CNY celebration

Before I post my New York journey, I blog about the CNY celebration over here first. CNY here was not that bad. Although I had classes going on during the first day of CNY, I should be grateful because some of my friends had exams that night.

First day of CNY in Malaysia was on Thursday but we had the first day of CNY on Friday. So, that night, a bunch of my friends and I went to Ford Dining Hall to eat some chinese foods. That night was indeed awesome. We had different kinds of chinese foods like dumplings, sausage n shrimp fried rice, pau(walau eh...PAU u know? long time didnt eat ady) and dim sum SUMMORE. :) I really had a scrumptious dinner that night and it was the best ever dinner since the first day I came here.

Alright, that isn't the main topic I'm telling you guys.

I went to a CNY celebration dinner hosted by Taiwanese Student Association (TSA) with my friends. It started at 6.30pm and we also had some delicious chinese foods. We had Pork, Beef, sweet and sour chicken (orange chicken) and some 'unknown' vegetables. Like Yikshien, my friends and I also sat in table lucky no8. :).

It was two hours plus long dinner. They had some games and lucky draws. The presents were like scanner, heater, printer, radio and some gift cards and ANGPOWS given by a taiwanese professor in my university.

Yeah...we indeed had a lot of funs!!! but of course, celebrating with family is way better than celebrating over here. haih...I miss getting angpows and visiting relatives and friends. This is the first CNY withOUT angpowss....:( I think I have to bear this for another 3 years.

Miami (December 22nd-24th, 2007)

After enjoying ourselves in Orlando, we then off to Miami, which was our last destination in Florida. We departed from our inn early in the morning, 6am-ish by a limousine that sent us to International Drive where we waited for the mini van to Miami. At 8am sharp, we started our journey to Miami. Miami is renowned for its beach and tattoos. The journey from Orlando to Miami took us approximately 4 hours and it was dreadful journey because I could not sleep well in the van.

We stayed in President Hotel which is located a block from the beach. It was a nice hotel but when we went there, the front part of the hotel was under renovation. So, we went in and out of the hotel through the back door to the beach. The "back door" way was abit creepy because we had to go down a staircase and walk through a narrow path in order to go to beach. It was even creepier at night.

Well, the beach isn't that "unique" as what most people say. It reminds me of Tanjung Batu Beach in Bintulu. Although I'm thousand miles away from my hometown, I can feel like I'm in Tg. Batu. The wind and the beach sand in Miami Beach made me feel like swimming through the Pacific Ocean to South China Sea. All these thoughts came into my mind when I was strolling alone along the beach while Vincent and Jaysern were "sunbathing".

Nice photo right??? Actually the difference between Miami beach and Tg. Batu Beach are the "people" and "water". When talking about there two words, you guys should have already known what I meant. The water was soo clear unlike the Kemena River and the people there were actually wearing er......which I'm sure you would never ever see it in Tg Batu or any other beaches in Msia. Or should I say they were actually topless? ok..stop there, no more elaboration.

One thing I like about this beach is that you would never get bored even though you are sitting on the sand doing nothing. Er...don't get me wrong. I'm talking about the activities there. You can see people playing frisbees and some planes flying in the sky doing some advertisement. Real planes ok? not the remote-controlled planes...

The food there are really scrumptious. If you are really in love with Japanese food, like Joyce, I strongly recommend you guys to go there and try those sushi(s). There are many Japanese foods there and I bet you will never get sick of it.

Overall, my 3days trip in Miami was totally great. I enjoyed eating and sight-seeing (I mean the sceneries) there...:) We flew to New York from Miami on Christmas Eve day.

p/s Joyce, why wait?? Go n eat Sushi now...

Universal Studio & Island of Adventure

On Day 5,6 and 9, we went to the Universal Studio and Island of Adventure that are situated at International Drive. If u guys watch the movie "Bring it on: In it to win" acted by Ashley Benson and Michael Copon which was just released recently (December 18th, 2007), u can see how Universal Studio actually looks like.

There were Macy's Parade and Fear Factor LIVE!

There are actually plenty of exciting places in Universal Studio and I actually took lotsa photos but I prefer the Island of Adventure most. The reasons are......................
Obviously, Island of Adventure is way more appealing than others, isn't it? I enjoyed playing the water games because all of us got 100% wet because of that. We played all the games there even the scariest one (e.g The Hulk - as you can see in the second and the third photo, there are five to six 360 degree turns ) so that it's worth going.

After spending 9 days in Disneyworld, Universal Studio, and Island of Adventure, we headed to Miami by a van on December 22nd morning. Next post would be my Miami's journey!

Disneyworld (December 13-21, 2007)

I went to Disneyworld in Orlando last winter break, and not Disneyland. Vincent, Jay Sern and I flew from Chicago O'hare Airport at 7am and arrived Orlando airport around 10am. It was a 2-hour flight. Once we arrived in Orlando, we went to our inn which we had booked earlier on. We stayed in Knights inn Kissimmee, which I think it wasn't that bad for us, students since it was kinda affordable and we even stayed there for more than a week, 9 days to be exact (6 days in Disneyworld and 3 days in Universal Studio).

As soon as we checked in, we waited for the shuttle bus to Disneyworld. Below is the list of the theme parks and places that we went starting from the first day we reached Orlando:

Day 1 - Epcot

Day 2 - MGM

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom

Day 5 - Universal Studio

Day 6 - Universal Studio - Island of Adventure

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom

Day 8 - Epcot

Day 9 - Universal Studio & Island of Adventure

Our first destination was Epcot, one of the theme parks in Disneyworld. To me, Epcot isn't a boring theme park but it is just less appealing compared to other theme parks, like Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and MGM. I actually bought my Disneyworld Globe in Epcot. hehe...

MGM has a lot of adventurous and stunning shows. That's what I like about MGM theme parks. There are Planet Hollywood, high school musical 2 show, Indiana Jones's show, etc. There is also Mickey and all the Disney cartoon characters performance in the evening and I totally like it very much!

Magic Kingdom is indeed awesome. It has the big castle that attracts most people. You can't enter the castle though. Strictly for kids!!! There is also Go-kart in the theme park which I think the most deadening one.

Animal Kingdom is the best. To me, this is the best theme park among all the four theme parks. I love it not because there are lotsa animals in that theme park. I actually love the shows and the environment in the theme park. I know there are lotsa shows in other theme parks but the shows in this particular theme park are definitely the best.

This is the DisneyWorld Globe that I bought...

Hehe...worth it, right??? Anyway, it was indeed the most enjoyable holiday that I had so far...I shall blog about my days in Universal Studio and Island of Adventure when I'm free...:)

Winter Break (Part 1)

First of all, I would like to tell you guys that I just got back from my 3 weeks winter break. It was kinda fun. Sorry coz I didnt update my journey here few weeks ago.

Before I off for the winter break, one of my american friends asked me, "Hey Bat, where r u heading to for this winter break?"

I said, "Oh well, I'm going to Chicago, Orlando,Miami and New York."

She replied, "wow, u r going to lotsa places huh...but hey, I have never been to New York before...u such a lucky guy"

I was like, "huh?? Did u just say that you have never been to New York before??"

"Yeah, I have never been to NY before..why?", she said.

"oh, okay...nothing...just..ya..nothing." I smiled.

Ok...I just stopped there...haha...actually, I don't think you guys understand this. Anyway, this american girl is quite an outgoing girl, so I was abit surprised when I heard her saying that. LOL.

So, yea...I went to Chicago on Dec 12th night and met two of my friends before we went to Orlando by flight the next morning. We went to Disneyworld and Universal Studio for 9 days. Then, we headed to Miami on Dec 22nd by a mini van. Miami is indeed a nice place for a vacation. I strongly recommend you guys to go there with family. :) So, after spending 2 nights in Miami, we flew to New York on Christmas Eve. We spent almost 10 days in New York, celebrating Christmas Day and New Year 2008 there.

New Year 2008 in Times Square, NY was awesome. In New York, we went to Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero(WTC path station), Times Square, Chinatown, Central Park and etc. We actuall stayed in Goddard Hall, one of the residence hall in New York University, which is located in the heart of Manhattan. Thanks to Ian for his help during our 10 days stay in his dorm.

Here are some of the photos that we took:

ok, I better stop now before my mum gets mad.

p/s Joyce, it's fake...I can tell you now...sorry!!! :)

The End of Fall 2007 semester - HOLIDAY!!!

Yeah..the final exams have just ended.

I'll be going off for a vacation tomorrow. So, to all the readers...

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!!!

Just wana wish you guys earlier as I won't be online until next January. So, take care and May God Bless all of you.

Snowing!!!

Last night, I slept around 10am++ because I was so tired. It was quite cold that night and when I looked at the weather prediction, it would be snowing at that particulat night. However, I didn't think so because there was no sign of snowing albeit it was kinda cold. I woke up around 12.45am though. I don't know why I woke up that early and I tried to sleep back but I still could not sleep. Then, I opened the curtain a lil bit and peeked through the window.

IT IS SNOWING!!!

My roommate, Vanni, who was sleeping, suddenly woke up but not because of snow. He was hungry! Haha...

Since we could not sleep that night, we talked about many topics like politics, population of some countries, relationship, and some other funny stuffs. I realized that he is actually a funny and nice guy. After finished chit-chatting about those, we slept around 5am.

The next morning, I woke up for lecture. When I opened the curtain, I saw the snow are all around the road and pavement. It was so cool as it was my first time and the snow was so thick that it covered the cars and grass.

Well, this is my first time experiencing snow. My American friends were so surprised when I told them this was my first time getting to enjoy the 'coolness' of snow. I told them that it doesn't snow in Malaysia.


Anyway, I guess I only took a few photos. I should have taken more. I'm sorry guys...my finals in coming soon. I'll try to take more photos before I go for a vacation during the winter break. I'll keep you guys updated. Don't worry!