Long Island, New York, USA (cont'd)

okie so our work in haagen dazs is finally over. you can read about it in joe's blog. we've learned alot and the people loved our work ethic. i'm pretty sure susan wished we could've stayed longer. still it was a good experience and the money was good, but its time to move on.

visited the tanger outlet in riverhead a coupla days ago. bought alot of stuff. spent like $110 in total. wow. i love cheap stuff.

anyway yesterday was a big highlight. we were down in the big apple again. bought my train tix to pittsburgh and to chicago.

took the subway to new york city from queens. we wasted $8 on toll driving in and out of manhatten in just 15minutes. knn. all thanks to yours trully making a wrong turn. but then again it was all for the better. traffic in downtown uptown crosstown manhatten is c-r-a-z-y. its killer. i mean i've seen shit traffic but here it takes the cake. the taxi drivers are the worst i've seen and most unsympathetic(as i video captured an incident of taxi-bullying) and the way people drive its just surprising there weren't more accidents. still my 15mins in there has already upped my international driving experience points by 2000. i'm a grandmaster driver now.

and then we visited times square. its really awesome. really should be the advertising capital of the world. the billboards are so aplenty that you can rightly spend half a day just keeping your neck at a 45degree angle reading the crap on those advertisements. and extremely bright and motion enhanced so it really feels like being in a huge loolapalooza concert with little entertainment spots littering the entire block.

also went to the empire state building. by saying 'went to' it just meant hovering around the entrance and the ground floor taking silly pictures. it costs us$12 to go up and the queue was 30min long. so fuck that.

bought my train tickets in madison square garden. it feels weird being in the mecca of entertainment venues. like its supposed to be damn ooh-seh but there was nothing really spectacular about the place leh. at least the amtrak station is perhaps one of hte best i've seen all throughout my travels though. hmm. as with most of new york, maybe everything's overrated on tv.

bought alot of 'i love new york' goodies and souvenoirs. really like tourist.

Haagen Daz Crew Evicted

okie. still in long island, new york. still working in haagen daz. somewhat tiring but still fun. and now we can go home telling everyone we get to serve silly ice-cream and eat loads and loads of cookies & cream while getting paid like s$12/hr. whooo. money's really pretty good. we got our first pay on saturday. got like us$80 for less than 12hrs work. dunno how they do the math but you don't hear me complaining! both joe and i are getting better on the job too, so we're more zhai at doing the various shakes and smoothies now(like yesterday i made the ultimate large 31-flavour shake for myself - and then had to lao sai thereafter, maybe i'm slightly lactose intolerant). in summary, the job's still fun and i enjoy serving customers, but legs getting somewhat wobbly.

yesterday after work stacy told us we've been evicted. apparently the landlord for their place found out that including us there're 6 people living in that little place they've rented out. so they gave the ultimatum that both me and joe must go. haiz how sad. so last night we spent the night in the car. it not too bad lah sleeping in the car. for a moment i even missed the cosiness of the reclining seat. and since we've still gotta work another 5 more days till our next paycheck, it looks like we'll be stuck in smithtown till the end of the week.

the night of sept11th after work we also drove all the way to manhatten, new york. went to the place where the world trade centre twin towers were, ground zero. they had a commemoration(i'm sure you've read about it in the papers) there and they shined the 2 giant beam of lights which represented where the towers stood that they did 3yrs ago. it was really beautiful, and the place was packed with people and even at midnight there was a horrendous traffic jam all across manhatten island.

it feels kinda surreal to actually be at ground zero and then you start imagining the horror and devastation that happened and they play across your imagination as you comb ground zero with your eyes and i guess its really a very scary sight to witness. all 16acres of that flat caged space full of construction crew used to stand the world trade centre and its subsidiary buildings. melissa was telling me that she's been up to the top of the towers before and at the top there were starbucks and other cafe outlets crew like ourselves and none of them survived. and that alot of people even in long island knew at least a friend or a friend of a friend or even kin who perished in that disaster. makes you think about our own silkair crash, just magnified a few thousand times more.

*sigh*

on the way back somehow joe and i yet again got ourselves hopelessly lost. it didn't help that stacy and sergei in the backseat couldn't provide much help as they were sleeping. i dunno what's with the both of us and our uncanny sense of adventure(mostly mine) but we both always get lost and end up driving for hours and asking for directions(who said men don't ask?). haha still we both admit its fun and anyone else with any less patience would probably have blown his top countless times.

the lot of us including christina also went to the long island beach a couple of days ago. we met this really nice guy who was escaping the storm in florida who showed us where the nicest beach in long island was. its this little place called little africa. didn't look too bad, but no surfs, just calm water and on a clear day(it was when we went) you could see across the channel over to connectticut. i remember sergei being very enthusiastic about swimming( he eventually did) since there's very little seashore in the ukriane i guess, while joe and i just rolled our eyes. maybe we take our shores too much for granted, else its just too dirty and murky lah(which i firmly thought so). we've also decided that on 27th sept we're coming back here to have a stayover bbq. yay.

been thinking about home alot lately. and thinking about everyone back home and all the food and places i miss just gets me pumped to return home. its such a cliche(that i've even mentioned it more than once since i came here) but its really true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. also i think you only appreciate what we have and how good the life we lead only when you've travelled so far from home for so long. haiz.

about 21 more days till bozo comes home.

Long Island, New York, USA

its 9-11 today. oooh. wonder if anything bad's gonna happen. still, its a wonderfull saturday and we've got the morning free.

so guess what? joe and i are actually working right now. we're working in this little town in long islang called smithtown at the local shopping mall(its still huge) at the haagen daz outlet! thats right! we're both haagen daz crew! haha. its been fun, yesterday was our first day of work, pays $6.75/hr and we've told them we are available anytime they need us. its been pretty interesting, yesterday we were made to try all the different flavours available and then learned to make every single thingy on the menu from shakes and dazzlers to sundaes and scoops. we've got an okie supervisoer, susan and some nice high school kids who teach us the ropes pretty well, especially alex. hopefully the next few days won't be too xiong for us. still the money's good.

anyway we're also staying with joe's friends sergei, stacy and christina right now. there's also christina's boyfriend, also a sergei. they're pretty nice(except for the boyfriend) and we all share this tiny little apartment-attachment-like thingy. its good enough for us not having to sleep in the car(for me at least) and they're pretty well equipped so we're living comfortably.

so after montreal we travelled to quebec city. its a pretty beautiful old city with old forts and all and joe and i spent alot of time walking through most of the upper forts of the city which has been commercialised.

mt katahdin

next came what will probably be the highlight of our trip. we climbed mount katahdin!!!! set in baxter state park in maine its >5000ft high(doesn't sound that high but its the 27th highest mountain in the usa) and of course, the starting point ofhte appalachian trail. we drove to the park and then in the wee hours of the morning waited outside the gate till it opened. the hike took us 8hrs total. it was bloody xiong and i chose to take the toughest route on a rainy day which took us through the infamous and notorious 'knife edge' its a mile-long trail of huge jagged rocks only about 5ft wide of which falling over either side would result in painful bone-crunching death. i definitely underestimated it from what i read in magazines but the knife edge was absolutely hardcore. joe and i could've died man. haha. and we were one our fours most of the way and usually had to do alot of rock-climbing stunts. it was crazy, but nonetheless worth it. from the top you could see across 5 different states around new england and that was really something. still joe and i agreed that no words will ever trully express the dangers and excitement we went through during our climb to the top. i took alot of pictures along the way and those perilous pix might help offer a glimpse of what we went through. its pretty funny on hindsight that while we were dangling and dicing with death we could still afford a smile at the camera. typical asians.

afterthat everything paled in comparison. i thought the niagara falls were awesome, but katahdin kicked mega ass. so thats currently our #1 thing-we-did-in-our-travels.

then we drove down to portland and then boston. but since we only drove by we will probably head back again for another visit. boston does look like its got alot to offer.

among the highlights of our trip also included me getting pulled over by a police car TWICE within an hour. the first time was for speeding at 49mph in a 25mph(who drives that slow?!) little town and the second time was a routine check because the officer suspected we were drunk or something in the middle of the night. BUT both times the officers were really nice and instead of giving me a fine they gave us directions to baxter state park. must be my politeness.

we've been meeting alot of different nice people along our travels and the current lot we're staying with are no exception. well hopefully we'll still meet more to come. meanwhile thats all the update.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

its a good thing joe beat me to blogging about this place. got writer's block and can't really think of what i wanna write. so if you really wanna know what's been going on just go read his blog.

its true. the couple we've been staying with the past 2 nights have been hospitable and inviting beyond words. their reception and welcome towards strangers like ourselves and even mark and his merry gang(yes, we're ALL staying under one roof now, all 6 of us) is exceptional and really an eye-opener into the degree of the kindness of strangers. in fact the pay it forward attitude the danny(the husband) spoke to joe and i about where they were first accorded such hospitality while they were in algeria by a family of muslims is somewhat infectious. and we hope we'll do our part as well.

speaking of which joe and i were chilling out on top of mount royal in downtown montreal yesterday(where you can see an aerial view of the enormous city of montreal) when we saw this stranded korean duo who were looking for the area code of kingston. to cut a long story short we found it in our hearts not only to approach them while they eyed us with suspicious conmen alertness but also to actually aid them in finding a youth hostel and even giving them one of our rare hostel maps which we got in singapore. needless to say they were all smiles thereafter. but i think what my just-woken-up mind is trying to say is that under real circumstances and societal norms, joe and i would've just flicked our cigarette butts away and drove off, if not for the infectious spirit of sharing and caring.

so apart from that everything else has been still really rockin' hard. joe and i went on a city tour of montreal whole of yesterday. the tourist info center is probably the best i've visited so far in this american tour. old montreal is spectacularly bohemian and arty-farty coupled with its 19th century architectural getup really creates an atmosphere of olden montreal, place of narrow cobbled streets and buildings of stone enveloping you for blocks and blocks in the city.

mark's travelling with another 2 guys and a gal(there's this freaky story about the gal which if anyone's interested ask me when i come back) and they seem pretty nice people. but they're travelling on an ultra budget as well and it looks even worse for them because 4 of them share a car smaller than ours and even sleep in that little automobile. how to survive? but they do. well to each his own level of comfort and how they wanna spend this trip lah.

and still i can't stop praising the mckinleys(danny and marian), the couple that took us in. i feel indebted and i guess i'll send some bak kuah back when i get back to singapore. they entertained us with a lovely chicken dinner last night over beer and wine. it was fine all-american household dining. and we chatted for a really long time over alot of things. it really helps that they're retired teachers so much of this good attitude also spawns from their thirst for opening their minds to new cultures and more knowledge. i just hope that we've created a good impression of us as singaporeans. naturally we've already been labelled as nice smart intelligent and adventurous people. hopefully we don't rear our ugly side.

so the ugly side in me came out for 2 nights in a row when i felt the urge to go gamble. luckily i set a limit of $20 both time i went to the montreal casino. first night i lost it all on the quinzella machine, last night i lost about $7.50. nice to have such fun at times.

think thats about it. joe and i have been travelling together for almost a week and a half liao. and we're still having a great time. so thats a good sign. joe said at the end of the trip eitehr we'll hate each other or we'll bond closer. i'd say at the way things are we're certainly heading for the latter.

life is good.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

in ottawa ontario canada right now. its the capital of canada. there's much to see. alot of old buildings and stuff and there's always the ottawa river. the parliament building which we visited yesterday looked really old and majestic and we even managed to go up to the bell tower to soak in an aerial view of the city. later on will probably be walking around town with joe.

living out of a car has got its perks and cons. but we're getting used to it. and there's always the thrill of posing as:

A) students

- as we're doing right now using the university of ottawa's library internet access. its orientation for the undergrads right now so it makes our tasks even easier. we walk into university/college gyms easily to use their showers as well without the fear of people suspecting that we're not students. and its always easy to talk to people or staff along the way.

B) tourists

- whipout our cameras and we become instant stereotypical chinese tourists who're eager to see and take a picture of anything! we get treated better this way especially when we're in touristy spots . but this pose is probably the least used and more often than not done by me than joe.

C) hotel guest

- for this pose, nonchalence is key. and joe and i do it really really well. we get into hotels to wash up or use their toilets or even walk around to their top floors to get aerial view pictures and we still get treated like guests. aaah the life. it is good to always be prepared to mouth out a room number "that you're staying in", will surely save your skin sometimes. most often used pose since toilets(or at least good ones where you can take your time for a good shit) are really hard to find in downtown.

D) locals

- another favourite. the way joe and i speak we can easily pass off as locals. once again nonchalence is key. and canada's even easier to do so since the asian population here is so huge. helps to ward off unwanted attention.

oh well anyway we'll be off to our next destination. if only i'll stop buying all the cheap stuff that i find while shopping. already purchased the entire first season dvds of the simpsons and futurama(it was C$19.99 who could've resisted??!!!) and alot of trash from the factory outlet in erie pennsylvania liaoz. jialatz. its gonna get even uglier when i go live with brandie.

oh yah joe got a speeding ticket yesterday doing 143km/h on the highway. cost us C$157.50. bummer. gotta drive like snail from now on. haiz.

also had my first strawberry milkshake in a super duper long time from mcdonald's. its like triplethick so it was hard to suck and that sucked. joe was compelled to try one too.

faked our way into the university of ottawa by posing as first year students moving in to hall. luckily i'm observant so when we were approached by some volunteer student who was handing out directions to cars i was immediately able to respond "stanton hall" to his where-are-you-heading-to request.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

went to erie pennsylvania and then buffalo. buffalo's definitely a larger city than the way its wbeen made out to be in travel books. but its streets are somewhat underpopulated and deserted. alot of "aw per"(black skin) negroes all over the place.

so the niagara falls came and went. we saw the falls from the american side and the canadian side. both towns are called niagara falls, haha(okie so maybe only i find it funny). majestic to say the least, and sometimes even overwhelmingly inspiring. honeymoon capital of the world and a bloody infestation of tourists all year round. the falls by day and the falls by night are two entirely different episodes. capitol hill by the falls in the canadian side is also a wonder. a really nice entertainment district. when we come back someone please ask me about kirk jones.

toronto's a really nice place. very cosmopolitan and vibrant and there's alot going on in this city. been driving around alot.

montreal next.