My Trip To The US

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!

My Long-Awaited Trip To The US

Well, my family and I will be leaving for the United States on Sunday morning. I am really excited and I can hardly wait for it because this is the first time I will travel outside of South East Asia. I will be going there for a fortnight and I will be visiting four places - Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I really hope that this will be a marvelous and fun-filled vacation for my family and I. :)

My Experience In Vietnam

I came back from Vietnam on the 12th of December (Friday)and the whole trip was great. I know I posted this only 3 weeks after the trip and I am sorry for the delay. Anyway, here is how the trip was.

Day 1 - Woke up at 4a.m in the morning and reached the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) airport at 6a.m. The flight time was at 7.50 and we reached Vietnam at around 9.50. When we were boarding the plane, there was a heavy rain and the airport service was poor because we had to walk in the rain to go to the plane. Anyway, back to Vietnam, after reaching we took a taxi to Ho Chi Minh city and we stayed in the Thien Tung Hotel. We later went to the Ben Thanh market. Its one of Vietnam's most famous landmark and it was built during the French occupation of Vietnam back in 18 something. We went for lunch and then we went back to the hotel and we rested until at night. During the night, after dinner, we went to the Diamond Plaza- one of the biggest shopping malls in Vietnam to do some shopping. We later went back to the hotel.

Day 2 - Woke up around 6 a.m and we followed a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels were used during the Vietnam war by the Vietnamese where the Americans fought against the Vietnamese. Before reaching the tunnel, we went to see a temple of a new religion in Vietnam called Cao Dai. It is a religion mixed with their own Cao Dai, Catholicism, Buddhism, Taoist and Hinduism. Then, we continued our tour and we reached the tunnels at around 3 something. There were 2 different tunnels and we went to the one that was the closest to the city. There were many things to see there. We not only crawled in the tunnels, but we also saw many boobie traps, an exploded tank, a large bomb crater, the way the soldiers lived in the tunnels and many more. The tunnels that were build last time were really awesome. Then before going back, my brother, my father and I tried a real M-30 gun with live bullets. The gun sound was really loud and it was also very heavy. After that, we followed our tour bus back to the city. Had our dinner at the Ben Thanh market and later went back to the hotel.

Day 3 - Woke up around 6 a.m again and we followed a private tour to visit the Mekong Delta and River. And this time round, our tour guide was one of the hotel's staff. And he could just skip his work like that to be our tour guide. How funny and weird. Then, we went to the Mekong River. We sat on a small boat to a few islands in the Mekong River. We went to the first island to buy some souvenirs and also see some roosters that are used for fighting. We also drank one type of honey drink there. On the other islands we went, we ate tropical fruits, watched a musical perfomance and we even sat on a sampan. The trip finish around 5 something and we headed back to the city. After that, went back to the hotel and after dinner, we went to the Ben Thanh market. Later in the night, my father brought my brother and I to eat ice-cream at one special ice-cream store and finally went back to the hotel.

Day 4 - We woke up around 6 something and we ate breakfast at the hotel. We didn't follow any tour on this day. So after breakfast, we went to the Ben Thanh market again for my mother and my grandparents wanted to buy something. In the afternoon, we ate lunch at a beef noodle restaurant and we also went to visit one of my parents' friends in the city. Then, we went to the Diamond Plaza again and we watched the Madagascar 2 Escape To Africa movie. After the movie, my brother and I played bowling with my father. Then, my parents went out to do something and the rest of stayed at the hotel and we ate dinner there. We spend the night by just watching television and using my father's laptop. Before we slept, we packed our things to get ready to go back tomorrow.

Day 5 - The day finally came for us to return home and we woke up about 5 a.m and we started packing our things and we left the hotel an hour and a half later to the airport. Our flight was at 8.50 a.m and we took our breakfast at the airport. Next, we boarded the plane and the flight back to Malaysia took nearly 2 hours. We went back in two separate cars back and after an hour's drive, we finally reached home after almost a week away.

That's the end of the trip. =) Hope you enjoyed it. :)

Vietnam Here I Come

Yes!! I will be going to Vietnam tomorrow with my parents and grandparents. I will finally be able to go somewhere and won't be bored staying at home. I have to sleep early tonight because I got to wake up at 3.30 a.m tomor row and leave for the airport around 4 something because I have to board the plane at 6.30 a.m.

Oh well.. I don't know how am I going to be able to wake up so early in the morning and then go travelling and visiting places the whole day. Anyway, I am very excited to go to Vietnam and I will be back on Friday. :) Will update my blog about my trip to Vietnam after I come back.