I'm going to jump ahead of myself. Because my entries are so desperately trying to catch up with time, and surely it is not nice to end my school term here with my blog still backdated eons back.

And so ended my first week of school in UC Irvine. And it wasn't even a proper week, since it was entitled "Week 0", so it's more like a Welcome Week, fun filled with orientations, fairs, free food and activities. Very happening, great sunshine, cool weather. Welcome to the UC in the OC!

I landed in John Wayne/ Orange County airport, and I found myself in the home of Disneyland, beaches and palm trees. Eve the airport looks kinda different, in a more relaxed setting with palm trees around the building. You can spot staff at the Visitor Information wearing Mickey Mouse headgear (yes, those with two round ears) and truly celebrating Disneyland's 50th Anniversary. People are polite, look rich and dress well.

And I had to stop there, before I start putting on the Hawaiian-like flower ring and dance around, with the realization that I'm here to study.

Ok, time to find the school and get into "school mode".

~~~~~

Hop on a cab and got to school. The irritating part is that I found out (somewhere a few weeks down the road in UCI) that I was probably swindled by the Arab cab driver, who started pretending not to know where I'm going and kept looking at my map (and all the while I thought UCI was very prominent in OC), and when nearing the school, he took out his own detailed map of the school and refered to it! The fares jumped by $0.40 every time and it cost me like $15 for the 10-15 min ride. Plus when I went jogging some weeks later, I sort of think he did not take me via the most direct route. Got me fuming. Badly.

But oh well, enough of dishonest cab drivers.

And so I checked in without much of a hassle into my apartment in Campus Village, where I'm really pleasantly surprised to find that it's a really nice place! Almost like chalet resorts, with 8 apartments in 1 building. And it's so clean! Shared by 4 people, it has a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and 2 bedrooms!

After selecting a bed (a priviledge for being the second to arrive), I put my stuff down and headed back to the center of Campus Village for a Welcome BBQ. And BBQ in the American sense is just drilling patties and sausages to make hotdogs and burgers. Really so much easier, just chop up tomatoes, onions, pickles, cheese and lettuce, with mustard, mayo and ketchup ready, and you have a BBQ!

By the end of the day, only Geoffrey (from Hong Kong but has been studying in US for 3 years) and Luo (from China, but American Citizen now, been in US for 6 years, and speaks better English than Mandrain. o_O) and myself in da house. Rudy was still in Mexico touring!

~~~~~

Monday 19 Sept was spent getting used to the school surroundings and attending talks. Met up with the people from the International Center here and also many fellow exchange students from all over the world.

And it's starting to get on my nerves, all this orientation thing, as I must have repeated my name and written it on stickers for like the 20th time by the end of the week, as I attended gatherings and meetings meant to break us in and introduce us around. I think being 23 has something to do with it.

The typical conversation goes like this:

"Hi! I'm XYZ from Country A"
"Hi! I'm Kenneth from Singapore, majoring in Economics"
"oh! I'm majoring in ABC"
"blah blah"

As much as it is interesting to meet new people and find out more, there will come a point of time when you get tired of saying the same things over and over again. And somehow, getting to know too many new people can get tiring.






Where freshman of UCI are introduced to the Chancellor and Deans.

So anyway, I attended the New Students Convocation, which I later found out (when I'm in the hall already of course) was for freshman, and it has Dean's address etc etc. But I thought it was nice to go for such things in a new school, and hey, all the addresses were interesting, witty and even informal. You know it's a relax atmosphere when the Chancellor suddenly took off his academic cap and put on the UCI cap given to everyone when we enter the Event Center. And he tells interesting stories too!

Later went for the Anteater (the mascot for UCI) BBQ and fair, which is a display of all the CCAs and all the Fraternity and Sorenity houses (for those who do not know what this is about, I'll explain sometime later) strut their stuff, which means a lot of hunks and babes were on display. But it has an awesome atmosphere because it's held in the open in the middle of Aldrich Park (which also happens to be this big park in the middle of school!)

Walking around school, UCI is indeed "Under Construction Indefinitely". So many construction works and plans in progress. Upgrading here and new stuff there. Every year, students come back to find something different about this 40-year old school.

~~~~~

Tuesday was spent in more talks, more introductions, more admin and more settling in. Got my UCI Student card (which is REALLY useful), all made within 1 minute once you reach the end of the queue of course.

And grocery shopping! Got to stock up that fridge of mine with good and cheap stuff!

In UCI, since almost half the student work, it is really not surprising to find pretty girls and good looking guys drive the campus shuttles. I'm not talking about ok-looking. I'm talking HOT.

Go figure.

~~~~~

Wednesday was yet another fair-like even along Ring Road (the road that encircle Aldrich Park and where all the main school buildings are on). Truly happening, reminds me of NUS bazaars with 10 times the scale.

And being the explorer, I took time to take a bus and travel all the way to 99 Ranch, which is the California's Asian supermarket! The best thing about California, is that there is freaking a lot of Asians here, so food will never be a problem!

Being in the Asian supermarket, you actually learn more about the dynamics of this state. It's amazing, and you will really believe that language and culture is a social construct. There was this mother and daughter beside me browsing through the condiments. Not that I wanna evesdrop, but it is interesting to hear the mother speak to her daughter in perfect Mandrain (probably Taiwanese) and her daughter, all dressed up like a ABC college student, replying in American english, with the slang and all. And they understand each other perfectly well!

Somehow another strange thought comes to mind. And it's probably true that the mother knows English and the daughter knows Mandrain, but yet each is refusing/ not wanting to speak in the other language. To the mom, it's probably because she prefers her native lanugage, and to the daughter, who knows? It might just seem uncool to speak Mandrain, or maybe it's just that she don't use it all that much.

I wonder if this will create a family gap.

I mean, I would feel a whole lot closer to my grandmother if I can speak Teochew perfectly. But I can't, and I guess half of us are probably in the same shoes.

~~~~~

There was a rock concert on Thursday night, in the middle of Aldrich Park. Not very happening somehow.

~~~~~

But Friday was awesome.

The international students went for a picnic at Mason Park around late afternoon 4pm, where we mingled and meet more people (yes what's new?), some American families and the likes, who's interested in helping being friends with new international people who come into US.

And at night, was the annual UCI Foam Party! In School!

Enough Said.

Welcome to the only UC in the OC.

It is strange, as I sat down in my new room for the next 3 months and reflect upon the last 3 weeks of travelling, that I can somehow feel some sense of regrets rather than the overwhelming sense of satisfaction at having seen a whole new world.

Don't be mistaken; for I have indeed enjoyed myself during my travels.

But yet, there are moments, when all I can say is "I wish"

~~~~~

I wish I can have a camera at all times,
or to have a photographic memory,
so that I can never forget the scenes and the sights.

Of the glimmering lakes of West Virgina
Of the golden maize fields
Of hazy morning mists
And of the black silhouette of the trees, with blue blackground fading into white as it touches the shadows.













This is often when regrets come in.
And the realization of how transient time is,
how the moments just slips by you,
just before I can get my camera ready to take a snapshot of the moment.
Soon I learnt, and give up trying to capture the fleeting moments,
and just sit back and enjoy Nature's evanescent beauty.

~~~~~

Or I wish I have a tape-recorder.
To remember the conversations by.

Of the chat with Xiaotian upon the rock
With Dirong through the wee hours on the drive back from Canada
With Glenn on the nice green turf under the clear sky after our night run
With Edward in the living room, from 10pm to 4am.

And I thought again,
were conversations meant to be remembered word for word?
Or just for the meaning they give
and the friendships it deepens.

Maybe.

~~~~~

Yet another wish, but something more realistic.

I wish that camera producers will somehow put a new function in cameras that will allow me to name my pictures taken when it is taken, or when I'm on transportation from place to place. That'll save me a lot of hassle from remembering where and what the photo is when I upload it.

If my mobile phone can do that, renaming the pics I take, why can't my Canon?

Flying back to Oakland from Washington is a sight.

From the air, I found it pretty amazing to see that the entire US is filled with grid-like roads, linking through the mountains of Arizona and the green farms that seemed to spring out like an oasis. I've always loved windows seat, though more than half the air-borne passengers hated it for the inconvenience of getting out and walking around; but I do not face that problem, so was always very glad to exchange for a windows seat with someone.

Especially when there was this black lady who was so afraid of heights that she was gripping her arm-rest till her knuckles turned white, when the plane was taking off. She was even shivering, and I think the blasting music (Hip-Hop, as you might have guessed) in her pink iPod did little to comfort her.

While at Pheonix Airport, I had the worst experience with Burger King ever. For a fast food chain, it's really slow and inefficient. Till the point that I was almost scared to miss the connecting plane, and the guy in front of me in the queue was even more worried. The wait was long, the cashier was slow and everything that could be claimed as inefficient happened. Even till the point when I have to help the lady behind me open up a paper bag so that she can put the fries (which we have to take from the fries counter ourselves) and drinks in herself while waiting for the burger.

Though that has not diminished my love for Mushroom Swiss, I must say.

After some more land transportation on the BART and walking back the familiar roads, I was back in the cosy room of Xiaotian's place.

~~~~~

2 more days to going to school (the audience exclaimed "FINALLY!") and shifting into Campus Village in UC Irvine, so making the most of my stay here in Berkeley area, I walked around the Berkeley downtown and got myself a Us number, while checking out the sights and also revisiting UC Berkeley. It's still as georgeous, and for the moment, I wondered what Irvine will be like.

Berkeley's pretty happening, I guess cos they were preparing for a football game (what else) the coming Saturday. Probably a big game, with the bands parading the school, banners hanged up and students dressed in blue and gold.

~~~~~

The last day in the Bay was good stuff! Since it was a Saturday, Xiaotian jio some more people and we drove to have oysters.

Tony's BBQ Oysters. Famous apparently, and cheap! And freaking fresh! Even a non-lover like me fell in love with the osyers. Yummy!






Haoren, the oyster-love, in Heaven, as he claims it himself






The drive was scenic, with green mountains on one side, and the Bay on the other. The overcast skies dampen the spirit a lil, but not enough to cloud over the blues of the ocean and the green of the mountains.

At night, Xiaotian drove me to school and up to a high point to observe SF by night. A city of orange lights, and a chance for me to practice my exposure shots on my digi cam! Succeeded with the city, but failed with my moon due my shaky hands in the cold of the night. So you shall only observe the success photos here!

Rest of California 2 photos here.

~~~~~

Packing up to go to Irvine

En-route to school.

Glenn: Hey Kenneth!!
Kenneth: Hey dude, wassup! How'ya doing?
Glenn: Good! Just had tea with Bush. How about you?
Kenneth: Awesome! I'm great too.
Glenn: Where are you right now, bang?
Kenneth: Right beside you bro.
Glenn: Wicked!

*does the hi-5, handshakes and finger pointings*

Glenn: Tell me Kenneth, do you know the difference between an American and a Singaporean?
Kenneth: You got me there, man. What's the difference?
Glenn: When an American swears, he says "F#%@ you", but when a Singaporean swears, he says "F#%@ you lah"
Kenneth: Oh my goodness. *fits of laughter* you got me there man! I can't stop laughing!

*blah blah blah blah* (ie, crap that you DON'T really wanna hear. Ask us when we get home.)
Glenn: So where are we meeting lah?
Kenneth: Hmm dunno sia..too many places...hmm if only the Volans ppl can come also..
Glenn: SIA LAH! happening man..togetherness!!!
Kenneth: Hey IR coming to Spore in 2009 right?
Glenn:....ah.....
Kenneth: Vegas Baby!!

~~~~~

Washington DC is a place so characterised by monuments, museums and statues that it will not be wrong to say that you can't go a few blocks without seeing some of the above mentioned. They can have buildings given to the funniest societies you ever heard of, and "gifts" in the form of bronze monuments scattered all over the cities. "Gifts" because Glenn and I agreed that it almost feel like a vassal state giving tribute, something of that sort.




Over the mist,
The mountains yonder




The trip to Washington was not very eventful, since I took an overnight train into the wilderness of West Virgina, but I was greeted in the morning by the rivers and moutains of West Virgina, hidden behind the dawn mist, until the sun commands them away. West Virgina is really a very scenic place, as the train weaves in and out of the mountain tunnels, the clear rivers and high cliffs burst with life on this September morning.

On a side note, I must say that I'm highly impressed by graffiti, despite it being all bad and stuff in context. On the train travelling though the not so good districts, there were graffiti all over the walls and buiildings, and my, these people have talent! They look really good and how they manage to do their artwork on top of the roofs and on the underside of the high bridges beats me.

After being delayed for 2 hrs, I met Glenn at George Washington University (where he is currently on exchange), before being shown my "East Wing" for the two nights that I'll be there. Thanks Glenn! It was a cool room all to myself *laughs*

Not much time to waste, since my Washington trip was short, we walked to the White House and around it, seeing the Washington Monument on the way, together with all the official state buildings like the Federal Reserve and the likes. Walking on, its just more monuments and more magnificant buildings.

The night was not too bad, after having dinner with the international students (who cooked delicious dinners! they take turns, like the Japanese + Singaporeans will cook one day, the French the other etc, and just imagine the variety!), a few of us went down to a cafe (with Veronica's recommendation, which is near her studio) for some more food and drinks. It's good o see NUS students again, and we had many laughs, especially Shuli's dramatic Arts-Rag alike movements.

The second day, after a good old Starbucks Coffee (read Glenn's take on it) at GWU, was filled with monuments and more monuments visiting while Glenn was in school. I must have walked through all of them on the map, from the Korean War Memorial to the Jefferson Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol... If you are really bored, you can read about them online here. The weather was pretty bad, overcasted and even drizzled, and I had to protect my precious map and camera. I even met a new Columbia friend while we were stuck in the rain waiting to cross the road. haha, and decided to walk a while together till our objectives differed.





My new Columbian friend at the Vietnam War Memorial
Unfortunately, could never figured out how to spell his name!






My favourite monument is easily the Jefferson Memorial. From the Lake of Refection, it looks absolutely georgeous, with its dome shaped Memorial standing proudly by the riverside, and nothing but greenery around it. It looks like it just got out of Rome and into US. The Washington Memorial and Capitol Building comes close too.

I met Glenn and we went into the Holocaust Muesum, with his recommendations of course. It was awesome, and even touching, as we see the artifacts left behind by the Germans POW camps and pictures of families who died. It was the atmosphere and ambience I believe, and the lighting, which made everything so realistic and so fatal. As you glance down the pillars lined with pictures of victims, you can't help but have a shiver run through your body, and be appreciative of life now. We lighted a candle for the victims.

After that, we visited the Pentagon. Yeah the Pentagon. But I must say that the Pentagon looks A LOT nicer when view on TV from the air. Because on the ground, you can't see its shape and the fantastic construct. It just looks like a very air-tight security place with no windows, which is kinda ugly up close if you ask me.

Khim Nyang's favourite of the moment, as the timing was right, we went to the nearesy iPod store and checked out the Nano. Georgeous stuff, but I'm sure my elation can't match up to Khim's when he got his, so you should just check out what he feels about the awesome player.

It was a pity that I wasn't able to meet Benny (RI Headprefect 1998, and someone whom I have TREMENDOUS respect for, and since that doesn't really come often, you go figure), since he was so caught up with his work and the timing was bad. After a breakfast with Glenn, I was off.

Back to the Sunny state of California.

~~~~~~

View my Washington DC photos here.

The "M" in the middle of school.
Highly protected by students before football game.
Rumoured that if you step on it, you'll fail your exams.

With the end of the Canadian Trip, I was set to leave the little University town of Ann Arbor. All in all, I have spent about 5-6 days here in Ann Arbor, imposing immensely on Dirong, and having to MAKE him agree to sleeping on his bed on alternate days (because he insisted that I should have the bed whilst I'm there, but you see, I love my sleeping bag too!)

So anyway, I reached Ann Arbor on 1 Sept (Thursday), meeting Dirong at Detroit International Airport. I flew domestically from Oakland airport and was greatly delayed at Salt Lake Cities for 2 hours (the worst was that it was delayed from 12 midnight to 2am), but I was still very much in time in meeting Dirong (along with many other Singaporeans on the same flight coming to Ann Arbor.. well, cos there's only 1 flight a day from Singapore to Detroit). I especially love the look on David Han's face when he saw me at Detroit. Haha, it was a mix of disbelief, shock and surprise. He obviously wasn't expecting to see me there, nor was I, to be honest. It was just a nice pleasant meeting of old friends!




Delayed plane - Coke and chips in hands waiting.





But I must say that flying around from airport to airport has me seeing the different sorts of airports around the world. From the coolest, to the simplest. You got to explore the US domestic airports to see the extremes!

Ben picked us up from the airport and sent Dirong and me to Dirong's new place, where he is sharing with Weisheng (who happened to be my OCS Platoon mate) and Yixing (a couple). A new place, so we got to get keys from the landlord and do some cleaning up. It's such a pleasure, haha, to be able to see friend's new places, starting from Xiaotian's place at California.

After some minor cleaning up, Dirong brought me around University of Michigan to check out the school at night. The Graduate library is gorgeous and the Undergraduate Library (nicknamed UGLi) is normal. It's actually quite happening because it's some sort of a Welcome week, when all the stuff for freshman is happening. It's amazing, cos I also bumped into Edwin Lee (2 years my junior in 01 scouts) in UMich! I think he was as shocked as I am, and Dirong is starting to think that I actually know more people in UMich than he does. *laughs* So there was a lot of activities going on, signing up for clubs, school rock bands playing, a good imitation of "Stomp" and free food!!! Even bumped into Jianwei (Brigette's bf) and said our 'hi's. Somehow Brigette promptly knew about this encounter haha.

(Note to readers: Americans LOVE free food. It is not actually free, because it's probably in the school fees, but they LOVE free food. They have food for almost every event, from meetings to orientations and even a short welcome)

~~~~~

Friday was spent mostly trying to set up tables and beds, cleaning kitchens and bathrooms.

Arrival of Weisheng and Yixing.

More visiting the school and surroundings. Ann Arbor is indeed an University town. For people like me who has never gotten out of a Singapore school system before would need to a while to fathom the dynamics of this place. A town that develops because of the University. The school centers the area, and shops fan out, mainly eating places. Houses too develop, for students who do not wish to stay in dorms. Beyond the happening area a few miles around school, it's just spaces and more spaces, and you would definitely need a car to get around. Even grocery shopping needs a car/ bus trip away. The shops probably survives on the students' spendings, hires students to work part-time and serve the students. I would not be far off to to even dare suggest that everyone you see on the street probably has some connection to the school, either students, staff or even family of members of the school. It is one hell of a University Corporation.

I must have fallen in love with architectural. The school buildings are all so unique - some old, some new. The old ones have green ivy hanging around the castle-like walls, the new ones are structurally modern, like the Engineering Tower (Ann and Robert H. Lurie Tower), which is supposed to have no lines of symmetry and no right angles in its structure at all. Squirrels scamper around the campus on the warm grass (which you'll find many people sitting/ sleeping there enjoying the sun while it last here in Ann Arbor). Even the Auditorium is majestic, and upon entering the Hall, you can just feel its glory. The feeling of not just awe, but the history it carried and the music that has ever been played in these halls. I also climbed the clock tower at 12 noon, because there was someone there playing the noon chimes every noon, and there I stood, under the deafening bells, looking around the vast space of the campus.

The Ann and Robert H. Lurie Tower

Clock Tower

Another nice building

UMich is huge. The Engineering campus is in the northern part of the campus, and when I say north, I don't mean 15 minutes walk away. Maybe 15 minutes run, but definitely get the bus ride. Visited the Engineering tower as mentioned above and also this amazing "sin" field, which is shaped in a sinusoidal way. Anyway, since UMich is famous for its astronaut, we paid areo-enginnering department a visit as well.

Hmmm, I got ahead of myself, because all these visiting were done in the few days I was there, and not just on Friday, but let's get the scenery out of the way this once =)
~~~~~

Saturday was the football game, as you have read. Also my birthday!!!

~~~~~

Sunday was spent on some grocery shopping and my preparation for my Chicago trip the next day.

Shopping with Dirong is ALMOST like bringing a kid out to the amusement park. Browsing here and there, checking out the prices and the amazing new stuff that US always have to offer. Like their ice-creams. They must have like dunno-how-many flavours, so Dirong is always trying out new flavours. And he doesn't get fat. It is not fair. And he is, throughout my stay, making me have a proper diet of 3 meals a day, something very rare since I started traveling. That guy really takes care of himself, but as he says, if he doesn't take care of himself, he doesn't feel good enough to do anything! So Dirong pampers himself with ice-creams and good food. But I still thinking eating 2 chicken thighs (amongst other dishes) for a meal is a wee too much.

And so we shopped. Food, detergent, soap and all the stuff needed to make an apartment feel like home.

Dirong took me for a jog later in the afternoon around the area, and showing me the school of Music Conservatory (and bumping into his old room mate) and the area north. I figured I prefer running in hot conditions than cold, because when the cold air hits your lungs, it can be quite unbearable. Which makes me wonder how the ang mohs do it in the depths of winter. Crazy.

And we spent the night at Ben's place, with him cooking chicken rice using the all time fav Prima Deli chicken rice mix!! It was great, especially since he had good sambal chilli from home! Yummy!

~~~~~

5 Sept, I departed for Chicago, with nothing but a small bagpack. And I was back at Ann Arbor on 7 Sept.

I caught up with Qionghui that night at a coffee place, and visited her place with Dirong. Had a good chat, as usual, the catching up on life and stuff.






~~~~~

On Jiayong's birthday night, everyone wanted to make him drunk. So we actually went clubbing. You wouldn't believe it, but the entry fee was 3USD. Unbelievable. I don't think the drinks are really like a lot cheaper, but the entry fee is just crazily cheap.

We found it strange that the Americans club with the lights on haha.. but I guess it could be just that club. Jiayong got pretty red soon after someone made him take like 5 shots. I caught up a little with Kian Leong too, whom I haven't seen since I was Sec 4 (for he was my PSL group Sec 1 when I'm Sec 4, sheesh, that’s 7 years ago!) And I look at him, and I'm just amazed by life in general. Time passes so fast and people grow up so fast, and I wondered what I was really like 7 years ago? He smokes now, a change, I guess, which I didn't really like.

Before the clubbing all begins, I had dinner with Chee Chian, Liheng, Chun Yang (all OCS cadets), Qionghui and Dirong at some Chinese restaurant. Portions are huge, as expected. We ended up playing Mahjong at the guys' place before going to chiong.

~~~~~

On the night before we leave for Canada, we decided to cook up a storm! With lemon-ovened chicken with herbs (pronounced 'erbs, without the "h"), fried shrimp with cai-xin and vegetable soup, topped with ice-cream (heard of "ButterZinger" for desert.

~~~~~

September 10 - September 11 Canada.

~~~~

September 12, Monday.

I packed a sandwich from Potbelly for my overnight 13hr train to Washington, waved my goodbyes and many many deep thanks to Dirong and Ben, and got on the bus to the train station.

Check out my Ann Arbor photos here.

All was set for the big trip. The car was rented (kindly done so by Ben), the routes were planned (Kindly done so by Dirong with the help of Mapquest), signatures were signed. The timing was perfect, a weekend escape (literally, but I shall not say why here) to Canada to meet Michael (and his friends) before school fully launch into full swing.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning. After some delays in getting the car and stuff, we set off on our 5 hour drive to the Niagara Falls.

In the US and Canada, you pretty much have to drive quite far to get from place to place. Roads are wider and cars are relatively cheaper. Oil prices however, are increasing fast. Expect to see a lot of barren land, and then meet a town or two, and on the freeways again, which are nothing more than roads linking the towns up. Space is so abundant. We took turns at driving, even I also drove for a while, trying to get used to the right hand drive of the Americans and wondering why Americans always try to be different (like they still don't wanna follow the SI units. sigh).

As we drove into Niagara, we were initially shocked by the number of Chinese we see. I'm sure they don't make up the majority of the population here, so somehow they must have gathered together for some reason. Maybe Tiananmen II or something is happening and we're about to witness another great epoch of mankind.

As Mao Zedong proudly proclaimed,

"I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it
is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever."

Uh huh. Right. I had better get back on track. I don't think I look like a communist.

On more careful observation after parking the car, we realised (from the banners) that Premier Hu Jing-tao is coming for a visit in Canada on his North American tour! What perfect timing. Dancers filled up the grass area, more Chinese can be seen lingering around and Fa Lun Gong supporters everywhere protesting the treatment of practioners in China. It was a great sight. Soon after, a row of 10 limousines came cruising down the road, all having the small China flag sticking out from the front of the vehicle with tinted glass. China flags waved in the air and dancers start do their rehearsed steps in their red costumes (so predictable huh).

With all that hoo-ha out of the way, lets get back to the main attractions - The Niagara Falls.

The spray of the Falls can be felt from across the roads, as we felt the mist of water droplets fall onto us from the majestic Falls.

The Falls is georgeous.

I could just stare at it forever, hear its roars and touched by its spray. The perpectual rainbow against the tapestry of white foamy waters. The power of the waters as they hit the rocks below.

And as part of the adventure, we went abroad the Maid of the Mist, a boat that goes to the Horseshoe Falls and back, so that we can see the Falls around us. Although we look pretty ridiculous in our blue plastic raincoat, it kept us relatively dry, save for the bottom of our jeans. Dirong was almost gloating that he's short enough for the raincoat to cover his entire body totally!

Michael and co. has intelligently gone over to the US side to visit the Cave of the Winds, which he claimed to be amazing. We stayed on the Canadian side and continued to explore the little place filled with fun museums and other attractions. We also visited the casino there, and it's yet another huge casion where the smallest chips are like $5. You can be sure we didn't play anything.

We met Michael and the lot for dinner at Hooters, and it is the first time I've met Michael since he flew! We also met his traveling companians then and decided to see the Falls at night.
The Falls at night is pretty amazing, lit up by the strong flood lights from one of the buildings. Red and yellow and green and blue. Purple and orange and white. At random timings. Ben taught us a thing or two about photography and suddenlyI learnt more about my camera than I ever did! And Dirong and I got hooked. Snapping pictures of the Falls in different lighting at different exposures. In the cold. And due to the exposure effect, we even made it look like it's snowing! (you got to check out the photos here)

We left the Falls and headed for the Motel. Which was a challenge, because the motel is booked for 2 people and I don't know whay they're so strict about it! I hid carefully in the car and waited for them to check in. But somehow I still got spotted and we paid extra for me. And we start to wonder how Michael and co. will manage to pull their bluff with 6 people!

~~~~~
On Sunday, we left the motel and headed for Niagara-on-the-lakes. It's a small beautiful place that seemed able to pop up in movies that showcase the perfect neighbour (like Stepford wives or something). The streets were lined with Victorian-liked buildings, colourful flowers and greenery paraded the sidewalk.

Michael was at his irritating best when he wanted to take a photo of eveything with himself inside. Even with his Havana cigar (see my photo site for more details). We walked up and down the streets, visited the beautiful Lake Ontario and saw the famous Shaw Festival Theatre. Time wasn't on our side, so we couldn't catch a show.

After the visit, we went to Jackson-Twigg's Vineyard for a tour of a vineyard, and some wine of course. We had a good explanatory tour around the vineyard and its workings and a taste of 3 wines. The ice-wine is fantastic, so sweet that I can still savour the taste even till now! And we took plenty of individual photos of the vineyard, plus silly photos of us eating the grapes we pluck from the trees! XT was exclaiming ho good Dirong looks on the photos because he has such a nice and natural smile. And I agree! haha.

And with a sudden stike of inspiration (read: impulse), Dirong suggest we go Toronto. Out of nowhere. We have no maps (except a very general one printed by me in Singapore, since I did plan to go Toronto) and no directions. But Dirong would like to go ahead and take advantage of the chance we have no as he is probably not going to go there anytime soon. And our new adventure was set, we said our goodbyes to Michael, he did look sad at the short get-together, and maybe homesickness has sank in for him, especially since he'll be in Canada for a year braving the cold winter and all.

Take care Mike. Thanks for co-organising the trip (he made me announce this). All the best bro!

So the drive into yet another unknown begins! I gave Han Hua (my good primary friend, went to RI too, now at University of Toronto) a call too, totally caught him by surprise, and asked if he wanna have dinner with us as we drive into Toronto, and also to ask for some general directions and how to escape the freeway with the toll. We got a bit lost, and somehow got back onto the correct track into Toronto, and greeted by the CN tower we know we're approaching Toronto.

And this point of time, Dirong's camera and mine too were running out of batteries and space. Embarrassing, but we found ourselves conserving energy and deleting silly photos just to make some space to take pictures of Toronto!

After meeting up with Han Hua, he recommended a cool place in Chinatown (which is really huge in Toronto) for dinner where we had a really fantastic meal. So good that Ben bought a whole roast duck back to Ann Arbor! We visited University of Toronto after that in the dark, and it was really beautiful, because it's such an old University, and the buildings all around a round field. Standing in the middle of the field and looking at the old buildings did evoke some sense of awe, like how you fee when you see the castle in Harry Potter.

And then we had to part. A short shocking meeting with Han Hua, a good dinner and a crash course of Toronto. I suspect I'll be back her some day, though Michael calls it a dysfuntional Singapore, which is kinda true, because there isn't much attractions, but yet I have not experience the city life.

Off we go, for our 5 hr drive back to Ann Arbor along the dark freeways, expecting to reach home about 4am.

This is crazy.

The title of this entry should have been "Chicago, and why I am a terrible traveling companion". But since that sounds really cheesy and also cos blogger would not allow such a long title, let's make do with "Chicago".

As with all essays go, lets start with the first part of the title first.

I left Ann Arbor on Monday morning, which also happened to be America's Labour Day, taking the AMTRAK Train to Chicago.

Dirong and I spend the night before at Ben's place, drinking a couple of beers, eating chips (generally unhealthy) and chatting (generally healthy). Have to thanks Ben and Yisheng for driving me to the train station early in the morning.

My first experience of the train wasn't too bad. Americans are generally punctual people, but expect delays. (I can tell from the look of your faces that you're seeing the oxymoron haha). But yeah, for the price (25 USD one way), it was a comfortable ride, and generally everyone has 2 seats to themselves and able to spare the trouble and danger of driving (esp with the hike in oil prices, which is really noticeable here). The scenery is great too! As we zoom by golden maize fields and weirdly named small towns which one will never hear of unless you take the train. For planes don't fly there and tourists don't flock there. It all just serves to remind me how vast US is.

Train was, all in all, delayed by an hour, plus I forgot that there was a difference of 1 hr between Ann Arbor and Chicago, so it got me worried for a while that I might have fallen asleep and missed the station. But as the train pulls near an almost industrial place and then emerging into a underground station, I have reached Chicago Union Station, which is a huge station.

After seeing the industrial stuff and the old looking underground of the Chicago Union Station, emerging from beneath into the heartland of downtown Chicago is a complete eye-opener change.

Welcome to the city of the Architectual.

As nicely placed by Qionghui in her email to me:

"... you get to see all the old and new skyscrapers on one side, and you have a nice park on the other. Nice photo opportunities!"

And indeed, the city view is breathtaking. Rows and rows of skyscrapers, all uniquely different and all coming together to give downtown Chicago such a one-of-the-kind look. Yet the area stands alongside the coast of Lake Michigan, giving the balance of the calm waters and the bustle of the city. And the amazing thing about the buildings is that the streets look different from every angle you look at it, and circling just one building will give you different views every moment. I just walked and walked, lost in the concrete jungle, where no 2 trees are alike.

And if you wonder how the photographers take artistic shots of the buildings? Here's Kenneth attempt at one. In an attempt to capture the space of the cities, not just limited to the roads, but the skies as well. I also took one of a glass building reflecting the clouds and another building.

With my one lousy map, I managed to reach the Visitor's Center and got myself some pretty neat maps. And I decided to walk all the way to my hostel, taking in the sights at the same time. Upon planning my route, I headed for the Millennium Park, which is along Michigan Ave (The Magnificent Mile, where all the shopping is, almost like a One-Mile long Orchard Road back in Singapore).

And as qiongz has said. You have the Lake Michigan on one side, and the city on the other. Beautiful.

Coke in hand,
Lake Michigan at my feet.

After checking into my hostel, it's time for more exploring! I decided not to go downtown Chicago anymore and leave that for the whole day on Tuesday and thus explored the north, which was supposed to be where the gay community hang out. It gets a bit obvious, as evening draws near and you start observing the people on the streets.

I met my first gay club (don't ask me how I know) and i make a ke-blakang pusing and headed back to hostel. It was getting dark anyway, and any good traveler will tell you not to stay out too late in the shady streets of Chicago.

~~~~~

Tuesday morning, I headed South to downtown Chicago, for all the main attractions. I was early enough to see the city wake up and people going to school and work. I walked by Lincoln Park again, because I love the view so much from the day before, taking in more sights of the monuments, lake and beach.

Went to Navy Pier, checked out the Stained Glass Museum amongst other attractions. Walked on south to Soldier's Field, and the other museum in the area. >I really love that area the most, because of the scenery, how everything is spaced out and placed against the clear blue skies with beautiful greenery in front. Fantastic buildings, beauty of architectural.

I had a look at Northwestern University, which also happened to be the one of the University I applied to after 'A' Levels, the one that I put in the most effort for, but still rejected. It's lovely, sitting there beside Lake Michigan.

As I walked further south to Chinatown, you can almost sense downtown Chicago disappear. Upon reaching the peripheral of downtown Chicago, one can just feel that he is walking out of a city and into a town. Less whites and more blacks. I feel the swiss knife in my pocket and walked on. And upon reaching Chinatown, suddenly it became all Chinese! Almost as if Chicago is segregated properly!

I had a well deserved lunch in Chinatown in a store called BBQ King House, a plate of roast duck rice with a bowl of water-cress soup (my favourite soup!), all for only USD5!! The portion's really huge, so I was really full by the end of the meal. Great recommendation by qiongz again.

Late afternoon after exploring the Chinatown, I caught a train back to downtown because my legs were so tired from all the walking. I went up Sears Tower, the worlds 2nd highest building, to check out the scenery of looking down at Chicago from the 103rd floor in the midst of the setting sun. Toy-liked buildings stand in front of me, glimmering in the sun. My favourite view is still that of Lake Michigan in the east. Haha, looks like I got a favourite lake already! And furthermore, the lift up 103 storeys only took 1 minute!

~~~~~

My last morning in Chicago saw me walking through the Magnificent Mile again. Reviewing the sites and eventually hitting the Art Institute of Chicago, which I unexpectedly spent a good half day in, before rushing to catch the train back to Ann Arbor.

The Art Institute is fabulous, which a good selection of art pieces, ranging from European to contempory. I really enjoyed walking through the many galleries, even with my little knowledge and untrained eye, I was able to appreciate some of the works. The basement holds some miniature rooms thingy, which I really liked, and so did the photograph sections.

All in all, an institute to visit if you're in Chicago!

I've seen so much in Chicago that it really isn't possible to name every attraction I visited! Do check out my photos here.

And well, every picture has a story, and maybe one day I may have the chance to write it, =)

~~~~~

So we have come to the part where I'm supposed to say why I'm such a terrible travelling companion.

1) I walk all the time, must have covered like 20 miles (about 32km) a day. Partly because transportation is really expensive (like one bus trip is USD1.75!!!) but mainly because I like to see the sights along the way, and the way of life. I try not to walk the same street twice, always exploring, until the night of course, where I stick strictly to the main street.

2) I have like 1 meal a day. Breakfast is usually milk only and I have a heavy lunch, which might even end up to be dinner as well. Not dieting or saving, but it's just that I don't really get hungry while on the move with so many sights to take in. Plus their lunch portion's huge. My stomach must have shrunk or something, cos even MacDonald's seemed to fill me up. For how to enjoy good food, please visit Charissa.

3) I get up really early. I usually leave the hostel at like 8am.

4) I'm not into fine dining or shopping, not really the typical tourist. I walk, observe lives, take photos and absorb the sights.

I really can't imagine traveling with someone like that. Maybe someone with that kinda traveling habits need to travel alone.

And so I did. =)