U.S Southwest Road-trip: Day 1 (Singapore - Seattle)

Have been too lazy to blog about my recent U.S Southwest Road-trip so I thought it's time I should get my butt on my chair and start writing about it.

Prior to travelling there, all plannings have been done by boy's mum and relatives who are residing in U.S and the plan was really great. It was an enjoyable experience and I really love how close-knitted their family are. Their culture are so different from us though I felt a little "uncomfortable" at times lol. Affections are being shown through actions like kiss on the cheeks and hugs. It was an experience to me (:

Anyway, we went for a total of 17 days. And here's a rough breakdown of the costs:

Air Fare (Return trip from Singapore to Seattle and back by United Airlines) - SGD$1,800

Domestic Flight (Seattle to San Francisco and Las Vegas to Seattle) - SGD$200

Car Rental, Petrol, Hotel Accommodation & Sharing of food: SGD$1,200

Shopping & Individual Food/Expenses: SGD$2,800

Total Expenses: SGD$6,000

My total damage actually adds up more than my pre-planned $5K but well, I got what I want and I never regret it! (:

So on Day 1 at 8am, we board the plane from Singapore to Tokyo Narita for transit. The flight was an approximate 7 hours. There we go!

The food on United Airlines are not that fantastic, in my opinion.

After 7 hours, we got to transit at Tokyo Narita.

I just had to stop by to shop at their duty-free shops!

Everything in Japan are super pricey.. This packet of scallops cost SGD$23 and the Potato Farm below costs SGD$12 with just 10 small packets in it! I still bought it and boy's parents love the scallops.

Queuing to get in the plane which will be another 10 hours of flight.

I can't get to sleep on plane rides so I was quite awake the whole while...

Then finally after 20 hours, we reached Seattle where boy's relatives are already waiting for us at the airport!

This was a really heart-warming moment, and I managed to see this scene for myself.. the first time in my life. I heard they have not seen each other for 10 years.

Touching (:

Boy's mum and Tita Zenny.

Uncle Edgar who is super funny.

Off we go for lunch!

Look like some Jap student lol.

Boy's pretty sis!

One shot together.

It was lunch at Seafood City! We had some grilled BBQ food.

After which we went to Tita Zenny's house to freshen ourselves up. It was a really cosy place.

Jeanny!

The weather was awesome, athough really really cold!

Then we head off for a scenic view of the Memorial Bridge!

Love the houses there really. I was told given the money we had bought for our HDB flat in SG, it is enough to buy such beautiful houses here at a good location.

It was Chinese Buffet after that! Food was awesome.

We had the entire stretch of tables for ourselves!

Got to know Rob's "sister" through this trip. She prefers us to call her "She" because she is a gay.

And I realize that U.S are pretty open regarding this.

That's the end of our first day in U.S.

Day 2 to be continued!

Passion

It's 12.20am now and I still can't get to sleep.. To think I have to wake up at 5am later for work.

Just recently, boy brought up a topic on my passion. Have been thinking of it for quite some time about what he said and it suddenly ignited all the passion in me right again. I have not forgotten about my passion, it is just that I do not speak up because of so many concerns.

I do not see myself working like this for the rest of my life, even if I reached a management position I do not see myself being satisfied or happy. This is how much my passion means to me. I even have the urge to quit my job right at this moment to pursue my passion if I have all resources but there are just too many concerns I have to consider. If I quit my job, it is not just about me but my parents as well because I gave quite a substantial amount to them every month. They are never going to understand my passion anyway..

I see myself waking up everyday, researching information for what I really like to do, and do what I love to do. It is hard to explain how strong my passion is but I know it is there. No one except boy understands the passion in me, and I am so grateful for that.

I want to make it work, no matter how hard and I am going to make my first step out.

I hope my first step succeeds though it will take some time.

I was never the type of person who is affectionate and shows my affections through physical touch like hugs or kisses for friends. My limit would probably be putting my arms around their shoulders. This is probably what puts me at an disadvantage.

I noticed recently that my actions of being concerned and purchasing stuffs for birthdays/christmas etc does not help to improve the impression of me more than people whom they have not seen for many many years.

Browsing through the photos, I realized how insignificant I was in the heart, no matter what I do.

I feel for myself..