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..

Excitement!

Will be flying off in a less than a week's time and I am so so so excited. Like a little girl i know, but i am really looking forward to it, though I will miss my family too.

I wasn't involved in the whole roadtrip planning proccess but I am grateful that boy's mum and relatives in US have taken good care of it.

Boy and I went for some shopping during these past 2 weeks to buy some cold wear for me because he thinks I will not be able to take the cold. I think I spent like close to $300 alone just on buying coat, woolen sweater, bottoms etc. And I am going to be wrapped up like a ba zhang lol.

But anyway, I feel so pampered.. thanks!

A whole list of shopping list, the only thing I am worried is my luggage will be overweight. -.-

Decided on these after a discussion with Felicia!

Madison Leather Zip Clutch in Cream

 Mercer Isle

And my must get favorite Madison Criss Cross Leather Sophia Satchel!

Super excited!

Random Update

Random update here. Just realized the difference between having falsies on and without. Pardon the pimply marks because I just went for facial the day before!

See!

I still feel weird wearing falsies because it's like... fake? Tickling thick feeling but I will try every once in a while. Still have not master the technique of putting it on well.

Had to go for falsies because I can't put on Mascara and eye liner. I perspire easily and mascara will leave smudges around my eye area and often it looks like I am having panda eyes. I tried all sorts of mascara and eye liners but none works for me, sadly :(

So in the end I resort to falsies.

Had a nice dinner out at Brotzeit to celebrate Ting Wei's birthday. The girls had a nice catchup over dinner, talking about so many things! We wouldn't even leave if not for the waiters kept interrupting us. Really great talking about our work, reality, love, money etc.

There was a debate over money VS love. Hmm, I used to think the same way like many would think - that money is everything. No money no talk, no money no love. I used to think that I want to earn lots and lots of money and spend on things I like, do things I love. When I was young, I have this fantasy of wanting to stay in a bungalow. Yes this was my dream when I was young. Even though until up till now this is still one of my aims, but it is not my priority anymore.

To me, money is important but it is not everything. Even with money, though you can buy every single thing you like and do every single thing you love to do, there is bound to be a time when you will be sick of it. That is when you think back and realized that nothing is achieved afterall. You have just wasted your time doing something non-meaningful. Money makes you happy, just for that period of time. It does not guarantee you lifelong happiness. 

All the happiness you get from material goods is nothing compared to the happiness derived from true love, true feelings, good health. Nothing.

It is not wrong to aim for more money - in fact it is a very good aim. The important thing is to be contented with what you can have.

I used to be a very materialistic person. To me everything is about money. Then I met boy, and he taught me how money is not equivalent to everything. He gave me the happiness I could never buy with money. He taught me that being happy together on a date doesn't mean having to go to lavish restaurants for a romantic dinner but more importantly the time spent with each other. He taught me that buying a present doesn't mean something expensive but more importantly the thought being put into it. He taught me how I can just make him a card for his birthday and he will be very happy about it. He taught me how money can't buy the amount of attention he showers me whenever I land myself in trouble at school/work. He taught me how I should plan my finances well and not spend on unnecessary non-value-added stuffs.

Because of his Philippine race, many may have stereotyped him as "poor", "not highly educated" - all the negative things you can think of. But he is not affected by it and does not bother to explain to people about his background even though they have mistaken him terribly. He doesn't go around showing people his wealth. In fact he shows his sincerity - which is what money cannot be bought.

This is when I realized how much effort he has put into planning our future and making sure that I am well taken care of, even up till the point in the event that he left me.

This man taught me how love can be so simple. No amount of money can buy me this.

Happiness is not just about money. To me, happiness is true love and more importantly, health.

With all the money you can have but you are sick/your loved ones are sick and there is nothing you can do to help them, do you even care about the money?

My own thoughts.