Hey everyone, I returned on the 11th of December from the US. It was a marvelous trip and a whole new experience for me and my family. Before I tell you about my experience in the US, let me tell you something which happened before we went to the trip. Just one day before we were about to leave for the US, we had a major scare as my brother and I had food poisoning. My condition was the worser of the two of us because I vomited many times. We both had fever too. But luckily, thank God we were able to go for the trip. My mum also took care of us for the whole night before the trip. For first 3 days, we stayed in a beautiful and luxurious resort called the Pelican Hill Resort, located in the outskirts of Los Angeles. It stands on about 200 acres of land. We didn't really visit any places of interest during our stay there but we enjoyed staying in the resort, its facilities and the breath-taking scenery as it was located on a hill and not far from the Pacific Ocean.
After our short stay there, we went to Los Angeles and we stayed at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel on the fourth day. We also went to shop at a nearby factory outlet called The Block at Orange. The branded goods in the US are all very cheap compared to Malaysia because most of them are American brands. We also shopped on the fifth day of the trip. We went to the Cabazon Factory Outlets. It was a 2 hour bus ride there.
The sixth day was where most of the fun started. We first visited the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier in San Diego. This large carrier ship is no longer in use and it has been turned into an exhibit. We saw many types of aircrafts on the ship and we went on a guided tour to see the ship’s control room – the most important part of the ship.
My brother (L) and I (R)
On the same day, after visiting the USS Midway, we visited the renowned San Diego Sea World. We also watched the amazing Shamu, The Killer Whale Show. Furthermore, we managed to catch a glimpse of the penguins, polar bears, sharks and other sea creatures there.
From L to R : My brother, sister, father, mother and I.
The following two days was when I enjoyed myself the most. We went to Disneyland and the Universal Studios Hollywood. It was my dream to go to Disneyland since I was young and it has finally come true. Disneyland was very near to our hotel and we could just walk there. We didn’t manage to try everything because we only had one day there. Nonetheless, we still covered many parts of it and tried many thrilling and fun rides there such as the Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, the Pirates of the Caribbean rides and many more.
That is the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse in the background.
The Disney Parade!
During our visit to the Universal Studios Hollywood, we first went on a guided tour to see how the movies were made. The simulations there were exceptionally incredible and it all seemed very real. For instance, there was the earthquake simulation. When our tram went into a tunnel, the whole place started shaking violently and then the roof collapsed. After that, an oil tanker and a car fell in. Next, a train passing by rammed into the fallen debris. Lastly, on the other side, water suddenly came rushing down as if was going to hit us but it didn’t. Besides, we also tried a few thrilling rides there such as the Jurassic Park and the Mummy rides. The experience we had during these two days was simply amazing.
This was in Hollywood.
Universal Studios!
This is a tour around Universal Studios to see how are movies made.
These are all the places they use to make movies.
And this is the entrance to the amazing Waterworld show.
The Jurassic Park ride. We plunged down 84 feet!
After staying in Los Angeles for a good eight days, my father rented a car to drive to Las Vegas. The trip to Las Vegas took about five hours. It was challenging for him to drive there as it was all left hand drive and fortunately he rented a GPS to guide him to our destination. In addition, when we were on our way to Las Vegas, it started snowing along a stretch of the highway. After reaching there, we stayed in the Tropicana Hotel, located on a famous street there called The Strip. The buildings there were mainly hotels and each hotel had a casino. Besides, it also had replicas of the Eiffel Tower and The Statue of Liberty. The temperature in Las Vegas was about 7 or 8 degree celsius in the afternoon and almost close to sub-zero temperatures at night. It was much colder than in Los Angeles – about 10 degree Celsius at night and about 17 degrees in the afternoon.
The replica of the Eiffel Tower!
MGM - the largest hotel in the world
The replica of the Statue of Liberty!
Las Vegas!
Our rented car!
The scenery during one of the evenings in Las Vegas.
On the second last day we were there, we went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We went to the West Rim which was nearer. On the way there, we stopped by at the Hoover Dam to take some pictures and enjoy the lovely scenery there. It took us two to three hours to finally reach the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. We were extremely fortunate to see snow there because it rained yesterday night. There was about 3 inches of snow and we had a lot of fun. Besides, it was freezing cold there – close to sub-zero temperatures even though it was in the afternoon and at night, the temperature was around -5 to -10 degree celsius. After that, we went to have lunch. We had Red Indian food and it was a scrumptious meal. Then, we went for the Skywalk. It was 4000 feet above the ground and the floor was all made of glass. The scenery there was just astounding. What an experience it was for us.
We stopped by at Hoover Dam before we went to the Grand Canyon.
A helicopter taking off on the Grand Canyon.
It's all snow there.
Making 'angels' in the snow. Haha!
The Grand Canyon! It's amazing isn't it?
This is my family!
The next day was time for us to head back to Malaysia. We packed our stuff and went around and explored Las Vegas before my father drove us back to Los Angeles where we went to the Los Angeles International Airport also known as LAX for our departure to Malaysia. It was a very memorable trip and it was the best vacation I have ever had.
The lovely scenery of the sunrise during my flight back to Malaysia.
That's all for now. There are still a lot of things to tell about my trip to the US but I don't have the time to say it all here. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!
