after months of planning and worrying, the day has finally come when me and wanling have to leave the comforts of singapore to live a life outside all on our own! well, actually me and wan have been rather uninitiative about the whole work and travel USA thing. caught up with school, home, relationships etc. so we didnt reli spend a great amount of time planning and all. and then suddenly, 4th may arrived and we found ourselves at the airport. =S

firstly thanks to all who came down to send me off! as well as those that couldnt make it and sent me smses and all. thanks (: i felt so loved really.

the most important of all. my family (: dad couldnt make it because of work. but he called me too (: i will miss my family so very much. andand. thanks mummy! for buying all the necessities and all. couldnt have done the packing without u! hugg. dont worry too much about me! (: and of couse my sisters that helped me along the way. and ced. thanks for the book. its so sweet! i like self-made stuffs (: and for packing for me. hee. ferena, will miss u. and i wont forget u ok! haha will think of u as i shop. hee. cheetat, ur chocs are SINFULLY NICE. haha. must have cost a bomb. and sorry for the argument. i forgive u. haha jk. randel, u finally showed up when im leaving. thanks friend. (: jiemei hushing and chen. u guys are the best darlings i ever have! terence thanks for e skating photoboard. i appreciate it so much!! (:

the plane ride was fine. watched jumper, 27 dresses, juno, the warlords, friends, the kiterunner all in the 19 hours i was on the plane. 19 hours. the weird thing is sitting on a plane not doing anything can actually make one hungry! had four meals on the plane and even though i always felt that i "just ate" but i still welcomed the food anw. thai airlines serves good dessert. haha. (: there goes dieting plan by the way.

we had to take a bus to penn station which was supposedly near the hotel. new york was pretty cold then. and i hate wind. makes my fingers and lips crack. which is already happening sadly. hee. anyways a ticket alone cost us $15USD. =(

ohyah! then there was this sign on the bus that read" tips are greatly appreciated" haha. that set me and wanling thinking whether we should or not. oh wells, we didnt in the end anyway.

our hotel is quite decent. though it's really small. it's still habitable. the only weird thing is i have a russian in the room with me. another student in the program from russia. cant reli communicate with her. she wears a nightgown to sleep. she comes out from the shower wrapped in a towel. but she's nice (: i guess for now. i can only smile. until she can understand what im saying and vice versa. haha

met a guy from singapore also in the program. a vietnamese called min tuan. so. we decided to tour NYC together. i guess its always good to have a guy in the group. besides, the more the merrier. (: too bad, MT was going boston instead of south carolina after newyork.

our lunch was at a pizza and pasta fastfood restaurant. LOOK AT E HUMONGOUS PIZZA. haha. i know we look retarded in the picture. but the pizza was reli reli reli huge. and we three shared that one big MOONLIKE PIZZA. and its quite yummy. (: of course, none of us could finish. haha.

toured around NYC. walked i think about nearing 200streets because well, we are stingy. refused to take the subway. haha but MOREOVER, walking is good because 1)we ate a big pizza 2)we get to sight see. hee. why take the subway when we have these advantages. hee. but my feet are sore now though. haha. lucky for us, min tuan wanted to walk too.

a few pics on new york. i have too many to upload. its a little messier than i envision. and the cars honk like for free. crossing the road requires me to use the look left look right look left again rule because the cars dont care about pedestrians. i also noticed that blacks are actually friendlier and more approachable than the whites. in fact, while we looked lost holding a map, a black woman came forward and offered her help to direct us. nice (:

the highlight was central park! we walked nearly 100 streets just to reach there. haha. where enchanted was screened! the park didnt look so nice in real life though. but saw the huge lake, the pretty flowers and the strawberry field. (:

we took so long to choose the right pair of shades to buy (: proud of ourselves for finally deciding on which one to buy. hee. the uncle inside the shop was staring at the three of us so hard and long, we dare not decide not to buy! =X hee. but i like the shades. and new york is cooling yet sunny. =S

hmm. going to sleep. wanling and the russian girl-kate is already sleeping next to me. haha. nights !! (:

xoxo,

joanne*