

After that, a chill-out at the Bikers' Bar, where we heard more about Indy and Izzy's love story over chips, drinks and a game of pool.




Well. Las Vegas, the most decadent and culturally lacklustre city in my journey, is turning out pretty fine instead!

Tuesday - touring the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

It is probably impossible to capture the sheer allure of the Grand Canyon, one of the natural wonders of the world, in words or pictures. At its South Rim, we simply gaped at it, a most magnificent painting that arose from miles below our feet to the far horizons, melding into the blue skies. Our route brought us through a geology tour, identifying the layers of rock and sediment and the tectonic processes that gave birth to it. Perhaps the most inspiring and exciting geography lesson you can ever give to your child... time for an excursion next time!

I'd definitely have to come back for a longer stay next time, camping down in the crevasses and perhaps going on a mule ride through the cliffs! Boris (my friday host) shared that he and his friends did a freezing week-long adventure camping and trekking down at the bottom last month... i have to try that sometime!










Met some great new people too, including an exchange group from NTU and a girl from Australia! Hope they are still having fun in their travails :)

Wednesday - Had a fun, tumultuous hike with Larry @ Red Rock Canyon... love our conversations about freedom and responsibility, and American values. I admire that the older people i've met are absolutely independent and active thinkers, and even more that they're open to sharing their experiences. Anyway, it was a much more exciting climb than the Grand Canyon. Hope to go back sometime to try out the rock-climbing there!




Did Yoga with Naomi in the evening, mindblowing experience as a first time! Nothing like what i've experienced before, like sports or physical games. What's a good metaphor? Well... I feel like a flamingo in a volcano :)

Afterwards made my second dinner for potluck at her place, Malay-Chinese cuisine! Had a great dinner, met up with her daughter Rain and Izzy Indy etc. Later on, a couple of drinks at night.






I think my cooking is really improving :p

Thursday - A quick morning call back with my beloved team, HK and 2 KMs, back in Singapore, received some orders for Coach bags haha. Then rushed off for Bikram Yoga @ Green Valley with Naomi, and this time it was tougher, hotter and more refreshing than the last time! Pulled some muscles there, but made it through. Naomi rewarded me with a fantastic meal at an authentic Italian pizza restaurant :)

A quick nap later, Boris, my host for the rest of the week, picked me up to his place near the Stratosphere. Had a fun chat with him and his roommate Paul, heard about this Burning Man Festival in August. Amazing experience there, meeting his friends Rob, Ginah etc. They're all bohemian artists, and his friends are the creators of a lifestyle magazine, Sinner. I saw the Silkscreen process in action as they began making batches of shirts for sale in a boutique chain. Dozed off at night way too soon, perhaps due to yoga aftereffects :p

I just knew i had to couchsurf with Boris the moment i saw his profile pic.

Friday, a last day of decadence at the Strip and the outlet malls. Somehow in my Las Vegas experience, the Strip has been absolutely neglected, haha. In the nighttime, Big Rob and Ginah were busy at work in Boris' studio. They were also consulting Boris about the design of the boutique store exhibit. It feels inspiring to see all these artists at work, to hear their creative thoughts flow. The creation of art is really, really beautiful. And inspiring. Rob gave me one of their tees, to be an ambassador in SG :)






Saturday, flight to San Francisco! A pleasant lunch with Toby, and then lazying in Starbucks as i wait for my next host to get back home.

I am really beginning to understand the similarities and differences between people. Personalities, cultures, values and mindsets... in the past, it used to be, "Oh sure I understand cultural differences, between westerners and asians. Personal freedoms and stuff, right?" Now i realize that was all empty talk, like points recited off an encyclopedia page. Don't presume to know anything, until you've really spoken to people on the ground, people who live their lives in entirely different environments, with different outlooks in life, different perspectives to issues. I feel really fortunate to be exposed to all these new people in my life, to share and learn about the big, wide world out there.

Thank you. All.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Themeparks Inc, Orlando

Wow. I just realized i haven't said anything about my experiences in Universal Studios and Walt Disney World yet! Don't have much pics, so i'll leave this off till i get some from Wenqi.

Well, it was fun. I guess?





Just Kissimmee, already!

Introducing the house pets: Peach and Reese.

Peach is a labrador, and as sweet as her name suggests. She warmed up to me from the first day, and her favourite hobby is playing catch - in a tug of war fashion. You have to pry the toy from her mouth before throwing it again for her to chase. She also loves lying down on her back and begging for a massage, as seen below:


Reese just stares at me all day long. She suspects i've been stealing her cat food.


Today i decided to go down south, to Kissimmee. Folk legend says that guys and girls who venture there with their crushes will be incapable of restraining their feelings in front of them, and will passionately cry, "Kiss me!" or some other variant. Maybe not.

I stopped by Florida Mall along the way, with its interesting M&M World that serves as both shop and exhibit.




Onwards, to Kissimmee Town proper!

It seems i get lucky every time, as i passed by the historic downtown district and spotted yet another calendar event to crash: the Kowtown Festival, celebrating 127 years of Kowtown heritage. Don't ask me how they get their names. But anyway, it was a fun event with a live band playing, assorted stalls of food and art crafts, and a meatloaf cookoff plus hot dog eating contest! We could even get tastings of the various meatloafs and chip in our votes.




From there, it was a brisk walk down to Tohopekaliga Lake. There were very interesting monuments on the way, one on World War II and the other dedicated to peace...





And i reached Lake Toho ... a vast, greenish-blue lake covered with algae, inhabited by birds and surrounded by gator-infested swamps. Couldn't afford the boat tours though, so i strolled along the boundary.



An old man sat fishing there, just like any old man fished, on a pail, and with all the time in the world. The first thing he said to me was, "You Japanese? Singapore? Ain't that in Japan? The earthquake was bad huh. Ah, nothing beats nature..."

Frank, 84 years old, had 6 kids and countless grandkids. He once worked for Kodak and now lived on a pension. As a retiree, he stays at New York in summer, and drives down to Florida for the winter. (That's a 22 hour drive, folks!)

He loves his family, and feels so rich having them. In fact, he had a close friend, a millionaire without any kids, who once offered half a million to let him adopt his child.

"I told 'im ten million at least," he exhorted, "and even then i told him, nothing. I won't even think 'bout it!"

"Why, he worked hard in his time, i brought up my family in mine. Now i'm rich with kids, and he's rich with money. Why, I told him, now then, go spend it now! And he cried. He was miserable."

He gave me a ride out to the main road, to catch the bus to my next destination.

"And remember," he left off saying, "stop wasting yer time and get married early!"


Next stop was Old Town, situated just off Disney's backyard... a giant attraction that's touristy with a rustic flavour. Themed with everything nostalgic, from the cowboy shops to old-fashioned themepark rides, the main draw today was The Saturday Nite Cruise®, the largest car cruise in the States, with over 300 classic cars, hot rods, street rods and antiques from 1974 and older. Fantastic, rare chance to see and feel these cars in action, and especially at night when they tour the place and the entire town feels electrified!








I just love how their owners proudly identified with their cars, as though they still felt they were the same hippies they were fifty years ago!


The shops are a great reason to come back again... lots of things to explore. There's also Laser Tag, Go-karting, making it a perfect attraction to hang out for a day with your friends!





Well, i'm beat. Hope to fill in more next timeee.