Saturday, December 31, 2005
Daf & Shutch Travelogue Part II
19 Dec
Got sms from Pengy early in the morn to check our NIE results; we didn't do so until much later! (see below)
We came out around noon for lunch around Central Park in a little pizzeria where I had spinach pizza and Daf had mushroom.
Shutch commented that she had seen a subway along the way, but we sillily headed in the opposite direction, pretending that we knew the way, obnoxious cos we believed that we couldn't get lost in NYC. We decided to give Central Park a miss cos it was cold and windy and it looked boring. However we entered this Conservatory Garden where we took some really nice photos of pretty trees and a pretty pixie and a petty monkey.
After that we started a long walk to find the subway, which was non-existent on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th avenue!!!! We walked through public housing, videoed squirrels and asked for directions at a laundromat before we finally found a subway at Lexington Avenue.
So effectively we took 2 hours to get to Grand Central Station where we got hungry again!!
We bought another pizza slice and a pumpkin pie from atas (?) pie factory. It's really yummy the pie you should really try it if you ever go America! (or if we succeed in trying to bake one someday.....) (Daffy: I love pumpkin pie!!) Then we headed for the Grand Central Market to drool over more wholesome foods... cheese, buffaro wings, seafood, pasta, blead, fluits, etc... We bought pesto tortellini, caesar salad (in exchange for the salad with a very hardboiled cute egg which I was craving for!!!) and a pretzel (choose cheddar cheese not nacho cheese next time) for dinner.
I got my first freshly brewed St. Arbucks! not-coffee-but-chai. (FINALLY Shutchie felt HOT!!!)
Geography of food??
Then began a subway madness. The trick is: get onto any train that arrives, get off at the next station and board another train (no need to think!!). The record: 7 trains just to get from 42nd to 59th Street! The ultimate: ending up at Queensboro station. ("Eh? Sure wrong lah! We are ABOVE ground level liao!" "Oh man... we crossed the bridge!!")
Relieved to get to 59th finally, we headed for Columbia Uni (116th st) station wanting to get groceries. I happily said, "That must have been the last boo-boo of the day!!" only to emerge from the station to find that the supermarket was not the right one! So we went into the subway AGAIN to 110th St where we bought blueberry waffles and honey. And we headed home.
Home had this microwave which works only when you stamp your feet standing in front of it. Countless stamping didn't work however so we had to use the oven instead. (Sidenote: waffles do NOT need to be deep fried! They just need to be toasted or put into the oven! Someone tell Shutch that, PLEASE!) We put the salad into a big bowl - so was it a big bowl of salad or a big salad bowl?? It was neverending; took us an hour to finish.
Our japalang dinner... which is prob one of the best meals we had! Hee.
A very nice evening when we sorted out our travel plans and I played with bubble wrap and also got pushed off the bed. Finally. Arghs.
20 Dec
Waffles for breakfast!! The big day when our adventure actually started. It was time to leave NYC but the subway went on strike! Buses too! We climbed up the Morningside Avenue stairs with luggage to find out about airport shuttle from Columbia Uni but it wasn't running! We used the internet to check for the airport shuttle, called Rebecca's home to find our her mobile number and then sms-ed her at the wrong number. (Guess who did that?!!) Taxis would've cost a big big bomb so we decided to walk - from 116th St to 42nd!! We fought along the way - in the middle of the street - over my luggage. Man. (Anyone ever realised how stubborn that woman is?!! - daffy)
Realised that NYC is actually not that big - we actually bummed into the new friends we made the other night. We also saw lots of disgusting pooodles - big, small, black, white. EWW! We took pathetic photos of ourselves. We saw Fox News, traffic jams, police, ambulance but we actually ended up at 42nd in 2 hours! Woohoo!
Our pathetic photo...
Dropped our bags, none of the public phones allowed us to call Becca.
We tried to decide what to eat, and decided 3 is the number. Guess what we had? PIZZA! (pls, someone tell daffy we will NOT have that in the NEW YEAR!) (Ok, i WANT KWAY CHAP, CHICKEN HOR FUN, SEAFOOD, THAI... - daffy) Daffy suddenly (stupidly) went "What's that?" and made me end up hugging a tall guy! (which she really had no regrets - daffy) We went to Food Emporium where Shutch (stupidly) commented that they sell kitchen ware instead of fresh foods.
Finally we met up with Becca and went down 38th St where there was nicer and cheaper pizza! 3 is NOT the number!! Rushed down to Macy's (but didn't go in) and Empire State Building (but didn't go up!) Then back to Port Authority where we hung out at a cafe (but didn't buy anything!) Then took the coach to Boston and we all slept like pigs onboard.
Empire state model...
Macy's...
As we were entering Boston we saw really nice stars in the sky, really clear Orion belt and even a 'milky way'. Boston's pretty compared to hectic NYC. Took a subway to Wellington station, where we argued with the Hostel guy who refused to pick us up (and refused to admit his mistake) but eventually he relented and picked us up. The room was lok-kok though.
Worst one of the trip! The gals couldn't sleep coz it was too cold (I was lucky to have chosen the most lok-kok bed which apparently was near the heater!)
21st Dec
Waited for an hour for the hostel guy to turn up again so we could check out. Pissed, we wrote a note and went out without checking out. We went to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market where we had nice wraps and clam chowder (yum!) for lunch and looked at souvenirs (check out the red lobster below). Quote of the day: "The trout, the whole trout and nothing but the trout. So help me cod."
Beer belly...
Red Lobster!! Ain't he cute?!!
Mongolian Shutch
Walked to Atlantic Avenue then to Chinatown, financial district and ended up at Coldstone Creamery!! The special icecream here is soft and eaten by mixing with your favourite nuts/chocs/toppings/fruits/anything!! Super YUMMMMMM! Let's make some on New Year's Eve!! =P
The various toppings...
Shutch and the yummy ice-cream!
Now you see it... now you don't!
Picked up the car - Mr Ford Focus!! (not Honda, nor a cool 2 door, nor a Toyota Camry.......) So off we went with me as the navigator (a very fine one indeed! Cos there are no "You are here" signs on the map... otherwise yeah, she is a rather fine one. She's here lah... I might get whacked if i dun sing to the tune. Hee.) and Daffy as the sole driver who couldn't be an aggressive American driver at first (still cun... ). Our first hour's drive saw us circling the garage where we picked up the car three times in order to get into Everett!! The second time we came back to Boston we didn't even realise it was Boston....
In Everett we made countless rounds at the roundabout because it was so confusing! And there wasn't enough time to think properly... so after we exhausted ALL options, we finally got to the hostel. Then we couldn't unlock the car! (And I discovered why later... cos you are supposed to turn the key clockwise! So silly! Heh. - Daffy) Daffy was so blur she almost deposited the car key into the box for the hostel room.
Through precise planning (ha ha) the luggages fit really nicely into the boot of Mr Focus. Getting out of Everett was a challenge coz we didn't understand the directions given by the Garage guy. Eventually we understood it and could get ourselves some lunch at Panera bread - yummy bagels!
Through more precise planning (ho ho) we arrived at Vermont ski lodge at 8:30pm instead of the estimated 8pm. Driving on the mountain roads were SCARY! But I fell asleep anyways coz it's so dark there was nothing for the navigator to see. (What a mighty fine navigator she is! = daffy ) As a result lonely Daffy saw 'big monsters' along the way which were actually just chimneys and quarries. We took a 91 South turn instead of 91 North so we turned into a road of residences before turning back to ask for directions. Daffy the bladder-full duck kept wanting to pee. Played Casting Crowns CD for like 6 times. The roads were really dark and windy at points and single lane! We were tailgated for quite a while, and Daffy was really stressed. Eight miles to Snowlodge felt really long, and it soon started snowing.
Finally we arrived only to realise our ski package didn't include equipment rental. We had our first junk meal - potato chips and bagels - for dinner. Our room was near the hotel entrance whose door goes 'Brrrrr' whenever it opens and closes. Nice start. Oh and we were apparently so high up there was no phone reception. Actually we all collapsed even before eating and showering. Daffy especially didn't want to shower (how did we guess?). I commented that green Mr Focus would probably be white the next day...
22nd Dec
Carbo loaded breakfast - toasted bagels, English muffins (finally!), cream cheese, muffins, hot chocolate. Headed for the ski area to rent equipment - skis for Becca and myself and snowboard for the duck.
Snowboarding is cool! (Esp the guys who snowboard! Hee.)
Shutch and her skis...
Had fun on the gentle slope so decided to go for more fun on the super steep and high slope. Took the neverending lift up into a blizzard (it was THAT cold and windy!)
Shutch in the blizzard at the top of the mountain...
Yaya papaya me said, "You go first, see you down there!" So Daffy took off first, as she was less experienced with the braking. Daffy: But when I arrived at the bottom, I looked around and couldn;t see any Shutch on skis, so I assumed that she was back at the beginner slope. But when I returned to look for Beccam Shutch as nowhere to be seen! So I went up onto the gentle slope to play again. But I got really frantic when I really saw no Shutch and it wasn't cos of my eyesight! So I rushed to the bottom of the steep slope and strained my eyes searching for a very slow skier NAVIGATING her way through the gradient. I was almost tempted to take the long long lift up again, but was worried that she would arrive at the bottom soon. So I was in a real dilemma. With my heart beating fast and cold sweat (it is COLD what!)emerging, I finally saw someone really skiing down SLOWLY, amongst those really cool snowboarders. I tell you, I practically could have jumped for joy... if I wasn't on my snowboard! But I was really really relieved.... I kinda regret not going after her so that I could have at least looked out for her when she braked (breaked) and lost her skis. But then again, we both din know what to expect... So the brave duck went up the steep slope again three more times whilst I had developed a phobia so refused to go.
At the bottom of the big slope...
When you cun brake, fall.
After all the skiing and boarding we went to buy cheap water and a big bag of apples (for 99 cents!) at Shaw's supermarket. Then headed for dinner at this place called Silo's whose Soprano night saw buffaro wings going at 20cents per piece! We were greeted by a rude waitress who demanded our IDs which we didn't have. So Daffy the one craving for wings made a mad rush back to the hotel to get passports; fortunately it's close by (so close that she decided later she can DRINK and drive back! woohoo). We got 30 wings and 4 beers (not 4 wings and 30 beers!) in the end. Three happy girls went back to hotel, drunk (see daffy below!) and muscles aching...
23rd Dec
Decided to leave skiing and boarding behind so we won't end up driving in the dark too much. Left for Niagara in the morning. Stopped by for hot chocolate from a nice European cafe - the best we had on the trip! Along the way we passed 'Amsterdam', 'Rome', 'Poland', 'Liverpool', 'Waterloo', 'Geneva', 'Lyon', 'Manchester', 'Pembroke', 'Hamburg'. WOW!
"We'll be coming down the mountain as we come..."
Chasing the sun as it sets... this is an artistic photo by Miss Navigator... =)
At the pee place... which is a nice European cafe.... we took shots with Mr Focus.
Mr Focus is atas. Ate the most expensive petrol - 244 instead of 222! For the rest of the trip, bladderfull Daffy made Macdonalds become our favorite pee-stop place. We'd arrived at Niagara a day before the planned arrival so had to make changes to our hotel booking. But Daffy was irritated she couldn't find her cheap motel on Lundy Lane (and have to pay parking at our hotel when the carpark was EMPTY?!). Had dinner at Spicy Olive Bar and Grill (a very satisfying pasta dinner! rigatoni primavera with yummy artichokes and peppers, baked eggplant and breaded veal with pasta!)
It was the last night of the Christmas Fireworks at Niagara, supposed to take place at 9pm. But Daffy went out looking for her Lundy Lane (when all along I was thinking she went to make phone calls so started getting worried when she took more than half an hr to call!) and came back late so we missed the fireworks. (I'm sorry...) Went to see Festival of Lights instead and drove through without paying coz we weren't impressed. (Typical Singaporeans...)
But they do look fake rite?!!
TV sucked. We had a bad night. No "Will and Grace" and "Friends" for company... And yaya papaya Shutch underestimated the cold... changed into spaghetti straps to sleep somemore leh! Who in the world brings spag tops to winter places? (Ans: Shutch.) Guess what? She changed back into NORMAL attire in the middle of the nite.
24th Dec
A shot in the hotel. Cool hair huh? =)
Pancakes and waffle (and MAPLE SYRUP!!) for breakfast! (coz the buffet places were closed... xmas sia) For first time on the trip I was high in the morning on coffee (yay!) and sugar! (daffy: Poor me...) Dropped by a canyon with nicely stratified rocks.
Parking obnoxiously...
Canyon with stratified rocks...
Then headed for Factory outlet for shopping! Daffy went "Please don't let me see anything".
I tried on some funky boots which were really expensive but the nice and helpful saleslady was still so polite! Canadian service is a million times better than American! Becca and I each bought a nice purple handbag from Esprit (it's not frivolous! Daffy: Yar right! Purple and small... what do you think??). I bought a pair of jeans from Levi's (dug out by Becca). Nike store had really nice but still ex stuff. Loved the pink/gray jacket below so much we each donned it. Daffy found the jumper she bought three years ago and was disappointed she couldn't get anything else this time round...
We made another illegal parking to go to the Falls; getting the hang of it for sure. Somehow all the tourists we met CANNOT take photos for nuts so none of our threesome picts at the Falls were nice =S We had fun still with snowballs! Then built a small ugly little snowman but the photo is pretty.
Shutch and falls...
Horseshoe falls
Preparing to throw them at Shutch... =)
Ugly snowman... with sweets as eyes.
Wanted to take a Forrest Gump photo but Daffy kept running off before her timer finished so it took 5 takes before we got it right. The number WAS 5. Her trousers were muddy at the end.
Big Hersheys store where we got a chocolate shake which turned out like icecream.... and posed with the big hershey's bar. Went into the hotel to find a toilet but ended up taking photos with the xmas tree, chandelier and the pretty staircase.
Shutch and BIG Hershey's bar.
Xmas tree...
Went to see Whirlpool but by then it was too dark! So we started on our adventure to Toronto. It was a good drive to Toronto, until we got INTO Toronto. Map-less we went round in circles in the city and I was even dropped off for 10 min to stand in the cold analysing the campus map and not being able to find the dodgy street we were trying to find. (Can you see how much daffy likes torturing me?? =S) Yes the dodgy street was where the dodgy and disgusting hostel we booked was located. (Daffy: So since the princess commented, we tried to find alternatives for better accomodation.)
Drove out to Spadina Av/College St junction and well, the accident took place. Knocked headon with a Toyota Camry. Thank God only the camry's paint was scraped and strong Mr Focus was unscathed! The people on the cars were shaken though, especially when we saw that there were actually two infants in the back of the camry. Haiz, anyways we were desperate to get out of Toronto after the accident but Toronto wouldn't let us get out. We went up and down Bloor St, S-pa-dina Ave, St George St, Queen St W many times, looking for Lakeshore Blvd. But Mapquest actually was fooling us all along, so we had to check the map instead at a petrol station.
Finally we found comfort at Comfort Inn. Had salad for xmas eve dinner. Not a magical deep bowl one. We hate toronto.
25th Dec
Comfort breakfast at comfort hotel - cheese and ham scones, yoghurt and cereal (for Daffy!), cute hardboiled eggs (for me!) and Becca shooed away a Pakistani man for the internet. And yea we finally checked our NIE results (I got A+ for Ed Psych?!!!)
After Becca shoo-ed the guy away...
Went into Toronoto again to see Yonge Street. Daffy saw the hotdog she's been craving for three years but we didn't get to eat it! Aw. (It's not just ANY hotdog! It's a toronto street hotdog where you can add your own bacon bits, ketchup, mustard, onion, dills, pickles, etc! All for just $2!!) Drove along the quay then headed for dimsum on S-pa-dina. Walked for a long time in Chinatown looking for the restaurant. Satisfied our cravings for cheecheongfun, chicken feet but there was no char siew soh! =S We wanted to have Mr Zha Liang (Mr Chee Cheong Fun's half-brother) but didn't manage to in the end coz he was too busy.
DIM SUM!! Yum yum yum!!!!
Left Toronto happily. No more Bloor St etc! Woohoo! Dark and scary roads to Montreal but on one of the highways there were really pretty reflectors which made it look like an airport runway. Then we realised we were running out of fuel! The highway exits were all very far apart and we missed Exit 730. We exited at 738 but found a dark and closed station. Fuel meter was hovering at zero. Desperately and uncertainly we went up onto 750 and all was dark AGAIN. So we wanted to U turn and leave (and maybe run out of petrol along the way and shiver in the cold and cry and die) but we found a kiosk in the end! A miracle indeed as I was praying so hard "God just give us a station!" (Daffy: And I was praying that if 2 people or more come together to pray,You will answer prayers...) The kiosk is an old style one which doesn't accept credit cards and you need to manually pump. I whacked Daffy on the shoulder with Mr Focus' right arm. (daffy: See how much she loves me?? On Xmas somemore!)Relieved, we chilled there for a while, peeed, ate apples and cookies and the man manning the station probably thought we were mad.
Headed towards Montreal but had to stop at Cornwall coz of frozen roads. After stopping at every hotel to ask "What's your rate?" we finally settled for cosy First Canada hotel. Xmas dinner was trail mix and cookies and chips and chocolates (Vietnam duty not paid one somemore).
26th Dec
Boxing day is for boxing! Woke up to a WWF match where Shutch spastically tried to box. I just rolled over laughing! (shutch: wotever...)
Spastic shot in hotel toilet...
3 of us before leaving the hotel...
A nice swing outside the hotel... where Shutch wet her butt. Hee. It din freeze though... Haha!
Corn(wall) Shutch
Posing in the snow cos it's just so pretty!
Clearing the snow on the car... din know I was so serious! Hee.
We entered Montreal easily, left the car at the hostel (illegal parking again), went for kebab lunch which had yummy chilli. Montreal was FREEZING cold! (And I grabbed my yellow jacket to wear so that Shutch could look more like me. It does NOT look good!) Shopping on St Catherines St was crazy! I really liked this blue/brown Fila bag but daffy thinks blue/brown doesn't go. (daffy: Neither does black and brown!) Becca bought a pair of MNG jeans. Walked around on the snowy streets jumping over puddles (and landing in them frequently), resulting in wet socks and shoes.
Went to Old Montreal, saw pretty buildings pretty lights and expensive souvenir shops. Daffy found her gloves in one of the shops.
Jesus in the manger...
Shutch and pretty lights. K, pretty Shutch too. Hee.
Notre Dame cathedral's pretty but it was windy cold, chilly and freezing and Daffy couldn't find the street she wanted to look for (again). So we had tea instead at Tim Hortons. Daffy was crabby.
Went to Mont Royal which had nice small shops. Had dinner at an Italian restaurant - yummy salmon pizza and mandarin spinach salad. I ordered in French! Woohoo!! So proud of myself. (Shall give her a pat on the back. You know how when people slap you, you turn your other cheek to them for another slap?? *green*) Daffy was still crabby at dinner. Snowy night. Checked into hostel. Becca couldn't find the shower which was in our room so she walked around the whole hostel searching! Hee. I tried to talk to Shutch but she bo chapped me, she even bo chapped my post slip note! (shutch: which I didn't see!) Therefore I sadly went to sleep. Depressed. (shucth: Did I mention she was crabby the whole night? Hmm?)
Once again it was a night of illegal parking and Daffy woke up early next morn from a nightmare the car was towed away and she had to beg the guy to return us the car. So she was up early enough on the 27th to catch the sunrise...
27th Dec
And today we switched duty. It was Shutch's turn to be anti-social. Couldn't find the Eggly's breakfast place so ended up with cinnamon roll for breakfast. (daffy: EW) Drove to Biodome and illegally parked AGAIN! Haiz so ungodly =S But parking in montreal is exorbitant!! *whine*
Tropical rainforest dome: saw waterbabies (which made daffy think of the song 'Santa baby'...), spoonbills (which go 'No') and ibises (which go 'Yes'), blue macaws which looked like they dropped into Nippon blue paint. The Laurentian dome: saw 'wooden turtles' aka porcupines, rabbit-headed ducks, sea otters, no beavers *whine*, lynx, and lots of Atlantic fishes! (which made us hungry... haddock, sturgeon, salmon, halibut, trout, pollock, sting ray (with legs), sea bass(bears)). Saw ugly frogs, diving ducks, starfish (stuffy), sea cucumber. Atlantic dome: saw penguins.
Drove straight from Biodome onto Rue Viau because Daffy was distracted by the pretty roadside trees.
Pretty distraction: Rue Viau...
Almost had to use the highway to get back to St Catherines but in the end I navigated us back to Sherbrooke to get to St Denis. This's a street lined with restaurants and we found a small quaint cosy Italian place off the corner. Had veal with pasta, seafood pasta and Becca's char-mee (huge!). We gave our leftover subway tickets to the French waitress as tips. Hee.
Tim Hortons refused to sell Daffy her honey lemon tea (which methinks tastes like strepsils). Timbits sucked. Route 133 sucked. Everything sucked just because Daffy couldn't find her Tim Hortons' drive-thru honey lemon tea!!!! *daffy whines and kicks and throws tantrum* Otherwise the scenery was actually quite nice. I had to keep reminding her to go 93 South not NORTH coz "we don't want to go back to canada!!!"
Last chase of the sunset in Mr Focus...
3 of us in Mr Focus for the last nite...
Drive back to boston was actually the most pleasant and enjoyable of all the drives. Other than the fact that some navigator would go "wrong way"; "deer crossing"; "moose crossing" and scare me... to realise that she was just reading the signs off the road!! Daffy sped pretty fast. And she ped (short for pee-ed) pretty fast too. We covered more than 3/4 the journey in 4 hours. Many of the exits were dark and deserted and without hotels but we eventually found a Comfort Inn 11 min away from Boston.
Funny signs...
28th Dec
Drove into Boston after breakfast at hotel where we had waffles with maple syrup. We were early and had 1/4 tank of petrol so decided to stop at Faneuil Hall for some last minute shopping. That's when I got the red lobster for Daffy! (And she didn't lie when I asked her if she got anything! She cleverly directed the question away and I din probe. To think that I wondered why she had a sudden beer belly... -daffy)
Rushed to South Station to unload luggage but stopped at train station instead of bus station so we had to lug the luggage for some distance. Rushed back to return the car and there was a JAM! The guy just looked at Mr Focus who had turned from green to gray and issued us a receipt, with no news from the insurance agency about the accident. We ran 5 blocks in 15 minutes back to South Station just in time to catch the coach to NYC which took 5.5 hrs instead of 4 hrs.
Rush rush rush. To deposit luggage. To find airport shuttle. To fall down the stairs, throwing away my luggage, because there was NO escalator down only stairs. (daffy: I'm sorry I failed as her fort...) To Hersheys to buy chocs. To find dinner on broadway 6th and 9th avenue. NYC was crazily hectic. Ended up having chicken and ribs and potatoes and cream spinach (yucks - thank you daffy for finishing it) for dinner. Had pumpkin pie and pecan tart for dessert! Yum. Daffy thought cappucino foam was good for facial so she bought one for me to drink and for her to slurp the foam.
BBQ chicken
Pumpkin pie and pecan tart
In the end we took the subway instead of the airport shuttle. Met a rude assistant at the subway who sweared at us. Being the faithful navigator who'd been stressed out by Daffy throughout the trip, I was looking out to check that we were heading the right way until I saw a poster which said "No trains to JFK airport on this platform from 28-30 Dec". I freaked, drove us out of the train only to find the smallprint "from 10 am to 3pm". Duh. Nice subway guy got us back onto the subway. Phew.
Us on the skytrain... all relaxed. Finally.
Kiasu koreans at the airport got there 2 hours before flight to QUEUE for check in. We hung out at another of our favorite hangouts - the toilet - and I chucked my contact lens solution into the bin thinking it was the thrash on my other hand. hee.
29th Dec
LOOOOOONNNGGG flight back home. Here we are at Incheon airport, after a flight during which I sat on Daffy's head and Becca whacked the head with a banana, and red lobster was named Bibimbap! Yum. And Shutch sweared!! She went, "Bloody moose" at Mr Bib!! There was a scary foot next to me. A cute air stewardess served us nice sandwiches. And have you tried green tea porridge??? Eat it only if you're full please, so you can get hungrier.
Alrite, we've been hogging this for 3.5 hours. Photos when we get back. In less than 12 hours!!! Woohoo. Now we have 3 more hours of transit to go.........
Shutch amongst the stars...
Daffy amonst the stars...
Us on the travelator....
Us in the toilet... again. yes.
Now you know how we entertain ourselves during transit! Hee.
Got sms from Pengy early in the morn to check our NIE results; we didn't do so until much later! (see below)
We came out around noon for lunch around Central Park in a little pizzeria where I had spinach pizza and Daf had mushroom.
Shutch commented that she had seen a subway along the way, but we sillily headed in the opposite direction, pretending that we knew the way, obnoxious cos we believed that we couldn't get lost in NYC. We decided to give Central Park a miss cos it was cold and windy and it looked boring. However we entered this Conservatory Garden where we took some really nice photos of pretty trees and a pretty pixie and a petty monkey.
After that we started a long walk to find the subway, which was non-existent on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th avenue!!!! We walked through public housing, videoed squirrels and asked for directions at a laundromat before we finally found a subway at Lexington Avenue.
So effectively we took 2 hours to get to Grand Central Station where we got hungry again!!
We bought another pizza slice and a pumpkin pie from atas (?) pie factory. It's really yummy the pie you should really try it if you ever go America! (or if we succeed in trying to bake one someday.....) (Daffy: I love pumpkin pie!!) Then we headed for the Grand Central Market to drool over more wholesome foods... cheese, buffaro wings, seafood, pasta, blead, fluits, etc... We bought pesto tortellini, caesar salad (in exchange for the salad with a very hardboiled cute egg which I was craving for!!!) and a pretzel (choose cheddar cheese not nacho cheese next time) for dinner.
I got my first freshly brewed St. Arbucks! not-coffee-but-chai. (FINALLY Shutchie felt HOT!!!)
Geography of food??
Then began a subway madness. The trick is: get onto any train that arrives, get off at the next station and board another train (no need to think!!). The record: 7 trains just to get from 42nd to 59th Street! The ultimate: ending up at Queensboro station. ("Eh? Sure wrong lah! We are ABOVE ground level liao!" "Oh man... we crossed the bridge!!")
Relieved to get to 59th finally, we headed for Columbia Uni (116th st) station wanting to get groceries. I happily said, "That must have been the last boo-boo of the day!!" only to emerge from the station to find that the supermarket was not the right one! So we went into the subway AGAIN to 110th St where we bought blueberry waffles and honey. And we headed home.
Home had this microwave which works only when you stamp your feet standing in front of it. Countless stamping didn't work however so we had to use the oven instead. (Sidenote: waffles do NOT need to be deep fried! They just need to be toasted or put into the oven! Someone tell Shutch that, PLEASE!) We put the salad into a big bowl - so was it a big bowl of salad or a big salad bowl?? It was neverending; took us an hour to finish.
Our japalang dinner... which is prob one of the best meals we had! Hee.
A very nice evening when we sorted out our travel plans and I played with bubble wrap and also got pushed off the bed. Finally. Arghs.
20 Dec
Waffles for breakfast!! The big day when our adventure actually started. It was time to leave NYC but the subway went on strike! Buses too! We climbed up the Morningside Avenue stairs with luggage to find out about airport shuttle from Columbia Uni but it wasn't running! We used the internet to check for the airport shuttle, called Rebecca's home to find our her mobile number and then sms-ed her at the wrong number. (Guess who did that?!!) Taxis would've cost a big big bomb so we decided to walk - from 116th St to 42nd!! We fought along the way - in the middle of the street - over my luggage. Man. (Anyone ever realised how stubborn that woman is?!! - daffy)
Realised that NYC is actually not that big - we actually bummed into the new friends we made the other night. We also saw lots of disgusting pooodles - big, small, black, white. EWW! We took pathetic photos of ourselves. We saw Fox News, traffic jams, police, ambulance but we actually ended up at 42nd in 2 hours! Woohoo!
Our pathetic photo...
Dropped our bags, none of the public phones allowed us to call Becca.
We tried to decide what to eat, and decided 3 is the number. Guess what we had? PIZZA! (pls, someone tell daffy we will NOT have that in the NEW YEAR!) (Ok, i WANT KWAY CHAP, CHICKEN HOR FUN, SEAFOOD, THAI... - daffy) Daffy suddenly (stupidly) went "What's that?" and made me end up hugging a tall guy! (which she really had no regrets - daffy) We went to Food Emporium where Shutch (stupidly) commented that they sell kitchen ware instead of fresh foods.
Finally we met up with Becca and went down 38th St where there was nicer and cheaper pizza! 3 is NOT the number!! Rushed down to Macy's (but didn't go in) and Empire State Building (but didn't go up!) Then back to Port Authority where we hung out at a cafe (but didn't buy anything!) Then took the coach to Boston and we all slept like pigs onboard.
Empire state model...
Macy's...
As we were entering Boston we saw really nice stars in the sky, really clear Orion belt and even a 'milky way'. Boston's pretty compared to hectic NYC. Took a subway to Wellington station, where we argued with the Hostel guy who refused to pick us up (and refused to admit his mistake) but eventually he relented and picked us up. The room was lok-kok though.
Worst one of the trip! The gals couldn't sleep coz it was too cold (I was lucky to have chosen the most lok-kok bed which apparently was near the heater!)
21st Dec
Waited for an hour for the hostel guy to turn up again so we could check out. Pissed, we wrote a note and went out without checking out. We went to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market where we had nice wraps and clam chowder (yum!) for lunch and looked at souvenirs (check out the red lobster below). Quote of the day: "The trout, the whole trout and nothing but the trout. So help me cod."
Beer belly...
Red Lobster!! Ain't he cute?!!
Mongolian Shutch
Walked to Atlantic Avenue then to Chinatown, financial district and ended up at Coldstone Creamery!! The special icecream here is soft and eaten by mixing with your favourite nuts/chocs/toppings/fruits/anything!! Super YUMMMMMM! Let's make some on New Year's Eve!! =P
The various toppings...
Shutch and the yummy ice-cream!
Now you see it... now you don't!
Picked up the car - Mr Ford Focus!! (not Honda, nor a cool 2 door, nor a Toyota Camry.......) So off we went with me as the navigator (a very fine one indeed! Cos there are no "You are here" signs on the map... otherwise yeah, she is a rather fine one. She's here lah... I might get whacked if i dun sing to the tune. Hee.) and Daffy as the sole driver who couldn't be an aggressive American driver at first (still cun... ). Our first hour's drive saw us circling the garage where we picked up the car three times in order to get into Everett!! The second time we came back to Boston we didn't even realise it was Boston....
In Everett we made countless rounds at the roundabout because it was so confusing! And there wasn't enough time to think properly... so after we exhausted ALL options, we finally got to the hostel. Then we couldn't unlock the car! (And I discovered why later... cos you are supposed to turn the key clockwise! So silly! Heh. - Daffy) Daffy was so blur she almost deposited the car key into the box for the hostel room.
Through precise planning (ha ha) the luggages fit really nicely into the boot of Mr Focus. Getting out of Everett was a challenge coz we didn't understand the directions given by the Garage guy. Eventually we understood it and could get ourselves some lunch at Panera bread - yummy bagels!
Through more precise planning (ho ho) we arrived at Vermont ski lodge at 8:30pm instead of the estimated 8pm. Driving on the mountain roads were SCARY! But I fell asleep anyways coz it's so dark there was nothing for the navigator to see. (What a mighty fine navigator she is! = daffy ) As a result lonely Daffy saw 'big monsters' along the way which were actually just chimneys and quarries. We took a 91 South turn instead of 91 North so we turned into a road of residences before turning back to ask for directions. Daffy the bladder-full duck kept wanting to pee. Played Casting Crowns CD for like 6 times. The roads were really dark and windy at points and single lane! We were tailgated for quite a while, and Daffy was really stressed. Eight miles to Snowlodge felt really long, and it soon started snowing.
Finally we arrived only to realise our ski package didn't include equipment rental. We had our first junk meal - potato chips and bagels - for dinner. Our room was near the hotel entrance whose door goes 'Brrrrr' whenever it opens and closes. Nice start. Oh and we were apparently so high up there was no phone reception. Actually we all collapsed even before eating and showering. Daffy especially didn't want to shower (how did we guess?). I commented that green Mr Focus would probably be white the next day...
22nd Dec
Carbo loaded breakfast - toasted bagels, English muffins (finally!), cream cheese, muffins, hot chocolate. Headed for the ski area to rent equipment - skis for Becca and myself and snowboard for the duck.
Snowboarding is cool! (Esp the guys who snowboard! Hee.)
Shutch and her skis...
Had fun on the gentle slope so decided to go for more fun on the super steep and high slope. Took the neverending lift up into a blizzard (it was THAT cold and windy!)
Shutch in the blizzard at the top of the mountain...
Yaya papaya me said, "You go first, see you down there!" So Daffy took off first, as she was less experienced with the braking. Daffy: But when I arrived at the bottom, I looked around and couldn;t see any Shutch on skis, so I assumed that she was back at the beginner slope. But when I returned to look for Beccam Shutch as nowhere to be seen! So I went up onto the gentle slope to play again. But I got really frantic when I really saw no Shutch and it wasn't cos of my eyesight! So I rushed to the bottom of the steep slope and strained my eyes searching for a very slow skier NAVIGATING her way through the gradient. I was almost tempted to take the long long lift up again, but was worried that she would arrive at the bottom soon. So I was in a real dilemma. With my heart beating fast and cold sweat (it is COLD what!)emerging, I finally saw someone really skiing down SLOWLY, amongst those really cool snowboarders. I tell you, I practically could have jumped for joy... if I wasn't on my snowboard! But I was really really relieved.... I kinda regret not going after her so that I could have at least looked out for her when she braked (breaked) and lost her skis. But then again, we both din know what to expect... So the brave duck went up the steep slope again three more times whilst I had developed a phobia so refused to go.
At the bottom of the big slope...
When you cun brake, fall.
After all the skiing and boarding we went to buy cheap water and a big bag of apples (for 99 cents!) at Shaw's supermarket. Then headed for dinner at this place called Silo's whose Soprano night saw buffaro wings going at 20cents per piece! We were greeted by a rude waitress who demanded our IDs which we didn't have. So Daffy the one craving for wings made a mad rush back to the hotel to get passports; fortunately it's close by (so close that she decided later she can DRINK and drive back! woohoo). We got 30 wings and 4 beers (not 4 wings and 30 beers!) in the end. Three happy girls went back to hotel, drunk (see daffy below!) and muscles aching...
23rd Dec
Decided to leave skiing and boarding behind so we won't end up driving in the dark too much. Left for Niagara in the morning. Stopped by for hot chocolate from a nice European cafe - the best we had on the trip! Along the way we passed 'Amsterdam', 'Rome', 'Poland', 'Liverpool', 'Waterloo', 'Geneva', 'Lyon', 'Manchester', 'Pembroke', 'Hamburg'. WOW!
"We'll be coming down the mountain as we come..."
Chasing the sun as it sets... this is an artistic photo by Miss Navigator... =)
At the pee place... which is a nice European cafe.... we took shots with Mr Focus.
Mr Focus is atas. Ate the most expensive petrol - 244 instead of 222! For the rest of the trip, bladderfull Daffy made Macdonalds become our favorite pee-stop place. We'd arrived at Niagara a day before the planned arrival so had to make changes to our hotel booking. But Daffy was irritated she couldn't find her cheap motel on Lundy Lane (and have to pay parking at our hotel when the carpark was EMPTY?!). Had dinner at Spicy Olive Bar and Grill (a very satisfying pasta dinner! rigatoni primavera with yummy artichokes and peppers, baked eggplant and breaded veal with pasta!)
It was the last night of the Christmas Fireworks at Niagara, supposed to take place at 9pm. But Daffy went out looking for her Lundy Lane (when all along I was thinking she went to make phone calls so started getting worried when she took more than half an hr to call!) and came back late so we missed the fireworks. (I'm sorry...) Went to see Festival of Lights instead and drove through without paying coz we weren't impressed. (Typical Singaporeans...)
But they do look fake rite?!!
TV sucked. We had a bad night. No "Will and Grace" and "Friends" for company... And yaya papaya Shutch underestimated the cold... changed into spaghetti straps to sleep somemore leh! Who in the world brings spag tops to winter places? (Ans: Shutch.) Guess what? She changed back into NORMAL attire in the middle of the nite.
24th Dec
A shot in the hotel. Cool hair huh? =)
Pancakes and waffle (and MAPLE SYRUP!!) for breakfast! (coz the buffet places were closed... xmas sia) For first time on the trip I was high in the morning on coffee (yay!) and sugar! (daffy: Poor me...) Dropped by a canyon with nicely stratified rocks.
Parking obnoxiously...
Canyon with stratified rocks...
Then headed for Factory outlet for shopping! Daffy went "Please don't let me see anything".
I tried on some funky boots which were really expensive but the nice and helpful saleslady was still so polite! Canadian service is a million times better than American! Becca and I each bought a nice purple handbag from Esprit (it's not frivolous! Daffy: Yar right! Purple and small... what do you think??). I bought a pair of jeans from Levi's (dug out by Becca). Nike store had really nice but still ex stuff. Loved the pink/gray jacket below so much we each donned it. Daffy found the jumper she bought three years ago and was disappointed she couldn't get anything else this time round...
We made another illegal parking to go to the Falls; getting the hang of it for sure. Somehow all the tourists we met CANNOT take photos for nuts so none of our threesome picts at the Falls were nice =S We had fun still with snowballs! Then built a small ugly little snowman but the photo is pretty.
Shutch and falls...
Horseshoe falls
Preparing to throw them at Shutch... =)
Ugly snowman... with sweets as eyes.
Wanted to take a Forrest Gump photo but Daffy kept running off before her timer finished so it took 5 takes before we got it right. The number WAS 5. Her trousers were muddy at the end.
Big Hersheys store where we got a chocolate shake which turned out like icecream.... and posed with the big hershey's bar. Went into the hotel to find a toilet but ended up taking photos with the xmas tree, chandelier and the pretty staircase.
Shutch and BIG Hershey's bar.
Xmas tree...
Went to see Whirlpool but by then it was too dark! So we started on our adventure to Toronto. It was a good drive to Toronto, until we got INTO Toronto. Map-less we went round in circles in the city and I was even dropped off for 10 min to stand in the cold analysing the campus map and not being able to find the dodgy street we were trying to find. (Can you see how much daffy likes torturing me?? =S) Yes the dodgy street was where the dodgy and disgusting hostel we booked was located. (Daffy: So since the princess commented, we tried to find alternatives for better accomodation.)
Drove out to Spadina Av/College St junction and well, the accident took place. Knocked headon with a Toyota Camry. Thank God only the camry's paint was scraped and strong Mr Focus was unscathed! The people on the cars were shaken though, especially when we saw that there were actually two infants in the back of the camry. Haiz, anyways we were desperate to get out of Toronto after the accident but Toronto wouldn't let us get out. We went up and down Bloor St, S-pa-dina Ave, St George St, Queen St W many times, looking for Lakeshore Blvd. But Mapquest actually was fooling us all along, so we had to check the map instead at a petrol station.
Finally we found comfort at Comfort Inn. Had salad for xmas eve dinner. Not a magical deep bowl one. We hate toronto.
25th Dec
Comfort breakfast at comfort hotel - cheese and ham scones, yoghurt and cereal (for Daffy!), cute hardboiled eggs (for me!) and Becca shooed away a Pakistani man for the internet. And yea we finally checked our NIE results (I got A+ for Ed Psych?!!!)
After Becca shoo-ed the guy away...
Went into Toronoto again to see Yonge Street. Daffy saw the hotdog she's been craving for three years but we didn't get to eat it! Aw. (It's not just ANY hotdog! It's a toronto street hotdog where you can add your own bacon bits, ketchup, mustard, onion, dills, pickles, etc! All for just $2!!) Drove along the quay then headed for dimsum on S-pa-dina. Walked for a long time in Chinatown looking for the restaurant. Satisfied our cravings for cheecheongfun, chicken feet but there was no char siew soh! =S We wanted to have Mr Zha Liang (Mr Chee Cheong Fun's half-brother) but didn't manage to in the end coz he was too busy.
DIM SUM!! Yum yum yum!!!!
Left Toronto happily. No more Bloor St etc! Woohoo! Dark and scary roads to Montreal but on one of the highways there were really pretty reflectors which made it look like an airport runway. Then we realised we were running out of fuel! The highway exits were all very far apart and we missed Exit 730. We exited at 738 but found a dark and closed station. Fuel meter was hovering at zero. Desperately and uncertainly we went up onto 750 and all was dark AGAIN. So we wanted to U turn and leave (and maybe run out of petrol along the way and shiver in the cold and cry and die) but we found a kiosk in the end! A miracle indeed as I was praying so hard "God just give us a station!" (Daffy: And I was praying that if 2 people or more come together to pray,You will answer prayers...) The kiosk is an old style one which doesn't accept credit cards and you need to manually pump. I whacked Daffy on the shoulder with Mr Focus' right arm. (daffy: See how much she loves me?? On Xmas somemore!)Relieved, we chilled there for a while, peeed, ate apples and cookies and the man manning the station probably thought we were mad.
Headed towards Montreal but had to stop at Cornwall coz of frozen roads. After stopping at every hotel to ask "What's your rate?" we finally settled for cosy First Canada hotel. Xmas dinner was trail mix and cookies and chips and chocolates (Vietnam duty not paid one somemore).
26th Dec
Boxing day is for boxing! Woke up to a WWF match where Shutch spastically tried to box. I just rolled over laughing! (shutch: wotever...)
Spastic shot in hotel toilet...
3 of us before leaving the hotel...
A nice swing outside the hotel... where Shutch wet her butt. Hee. It din freeze though... Haha!
Corn(wall) Shutch
Posing in the snow cos it's just so pretty!
Clearing the snow on the car... din know I was so serious! Hee.
We entered Montreal easily, left the car at the hostel (illegal parking again), went for kebab lunch which had yummy chilli. Montreal was FREEZING cold! (And I grabbed my yellow jacket to wear so that Shutch could look more like me. It does NOT look good!) Shopping on St Catherines St was crazy! I really liked this blue/brown Fila bag but daffy thinks blue/brown doesn't go. (daffy: Neither does black and brown!) Becca bought a pair of MNG jeans. Walked around on the snowy streets jumping over puddles (and landing in them frequently), resulting in wet socks and shoes.
Went to Old Montreal, saw pretty buildings pretty lights and expensive souvenir shops. Daffy found her gloves in one of the shops.
Jesus in the manger...
Shutch and pretty lights. K, pretty Shutch too. Hee.
Notre Dame cathedral's pretty but it was windy cold, chilly and freezing and Daffy couldn't find the street she wanted to look for (again). So we had tea instead at Tim Hortons. Daffy was crabby.
Went to Mont Royal which had nice small shops. Had dinner at an Italian restaurant - yummy salmon pizza and mandarin spinach salad. I ordered in French! Woohoo!! So proud of myself. (Shall give her a pat on the back. You know how when people slap you, you turn your other cheek to them for another slap?? *green*) Daffy was still crabby at dinner. Snowy night. Checked into hostel. Becca couldn't find the shower which was in our room so she walked around the whole hostel searching! Hee. I tried to talk to Shutch but she bo chapped me, she even bo chapped my post slip note! (shutch: which I didn't see!) Therefore I sadly went to sleep. Depressed. (shucth: Did I mention she was crabby the whole night? Hmm?)
Once again it was a night of illegal parking and Daffy woke up early next morn from a nightmare the car was towed away and she had to beg the guy to return us the car. So she was up early enough on the 27th to catch the sunrise...
27th Dec
And today we switched duty. It was Shutch's turn to be anti-social. Couldn't find the Eggly's breakfast place so ended up with cinnamon roll for breakfast. (daffy: EW) Drove to Biodome and illegally parked AGAIN! Haiz so ungodly =S But parking in montreal is exorbitant!! *whine*
Tropical rainforest dome: saw waterbabies (which made daffy think of the song 'Santa baby'...), spoonbills (which go 'No') and ibises (which go 'Yes'), blue macaws which looked like they dropped into Nippon blue paint. The Laurentian dome: saw 'wooden turtles' aka porcupines, rabbit-headed ducks, sea otters, no beavers *whine*, lynx, and lots of Atlantic fishes! (which made us hungry... haddock, sturgeon, salmon, halibut, trout, pollock, sting ray (with legs), sea bass(bears)). Saw ugly frogs, diving ducks, starfish (stuffy), sea cucumber. Atlantic dome: saw penguins.
Drove straight from Biodome onto Rue Viau because Daffy was distracted by the pretty roadside trees.
Pretty distraction: Rue Viau...
Almost had to use the highway to get back to St Catherines but in the end I navigated us back to Sherbrooke to get to St Denis. This's a street lined with restaurants and we found a small quaint cosy Italian place off the corner. Had veal with pasta, seafood pasta and Becca's char-mee (huge!). We gave our leftover subway tickets to the French waitress as tips. Hee.
Tim Hortons refused to sell Daffy her honey lemon tea (which methinks tastes like strepsils). Timbits sucked. Route 133 sucked. Everything sucked just because Daffy couldn't find her Tim Hortons' drive-thru honey lemon tea!!!! *daffy whines and kicks and throws tantrum* Otherwise the scenery was actually quite nice. I had to keep reminding her to go 93 South not NORTH coz "we don't want to go back to canada!!!"
Last chase of the sunset in Mr Focus...
3 of us in Mr Focus for the last nite...
Drive back to boston was actually the most pleasant and enjoyable of all the drives. Other than the fact that some navigator would go "wrong way"; "deer crossing"; "moose crossing" and scare me... to realise that she was just reading the signs off the road!! Daffy sped pretty fast. And she ped (short for pee-ed) pretty fast too. We covered more than 3/4 the journey in 4 hours. Many of the exits were dark and deserted and without hotels but we eventually found a Comfort Inn 11 min away from Boston.
Funny signs...
28th Dec
Drove into Boston after breakfast at hotel where we had waffles with maple syrup. We were early and had 1/4 tank of petrol so decided to stop at Faneuil Hall for some last minute shopping. That's when I got the red lobster for Daffy! (And she didn't lie when I asked her if she got anything! She cleverly directed the question away and I din probe. To think that I wondered why she had a sudden beer belly... -daffy)
Rushed to South Station to unload luggage but stopped at train station instead of bus station so we had to lug the luggage for some distance. Rushed back to return the car and there was a JAM! The guy just looked at Mr Focus who had turned from green to gray and issued us a receipt, with no news from the insurance agency about the accident. We ran 5 blocks in 15 minutes back to South Station just in time to catch the coach to NYC which took 5.5 hrs instead of 4 hrs.
Rush rush rush. To deposit luggage. To find airport shuttle. To fall down the stairs, throwing away my luggage, because there was NO escalator down only stairs. (daffy: I'm sorry I failed as her fort...) To Hersheys to buy chocs. To find dinner on broadway 6th and 9th avenue. NYC was crazily hectic. Ended up having chicken and ribs and potatoes and cream spinach (yucks - thank you daffy for finishing it) for dinner. Had pumpkin pie and pecan tart for dessert! Yum. Daffy thought cappucino foam was good for facial so she bought one for me to drink and for her to slurp the foam.
BBQ chicken
Pumpkin pie and pecan tart
In the end we took the subway instead of the airport shuttle. Met a rude assistant at the subway who sweared at us. Being the faithful navigator who'd been stressed out by Daffy throughout the trip, I was looking out to check that we were heading the right way until I saw a poster which said "No trains to JFK airport on this platform from 28-30 Dec". I freaked, drove us out of the train only to find the smallprint "from 10 am to 3pm". Duh. Nice subway guy got us back onto the subway. Phew.
Us on the skytrain... all relaxed. Finally.
Kiasu koreans at the airport got there 2 hours before flight to QUEUE for check in. We hung out at another of our favorite hangouts - the toilet - and I chucked my contact lens solution into the bin thinking it was the thrash on my other hand. hee.
29th Dec
LOOOOOONNNGGG flight back home. Here we are at Incheon airport, after a flight during which I sat on Daffy's head and Becca whacked the head with a banana, and red lobster was named Bibimbap! Yum. And Shutch sweared!! She went, "Bloody moose" at Mr Bib!! There was a scary foot next to me. A cute air stewardess served us nice sandwiches. And have you tried green tea porridge??? Eat it only if you're full please, so you can get hungrier.
Alrite, we've been hogging this for 3.5 hours. Photos when we get back. In less than 12 hours!!! Woohoo. Now we have 3 more hours of transit to go.........
Shutch amongst the stars...
Daffy amonst the stars...
Us on the travelator....
Us in the toilet... again. yes.
Now you know how we entertain ourselves during transit! Hee.
