Well, it had been long isn't it?
Ended my last day of school (retake of finance class) yesterday so I'm here to update some stuff~

As part of my school curriculum, I had spent 5 weeks in Las Vegas, where the main campus is, and also some other states in America too.

It will be too tedious to list down 5 weeks worth of details (plus I pretty much can't remember much lol) so I will just note down those that I remember according to places that I have been to.

First stop: Los Angeles


LA is the first place we visited to in America because that's where we landed haha. The weather was awesome and cold, and what I packed for LA was inappropriate for the weather (was expecting warmer weather condition). LOL. We did not do much for our first night in LA since we reached about 3pm plus and reached our airbnb at around 5pm. Took a short walk around the neighbourhood (West Los Angeles) and we totally went 'WOW' at the prices of B&J ice-cream in the 7/11 (also the mini tacos that we fell in love with). Got our dinner at this Japanese restaurant (Shin-sen-gumi) which offers palatable Japanese cuisine. Actually that's where we got our dinner for the next night too haha.

Got around LA on the second day, where we made a visit to the iconic Santa Monica Pier, then walking all the way (for an hour plus) to Venice Beach before heading down to downtown LA. There's nothing in downtown for us; hence, we moved down to Hollywood to meet up with Doris' friend, Yvonne. Had a great time meeting her while relaxing ourselves with some window shopping and a starbucks drink.

The last day in LA was pretty much a series of unfortunate events as the both of us woke up damn late. If not for the loud ang moh guy talking outside (THANK YOU, DUDE), we would have probably wake up even later. Our destination was Long Beach (which is freaking far taking public transport) and yup, luck was not our side because we were running late - bus took very long to come - train breakdown - missed the stop to the airport - have to take a cab to the airport - and we missed our flight to Vegas.

Yup, pretty much sucked. We had to pay additional for another flight that brings us to San Francisco before Vegas, and we spent another hour in main campus searching for dorm in the dark.

All these ill memories LOL.

Second stop: Grand Canyon


Grand Canyon was freaking awesome haha. To be honest, I was contemplating where to go or not to go because booking this day trip, but I'm glad that I gave it a try. No doubt that these rocks are very magnificent! A fruitful trip indeed.

Third stop: Oakland, San Francisco, Fremont


Our first stop at the Bay Area was Oakland. Visited the Chinatown of Oakland (which said to be more authentic as compared to San Francisco's ) and walked our way to Jack London Square. Jackson London Square is pretty and scenic! We moved on to Lake Merritt, where we kinda got lost as the route were different due to celebration (not very if it is) for the Oakland Warriors. Managed to take a peek before heading down to Fremont where we stayed for the weekend.

   
I absolutely love San Francisco! We hopped on to the BART that brought us to San Francisco from Fremont on the second morning, but we took a lot of time to locate the stop where we can board the tour bus that we booked. The highlight of the bus tour is definitely the Golden Gate Bridge! It was freaking chilly that my face was numbed from the cold especially when the bus drove across the bridge. It's quite an experience to visit the different spots of San Francisco on the bus and I had a great time. Hopped off at Fisherman's Wharf (tons of sea gulls and bird poo) and walked to Pier 39, where I shopped a lot haha. It was very late when we reached Fremont that we had to trouble our airbnb host to pick us up (Am so glad to meet someone so nice).


Fremont. Is. Awesome. I am very glad that I chose this place to stay because it's the best stay I ever had in America. San Francisco was too expensive for us while Oakland was not so safe. Fremont, though was far away from San Francisco, was perfect for us. The airbnb we chose is located near Alameda Creek Regional Trail, and the view is so stunning! We binged watch Netflix (Orange is the new black) at night till we fell asleep hahaha. Oh, and the yummy Chinese food that we frequent for the trip was good too. A great place to live at :D

Fourth stop: San Diego


San Diego is a wonderful place too. The airbnb place (located near liberty station) was not very ideal since we booked it very last minute. Doris was not satisfied with the room, though I was okay with it since I managed to fall asleep for both night despite the sound of planes flying over our head every other minute (it's near the airport).

The host picked us up at the airport for a small fee (10 USD) and after resting for a short while, we headed down to Ocean Beach to catch the sunset. Clouds was heavy that night so we did not really catch the sunset. Had dinner at this cafe on Ocean Beach Pier where we had a great beach view. Not a fan of lobster but the grilled lobster taco we had was so delicious. The fish and chips was a little too much (happens to almost every fried stuff) though. Managed to catch the fireworks at the beach before heading back to the bnb.

Spent the second day at San Diego Zoo. It's a huge place filled with lots of animals but the ones that I wanted to see were all asleep hahah. It's a great place for families though. Headed to Gaslamp Quarter as recommended by the Uber driver (a nice black lady). It's a nice place to see and to stroll. Had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and the food was so awesome. Totally love the strawberry orange drink that I ordered hahaha.

Went down to Liberty Station and had bagels (from Vons) for breakfast on our last day in San Diego. Uber to the airport and we got stuck at Los Angeles airport for extra 2 hours because of flight delay (damn you, Delta). Managed to get back to dorm before it's too late though hahah.

Last stop: Las Vegas


Summer in Vegas is an absolute torture. It literally felt like you are in an oven, no kidding. Of there's perks in Vegas. Classes, although taxing, was a lot more fun (especially when you have fun professors) as compared to Singapore's. Not sure if it's the teaching style or what, it's seems more enriching?

Shopping was awesome in the Premium Outlets especially on the 4th of July where I totally just shopped a hole in my pocket. Hahaha.

I will be back though, for the shopping and the the strip~ Hehehe.

I guess that's all for now~