Being on SEP means that I'm usually a part time student, part time traveller. And very much in line with Singapore's policy of a 5-day work week, I study on weekdays and go out on weekends.
Since I'm no hardcore party-goer, most of my "going out"s on weekends meant taking the bus (or car if my roommates wanna go too) and going around Orange County. I guess I shall write minimun on the places because that will positively bore anyone to death, and post pictures when available.

But observing life is so interesting sometimes. Being in Irvine meant I see relatively richer people of Southern California, with VERY nice houses, cars and even shopping strip malls. Taking the bus out of Irvine sort of exposed me to the result of urban sprawl. That as you get away from the rich place, you start to see proper normal neighourhoods. Buildings are more run-down, and things are visibly cheaper. And supermarkets get more interesting too (oh I love Asian-based supermarkets so much!). And of course, you start to see less whites and more Mexicans and Asians. It's just so amazing how the population is sort of "accidentally" divided by ethnicity, and in such a diverse place like Southern California, the divide is even more obvious.

Enough blabbering. Here goes.

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Fashion Island

As its name probably suggest, it is a very nice shopping mall. Shopping malls in US are kinda different from Singapore. Because of the amount of land space they have, they don't really build upwards, so the malls are just around double-storey, and very spacious.

Americans just spend a lot. Great consumerism culture here, and they buy a lot of stuff. And it's unthinkable that a shop doesn't accept credit cards; even the roadside vendors accept Mastercard or Visa. It's just scary to see all these cashless cash flowing all around you.

Plus Fashion is where the richer people hang out. Great for window shopping, but then again, I wasn't so interested in shopping. It was just a look see into the weekend lives of the Americans.


Being a good scout, I was immensely surprised to see that Irvine held the Jamboree in July 1953.

Ok, I suspect you ain't interest to hear more from this blabbering scout. *laughs*








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Little Saigon

There's a huge Vietnamese population here in OC. And the Little Siagon in Westminister is the first of the "Little Saigon"s around the US, so I got to pay it a visit and have some yummy Vietnamese food!

Little Saigon is along a Bolsa Ave, a long road where you find everything Vietnamese, be it shops, signs, people. I think I look Vietnamese, because cashiers start talking to me in Vietnamese in the supermarkets (oh yes Asian stuff!!!!) and they changed to English when I replied in English. haha. Oh well. All Asians =)