I don't quite know where to start...

So I'm just going to! My original plan was to update this regularly while I was in California(precisely to avoid a situation like this where I've got a plethora of pictures and not enough patience to post every interesting one), but evidently I was unable to. Let's just start from where I left off, before my 4 day jaunt to Yosemite National Park, Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

California is huge. It's bigger than Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. Thus, most of our 4 days was spent on the coach. Which resulted in sort of ridiculous situations where we would drive for 6 hours to spend around an hour in Yosemite(which is several times bigger than friggin' Singapore), and for 8 hours to amble around the cliffs of a small portion of the Grand Canyon for an hour. I suppose that for me, the trip was an appetizer, allowing me a glimpse of what to expect when I return for the main course in the future.

Unfortunately, the Yosemite Falls were running dry that day, and what was supposed to be a majestic waterfall turned out to be a mere trickle. Put it down to bad timing. Still, I got to see another waterfall and El Capitan, the famous giant...rock.


The lake isn't exactly in Yosemite Park(it is along the way tho'), I just added it to be dramatic. To me, water always adds another dimension to scenery.

During this time of year, it gets dark by around 5, which meant that we were unable to see much more of Yosemite by the time we got to the visitor's lodge. Spent the night in Fresno, which of course is the hometown of rap superstar K Fed. They must be so proud...

Most of the second day was spent driving down to Las Vegas, which of course is next door, in Nevada state. By the time we got there, it was already around 4. First impression of Vegas - My my it looks small! I could see the entire Strip from the highway. That impression certainly changed on my second night when I walked up and down half of the Strip, thinking about how bloody long it was and wanting to pee very badly. But that's for later.



Only in Vegas can you find faithful replicas of Venice, Paris, and New York City, all along one stretch of road. Our guide brought us around to some of the free Vegas shows, including the volcano at the Mirage which erupts every hour. It's hard to have a favourite resort, but if I had to choose, it would probably be the Venetian. Call Vegas tacky, cheesy, plastic, just don't accuse them of not going all out for their themes. The Venetian even has lagoons that run through the resort(just like in the real place), and of course gondola rides along those lagoons. I had no time to do so unfortunately. In the first picture, you can see the Wynn, which is the newst(for now) resort in Vegas, just opened this year. That picture was actually taken from my hotel, The Riviera, which used to be on the Vegas resort A-list...around 30 years ago. Still, it is on the Strip(albeit a rather quiet, somewhat seedy portion). LIBERACE helpped to cut the ribbon when they first opened 51 years ago, and a relatively unknown Barbara Streisand opened for him at the resort's lounge. Talk about faded glory days! The interior of the Wynn is GORGEOUS, more on that later.

So on the third day we drove for 8 freaking hours to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. The tour guide says that seeing it for the first time is a life-altering experience. Er...my life wasn't exactly changed, but it is, in a word, indescribable. I shall save the flowerly language and pretentious metaphors for another time and just let the pictures tell the story.


Almost over the edge! In that last picture there, I'm literally on the edge of the cliff! My legs became wobbly when I was posing for that picture! There were some crazy people who took pictures along this very narrorw ridge - one slip and you fall god knows how many feet to your doom, but of course I was too much of a pussy to do so. Typical Simon story number 2 - while I was at the Grand Canyon, I played I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman, again and again and again. Like, repeatedly. For an hour. Isn't that absolutely faggalicious? If you're wondering why, think of the music video for that song. I almost felt like Britney, singing about the uncertainties of life at the crossroads(pun intended) while looking out at the allegedly life-changing landscape before me. Heavy stuff, I tell you. *OK for some reason the cheebye pictures are lopsided but you know what, I'm too tired to figure out how to turn them around*

All too soon, it was back on the coach for another 8 hour ride back to Sin City. Since it was my final night in Vegas, and the exploration of the previous night was rather unsatisfactory, I decided to head out for a final fling with the Strip. Caesar's Palace is HUGE. Like seriously, huge. And the lake in front of the Bellagio is massive! I'm very fond of the Bellagio fountains, because Britney performed I'm A Slave 4 U for the Billboard Music Awards in those fountains back in 2001, and I had expected to be impressed. But the scale of the lake almost made my jaw drop. As I said, you can't fault them for not really going all out when building resorts.



Every 15 minutes at night, the Bellagio fountains get to work, shooting streams of water up in tandem with music. It's sorta like the musical fountains in Sentosa, only on a much grander and elegant scale. After the Venetian and the Wynn, the Bellagio is probably my favourite resort in Vegas. I didn't get to see those at the south end of the Strip such as MGM Grand(which I hear is somewhat souless), Las Vegas New York(I've already been to the real deal so yeah) and the Luxor(tacky Egyptian theme complete with pyramid and Sphinx), but I think it's safe to say that those are my 3 favourites. So far. The amazing thing about Las Vegas is that there's still plenty of construction going on, on and off the Strip. Just on the Strip alone, there's a new resort being built across the road from the Venetian, the Wynn is ALREADY expanding(it just opened this year remember?), and the Stardust Hotel opposite the Riviera is being torn down. Out with the old, in with the new.

We strolled through the Wynn, and my dad was like 'Let's have dinner. Where's the food court?' I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It's GORGEOUS.

Ok OF COURSE that last picture isn't from the Wynn but I thought Meng might find it interesting. After our tour of the Wynn, I told my dad that it was a motivation for me to work hard and get a job that pays me bushels of money so I can go back and actually stay there instead of some resort that saw it's best days before I was born.

One more thing about Vegas - the casinos are the core of most resorts. Don't be fooled by the free shows, or the shopping. Gambling is still the main business. The casinos aren't like in a distinct area with a guard outside checking your ID and charging you $100 before you go in. They're part of the resort, usually on the ground floor(easy entrance you see), and sometimes you have to walk through them to get to the hotel lobby, or the food court. Slot machines, tables, it's all there, as far as the eye can see. I didn't gamble because 1)I don't like to lose money and 2)I'm not of legal age yet anyways, but I was impressed. Singapore should learn something from this. If you want to have a casino, go all out and have one, and not hide it under the "intergrated resort" label, and come up with all sorts of red tape and restrictions and regulations(although that's what Singapore does best no?) That's the problem with Singapore. We want to do big things but lack the guts to really go all the way. It's bullshit. But hey, what can I do?

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll post more pictures later. We suffered for 11 hours on the final day, driving back from Vegas to good ol' Milpitas, a suburb somewhere near San Jose that was home for most of my 17 days in America. I went to Stanford(for the shopping center, duh), and of course back to San Francisco, including the Castro. Stay tuned for all that sometime in the future!