Day1-3

Hello everybody, my name is Barbarella Amelikan! this blog is here to update u on my eggciting life in the US!!

Day 1
day one is actually 2 days combined into one. I depart from singapore at 9.40am on the 19th, but arrive in US at1pm on the 19th as well - i gain a day! wow. if ever i can profit from this arbitrage it will be cool.
My comments about SIA flight attendance
- they spilled orange juice on me and my pillow and didnt give me a new pillow
- they banged the trolley against other pple's chairs, so clumsily and apologised awkwardly
- did i forget to mention? after spilling the orange juice, they didnt give me a replacement cup of juice.
- the shows are terrible - who watches Big Soldier, or Iron Man 2, or Shrek forever after? in the end i switched to gossip girls which bored me after a while i decided to read a book. and that didnt last long either.

- transit at Tokyo. which began the seemingly irritating experience. so i alighted from the train for 2 hours in the airport. and re-boarded the same plane and seat. and the air stewardess keep speaking to me in japanese which somehow sounded pretty annoying (im really sorry if you're a jap, i mean no offence here :S). and the volume of the announcements were so loud i almost went deaf. and there were so much turbulence and it so happened while i was in the toilet i got thrown from left to right in the cubicle. and then i walked back to my seat half falling half being thrown left and right and banging into pple who returned me with stares - i tot i was going to die. haha.
- and worst still - the SAME SHOWS are on the list as the flight from singapore-tokyo. so i watched FIGHT SCIENCE tht gave some useful tips on self-defence which i tot would come in real handy in US. haha i tried some moves in my seat - it was so cool (everyone else were sleeping_) the kid beside me was probably staring at me though :p (did i mention that now when im walking home and its getting dark, i'd rehearse the moves in my head, ready to take on anybody stupidly?. that episode really inked in my head.
- last announcement was tat they cant stop the plane cos the engine cant be switched off or smth - or at least that was what i heard. :S

18hours in total. it's no joke ok. i've come to the conclusion i hate taking aeroplanes. DAMN i used to love it cos the movies were great and the service was high and the flight was nice. now.. SIA's standard prob dropped, its no wonder we're losing our lead as the No.1 airport wadever rankings. As always, however, looking at the pretty kebaya or wadever u call that - the dress that singapore airline stewardess wear, and their neatly and TIGHTLY bun up stylo hairdo always brings a warm smile to your face :D

shuttle bus to long beach
stopped at my host place - she's hosting me for 3 nights
ddamn big bed... cosy.
went out for a walk in the neighboourhood, cool and breezy.
bought a pre-paid card.

got a sunburn. the sun here is really strong and terrible. my face was painful to touch. and i only spent like 1h in the sun walking.

Day 2
waited 45min for the damn public bus, which cost US$1.25 flat fee. (and we complain when singapore moved to charge our fares through a "pay by distance" system) - so even if i stopped for 4 stops, or 10 stops, its the same. i still havent decided which system i prefer.

made my student matriculation/ID card. = free bus fares in long beach!!! woopeedoo!!! singapore should do that too - free bus fares for students/ Lets say your school is in pasir ris, so free bus rides within pasir ris. So for NUS peeps, maybe free bus rides in clementi, holland, and west coast. how bout that? (actually i dunno where NUS is exactly eh...)

i got really lost afterwards. took another bus that brought me to belmont Shore. walked the entire afternoon i prob burnt off my entire lunch. found a cinema and watched inception - for US$10.95. not cheap u know...

did i forget to mention that i can never order a full meal in US. things like carls junior, a pizzza etc? cos i had such a hard time finishing the food i feel like a brat for wasting food. and the size of our large coke in singapore is prob the size of small coke here in US. and seeing big size pple gulp down burgers scares me into eating.

Major sun burn. my face was raw. must.remember.to.put.sunblock.tmr.

Day 3
Moisturizer +sunblock+sunglasses = good to go!
ok the most happy day i've been since coming to US. Think of long beach as something like Sentosa. nothing to see and do much other than the beach and a few shops here and there. WOrst, the pple dunno nothing. when i asked for directions, 10/10 pple don't know. cos pple here DRIVE. cos the public transport system suck, and no taxis are in sight.

there wasnt really much to do here, hence my decision to go to LA!

LOS ANGELES here i come! took a metroline. and in the cabin, all were black. i was so freaking scared. it helps to put on sunglasses, so u dun get accused of staring. one lady who is an ex-marine nudged me while i was actually dozing off with my sunglasses on - so it proves that she couldnt tell if i was staring or sleeping or wadever. she asked me for some lose coins. omg scared the hell out of me she looked so super duper strong she could knock me out in one punch,. i feel like a midget. but she was nice and polite and all dat...
then the bus jammed break, i flew and banged into another black man. he turned around and stared at me. i apologised PROFUSELY and meekly he replied in a very sweet voice "it's alrght.. it's alright... here, hold on to this handrail" PHEW. they are actually pretty nice pple.

alighted at the Financial district. OMGAWD can u believe how i feel at home in LA. i finally felt i was haivng fun and holidaying and cool. seeing many many tall buildings, so many pple who are very helpful in giving directions (not like long beach where pple know nothin about public transport, and dun even know what is the number to dial if they need a cab), i feel that help is present. another black lady offered to help me while i was frowning at the map i was holding. sweet :)
ok.. so trying to collect my car was another exciting experience.

first i couldnt find the entrance. i loitered around the car park building, and a policeman walked to me and demanded wad i was doin there. he said i needed a pass to get in. scolded me for not having a pass, and instructed me to be there on monday to make a pass. and when i tried to interrupt him sayin im just here to collect a car, he scolded me again to listen to him "no no young lady you listen to me" - he was also black you know, so i just shut my mouth the next 5 min and looked at him with respect and honour and listened intently. and his voice toned down to a more approachable and pleasant one. and then he let me in with his own access card.

the car was nice. i couldnt start the engine after trying for 45min. called the tow service, who took 45min to come cos it was a jam. this young black punk was cool. he helped me quite a bit.. seeing how helpless i was (i was really helpless!!!). no oil. one big pool of oil underneath the car which leaked. no gas. dunno how to open the gas door. the car alarm blasted my eardrums. took 1hour for him to do everything. i asked him to lead me to the gas station. aand he kindly agreed. he helped me fill up oil, pump gas, and check the water level. he said if his boss see him he's going to get fired cos it wasnt part of his job scope ha. tipped him for jumpstartng the engine for the 3rd time (by right every time need to charge 75). but he charged me once only. drove from los angeles to long beach, which was sooooooooo COOOLLL.

My host was so amazed at the car. she test drive it and said it was really bad. i need to repair it or sell it. bleah.

Thank you God, for keeping me safe and sound, under your mighty mighty wings. that even potential dangers and seemingly hopeless situation, you've turned it into an experience for me to learn independence, to learn reponsibility about getting a car (makes me never wanna get a car anymore), learning how to work with pple from all background, races, colour, and about respect, learning about other cultures, learning how to get around with a pre-paid card that seems to aways run out of money, learning to interact with pple and carry myself accordingly to Your glory & shine.

tmr, shall be another day for your blessings to manifest :)
i'm moving out tmr... to a motel. cos the host can only host me for 3 nights.



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this is Barbarella Amelikan signing off. Please visit this website again for more useless information :)