Spring Break Updated!

I finally have some time to post up everything on Spring Break... because it's Thursday night! I love Thursday nights... in anticipation of the 3 day weekend, I can update my blog, slack, surf the net, talk to my mum on MSN and listen to her whine about housework (maid's on vacation right now)...

Hanging around + Universal City Walk, Orlando
One the day we arrived at Orlando, my poor, deprived, ghastly white skin saw the sun for the first time! Felt good to be able to take pictures in normal looking clothes and actually look a bit different everyday...instead of being stuck in trench coats all the time. I was rather disappointed in myself though. When the temperature dropped in the evening, I still had to wear a cardigan... I thought my body would be able to brace any cold after all the freezing in sub-zero temperatures! And I was still freezing in air-conditioned places, why?!

As I mentioned before, Orlando was strange to me... too surreal. Food was expensive, except buffets... so many cheap buffets everywhere. After being deprived of food all morning, we stuffed ourselves Sizzlers for lunch...great to have a reasonable steak after so long, but I felt like I never want to eat a buffet ever again. We explored some shops... well, mostly gift shops, half of which claimed to be 'the biggest giftshop in the world.' Right.

We took a walk at Universal downtown in the evening... pretty nice, with the live bands, clubs, big restaurants, Hardrock cafe etc, except that I was pretty tired from sleeping two hours the night before, talking to Taitong on the flight instead of sleeping (nice chat) and the day's travelling.

Walt Disney Magic Kingdom & Disney Downtown, Orlando


If I ever go back to Orlando again, I'll probably only visit 2 places... Universal Studios, and the entire Disney area, which is huge- 5 theme parks + Disney downtown + Disney resorts. Taitong and I were wondering if it was as big as Singapore... and I'll make sure I rent a car to drive. Transportation in Orlando was really terrible...we had passes for the i-trolley, which brings you to the various attractions along Internatonal Drive, but it came only once in 20 minutes, didn't go to Disneyland, ended at 10pm... we spent a lot of money taking cabs from Disney back to our hotel.

I've written about Disneyworld before, so I'll let the pictures speak of how it relieved my childhood...

Oh, I didn't include pictures of this, but we went for a the Arabian Nights dinner show as well. I wouldn't say it was bad, but it was definitely not worth the price and the expensive cab fare just to get to the place. We were served dinner while watching a horse show (and a feeble attempt to fit it into some lame storyline)...well, it was difficult to concentrate on the show and my food at the same time, especially in the dark. And I couldn't help but keep thinking, 'If I were really an animal lover, I might not be able to eat while watching the horses being whipped and doing stunts) Orlando has many famous dinner shows- comedy shows, mystery shows etc... guess we picked the wrong show and location.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not
This was an interesting place... check out the cool slanted building! It's basically a museum with a collection of wierd and amazing things, such as artwork made of a million buttons/strands of hair/cigeratte wrappers, a three-legged man who used his third leg as a 'support' so that bending his knees was like sitting on a chair, a dress made of guitar picks, heads shrunk to the size of a fist...

Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, Orlando

We spent 2 days at Islands of Adventure and it was greeeaaaattttt. All the attractions were so innovative and I loved almost every single ride, from the extreme roller coasters to the kiddy ones.

The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman ride was the most brilliant ride I've ever been on in my life! It wasn't so thrilling that you'd scream your lung outs, but it was so smart- a combination of simulated rides, a real roller coaster and 3D movie effects. Basically, you 'travel' to different screens and experience various simulated effects, including Spiderman popping up right in front of you, the bad guys stretching out to grab you, swinging about the city, falling off a skyscrapper and being caught by a web... the effects were so real, really felt like I was in the middle of a Spiderman movie... could even feel the heat of the 'fire'!

We also got soaking wet by the Popoye's ride down the ripples... and there were kids who (paid money to) shot us with water guns... I was freezing from all the splashes. And we screamed out hearts out with The Hulk and Duelling Dragons...Oh, I must mention Poseidon's Fury. This wasn't a ride, but a tour of the 'Temple of poseidon'... and wow, the effects were brilliant... they made it as if we were caught in a temple without escape, and we walked through a tunnel with water swirling all around (so fast that it doesn't even splash you), stood in a cave... and there was this amazing moment when we were blinded by a flash of light and the next second, the entire cave had transformed into a place with water splashing, pouring off the falls and fire as the 'gods' fought... so so so impressive.

Erwin's Birthday Celebration

We surprised him with a cake and a free facial!

Erwin's Seafood Birthday Dinner, Lincoln Drive, Miami

Miami really reminded me of Singapore... among the cities I've seen in US, it's the one that is closest to Singapore. The shopping, the tropical weather, Metro above the ground... and Lincoln drive felt like an expanded version of Clarke Quay, with all the restaurants/bars/clubs... there was even a river at the end of the stretch, just like the Singapore River. While Singapore is not even half as exciting, visiting Miami somehow made me realize why people might want to come to Singapore...

I loved Miami. Besides the strage familiarity of some areas, it's such a happening place! I'm sure everyone there does only 3 things- go to the beach in the day, eat and shop in the evening, then go clubbing. In the day, everyone walks about the streets in their bikinis and at night, in their party clothes. Can really feel the entire life of the place at night... with music blasting from cool cars on the way to the clubs, crowds along Lincoln drive, sounds of people shouting and singing on the street...so exciting.

Anyway, it was Erwin's birthday, so we treated ourselves to dinner at this seafood restaurant, which was relatively cheap compared to New York City. It was the first time I tasted crab/shrimp in ages... and absolutely heavenly.

South Beach, Miami

I've never exactly been a very 'beach' person, but South Beach was so nice! Cat and I lay on a deck chair to tan, and alternated between reading a book and sleeping (mostly this) by the beach... loved the feeling of the sun on my skin and just closing my eyes to relax. It can't really be seen in the beach pictures, but I swear I got browner when the effects of the sun set in about a day later... I'm no longer such a white chicken!

Clubbing at Cleavelanders + Last night in our messy 1-Star hotel room, Miami

This club was recommended by Qiuyun, and we later found out that it's the most famous club in Miami. The music was bad, but it was quite an experience clubbing outdoors... and there's a swimming pool below the dance floor.

Bus City Tour and Ducktour, Miami

We were chased out of our hotel on the morning of our last day, so we went on the tours to pass time... very enjoyable ones too. The bus took us to the various neighbour hoods of Miami- Little Havana, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, the Art Deco District... seeing some of the highways reminded me of Singapore again, as well as the palm trees and expensive houses which felt a little bit like the Bukit Timah area. People in Miami are really, really, really rich... all the houses were beautiful, especially those where the entrances faced the river, and the owners had private speedboats to cruise along the river and take them around. We also passed Versace's house... and a hotel that costs US$1000+ a night to stay! At Little Havana, we got to try some Cuban coffee...the smell was like...MMMM...mmmm..mmmm

I think we all liked the Ducktour along bayside the best... took a cruise with a great view of the islands, basked in the sun, enjoyed the wind... and we met a Singaporean who was in Miami on business! He heard asked talking and asked, 'Are you from Singapore?' Loads of celebrities live on the islands... saw the houses of Madonna, Gloria Estefan, P Diddy...

I've to run off to meet Estelle, Sheryl, Serene and Chris who are all in New York City this week!