[Posted on 21Aug2016]
[This draft has been sitting around for a long time, finally had the time to post it!]
YASSSSSS I AM FINALLY STEPPED FOOT ON THE SOILS OF AMERICA!!!
One of my travel goals checked! I wonder when I could find the companionship and courage to walk into Russia and South Africa... :O Okayyy 'nuff said, I'll let the photos do most of the talking :D
14-22May2016
Day1
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| FINALLY. Have been waiting for this dayyy. Transit at Taipei! |
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| Flight was delayed and took a while to take off :o |
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Felt quite dumb 'cause I've been trying to find the controller LOLL
only to find that it's just touch screen -.- |
The selection of movies onboard is seriously... TOO LITTLE. 36 hours to and fro and I can easily finish them all D: missing SQ's entertainment!
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| Not really that fantastic but still passable~ |
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| Landed at taipei! |
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| Taiwan airport has quite a lot of cute stuffs and this is one of it! x33 |
The transit gate has no queue, which is a good thing. Just that there's seriously nobody infront of me so I had to finish one whole bottle of water in like literally 10secs =.=
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| Waiting got cut short by an hour since the previous flight was late |
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The aerial night view is just awesomeee. Wish I had my DS though. Pardon for the
bad quality |
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After almost 18hours of torture onboard, I'm officially in north americaaa. Reminded me
of my flight when I landed in london last year :o |
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UP express train from airport to union. Took a while for me to locate
the train at level 2 |
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| View of CN tower at night! |
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| Super dubious mac&cheese which I still finished in the end hahahaha |
Fell asleep shortly after thanks to the so yeaaaa not much of jetlag hahah
Day2
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Wanted to gym but nahhh spent too much time deciding on the route
and such lol so we just visit it for like 5minutes xP |
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| Decided to have brunch here with the true blue canadian hahaha |
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| Eggs ben with home fries! Price wise about the same as typical brunch, just that there's a need for tips on top of the bill. Didn't know home fries is just potatoes chopped up #newthinglearnt |
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New weds taking photos at the St. Lawrence Market! One of the places that I
didn't have time to go :o But apparently it's an iconic place for Toronto!
The bride must be shivering LOL |
Walked to Fido to get my prepaid sim and it took almost an hour to set it up?!?! 'Cause the data doesn't work zzz But I guess there's not much to expect from western countries since they are sooo chill with everything. The salesgirl was probably quite frustrated with us as well lol. The guy is just... inexperienced??? Le sigh.
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| Despite the long wait we still managed to reach here at 1! Meet Juliaaaa :D |
Just some photos from the aquarium below you can skip if you aren't a 'fishy' person hahaha
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| First time seeing a fish lie on its side??? I thought it was dead sia |
Bumped into the time whereby the diver is cleaning the rocks. He even went to pet a stingray for us to see lol.
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| Cuteeee turtleee! |
Somehow we are both attracted to the cute face that the stingray has so we kept spamming hahahaha but they were toooo fast.
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| It's quite cool that they even showed the water tanks :O |
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zen
I can look at this all day |
It actually snowed a little when we exit the aquarium. Weather's crazy.
Somehow the prepaid just sux and my data still isn't working. Was lucky to still have Julia with me 'cause she settled it all! The operator was speaking in french omggg like seriously?!?! Then they managed to activate my credit. In conclusion, the staff we met was just...inexperienced lol. So the girl had to run off for dinner and I was left alone to roam the place.
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| The enormous Union Station |
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| Walked like about 2km+ and yesss finally found the shopping mall in town |
Sis helped to book the tour for tomorrow and I realised only at night that they actually don't do pick up at toronto...which means it's a gone case since I won't be able to reach Niagara Falls at 830 in the morning for the 9am tour. Wanted to change the timing but they aren't responding to emails and I don't have credit to call out although it is TOLL-FREE. Whyyyy? End up having to rush back to the hotel to make a call at 750pm (since it closes at 8) but guess what? "Sorry we are closed now"......
Day3
GUESS WHERE I'M GOING?!?!?! NIAGARAAAAA. Forever looking at photos and now I'm gonna look at the real thing yayyy.
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| Walk quite a bit to find this ulu and old looking coach terminal. Feels like the terminal in London |
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Waiting is the most boring part.
Think I look a bit like Li here LOL |
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Nice familiarity there hahaha since a long time I took megabus, still the cheapest option! Paid
CAD$39 for return trip to niagara |
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| Favourite cafe in canada |
The ride to niagara took about 2hrs+ and I was so hopeful that there would be food around the bus terminal but nopes. Feels like the time I'm stranded at Prague once again zzz the coach terminal was surrounded by hotels and I was super early for my tour. Ate this and was still famished. Thank god there were VENDING MACHINE IN THE TERMINAL. Yes people, please pack a lot of food if you're gonna be early and camping at the coach terminal lolol. But there's a Tim Hortons at Niagara falls so no worries. It's just the terminal...
Was so paranoid thinking that my tour guide wouldn't appear but he was just late. Nice guy, named Dustin. Chatted a bit before an old couple boarded the van. STM strucks and I forgot the lady's name D: but she was really nice! Proceeded to another place and a young couple boarded the van. Okay, this is when it gets awkward :\ but was glad that the old lady kept talking to me hehe. If the two couples were young I think I'll just be an awkward turtle the whole day lol.
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| Was once a powerhouse. Now in the process of changing to a museum |
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| And we reacheddd! |
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| Ah rainbowww x333 |
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| Niagara falls from the top |
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| Weird looking scenic tree in the middle of nowhere |
Went to the underground viewing deck first to see niagara up close. The wokers were playing around with us and told us that their ponchos ran out and the old lady was kindda worried LOL
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| And this is why you need poncho lol. The force is so huge and water was literally splashing everywhere. If you noticed, my screen already went misty with droplets of water. Wouldn't know how to take picture without the trusty gopro x3 the old lady was even using her ipad lol |
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| Managed to capture her in this photo hahahah |
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| Trying to get a dry shot |
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| It's just soooo prettayee. Love the colour that the water reflects. |
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| This is the american falls. Not as majestic but still quite nice. You wouldn't get to see it if you were to visit next year 'cause they are shutting down for maintenance and the view gonna be so different. |
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| Postcard photo-worthy? hahahaha |
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| Yeash we are going onto the hornblower!!! (fisherman boat) |
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| Weather was really nice! |
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| Rainbow yayyy |
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| Too lazy to edit photos but this is another nice shot if processed properly |
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| The young couple offered to help me take photo since I was all by myself so why not hees. Literally trying to hide in the boat after this picture lol the water is too much it feels like you are constantly being slapped by someone hahaha. Mind you that's more than 6 million cubic feet of water coming down per minute omg. And see that knot there below the poncho? It's a brilliant idea to stop it from flipping upwards like the person in the background lol |
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| Couldn't get enough of the rainbows |
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| Yes, soaked |
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| Another shot with the american falls. |
Went over to look at other places around the falls and saw this cable-car structure that links toronto to america. Claimed to be quite safe lolol
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| Power generators |
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| Flower clock! Some idiot actually went one round around the clock sitting on the minute hand lol #toofree the wind was too strong so we couldn't get off to take a pic :( |
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| Skylon tower. Nothing much actually, except that you can see the falls like how you see it on the helicopter |
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| Which is pretty cool 'cause I could finally see the horseshoe shape |
Time flew too fast and it's time to head back. Was so thankful that it didn't rain till on the way to skylon, but the rain stopped shortly after anyways. Hugged farewell and decided to take a photo with the guide hehehe
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| Okay weird smile but whatever, since it's the only photo lol |
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| And I had to wait for the bus A.G.A.I.N |
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| #childhood |
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| Was expecting megabus to be here but there's still no sight of it then I realised something was wrong since the time's gonna be out. Walked out and realised that this is the bus lol |
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| Sis gave me a little shock but since she could text me, it prolly means that nothing serious happened. Comfort myself with some good all beef hotdog x3 was cheap too. CAD$3.50 for this and the toppings are self-service. Regretted putting the hot sauce it was so much more spicier than tobasco |
Day4
Last official day in Toronto so I decided to visit the gym~~
Couldn't get past this door with my card zzz and when I thought that only my sis' card can access the gym, I realised I couldn't even get back to my room. So I went to the check-in counter without any identification and took a long time to prove that I was staying in that hotel room 'cause sis was in meeting -.- The counter person was looking at me as though I'm a liar when I gave the wrong email address T,T never put any card with magnetic strip with your phone mannnn. Neverrrr
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| In my defence I ran more than this!! But somehow the system keep restarting... |
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| Indoor swimming pool! Wanted to come back to swim but was just too tired hahaha |
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| First and Last time here so I just had to hahaha the weights are all in super good condition! |
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| FINALLYYY *screaaaams* |
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| Pull pork poutine medium size. It costs me around CAD$8? Regretted the size 'cause I could only finish half and I started feeling gelat |
So in order to not waste money on transport, I've decided to WALK to ROM. And since UoT is on the way... hehehe
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| Took a long time taking this with no photobombers ^^ |
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| Somehow there's trinity college everywhere? hahah |
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| "A city within a park".. interesting |
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| OMG YELLOW SCHOOL BUSSS x333 |
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| After a long walk...tadaaaa Royal Ontario Museum |
Too bad I don't have a canadian student pass :( if not I could have gone in for free!
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| First to greet |
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| Elephant specimen with only one trunk ._. |
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| Did this fish die of shock? xD |
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| Feels like autumn~ |
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| 'cause you can always selfie a scenic photo hahaha |
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| End result! Totally had to idea what i was doing ._. |
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| Sorry, random pic, but this guy's drawing was fascinating!! |
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| Omg they actually provide stools for people?? I was still thinking why the artists all brought a similar stool oops |
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| Dinosaurs are still the fascinating ones hehe |
Walked the whole way back again and somehow or rather I actually took a detour..? Conclusion is that I nearly died walking back hahaha. Had to stop by Eaton Centre to have my dinner.
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| Can't believe I'm ordering this because I simply miss asian food!! |
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| If they had this in Vivo, yknow where all the Pokemon Go players would be |
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| Quick pic of the tower which I didn't manage to get up to |
Day 5
Last morning in Toronto! So my sis and I decided to bike along the harbour! Superb view and the skies and waters are so clearrr. A sunny and nice day to bike albeit the cold weather.
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| Squirrel was too cute so here's a photo hehe |
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| The bike was sure heavy... |
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| Gotchaa |
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| #SApride |
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Failed attempts with gopro and realised phone cam
worked better lol |
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| *inserts cheem farewell caption* lolol |
Took a cab to airport with sis' boss which was quite an awkward journey lolol. 'Cause both of us had nothing to say to the boss and I felt so bad talking between ourselves only :\ And guess what. There was no traffic jam and we zoomed to the airport reaching 3 hours before our flight, took 5 minutes to check in without any queue and were technically left with nothing to do
Ordered this because I wanted to try something new. But it was such a letdown :\ to think I paid around US$8 for this ._. bread was too tough and meat was too dry
Day 6
So why did we stopover at new york and not just fly back to Singapore straight? 'CAUSE THERE'S OUTLETS IN NEWYORKK xD yeap, outlet day today hahaha. Initially got the tickets online thinking that we can leave the place at 6pm but was given the 3pm one instead (because that's the TnC for having discount online but hey that's a cheat, we were not told beforehand!!). And the person handling out the tickets just gave us a black face (when he's the one late and ends up more frustrated than us?). And yeah, obviously he is not interested to answer our enquiry. So since I still had leftover because of the not needed top-up in canada, we used that to call groupon to ask about the timing.
Was thinking we are probably ok to leave at 3pm so we planned our route and had everything that we wanted. Was actually done at 1pm (took only 2hours+) and had our lunch first. Went back to buying food from Pret-A-Manger 'cause we missed the food there from the previous UK trip.
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Took a while to wonder why we had to sit under the hot
sun to eat lol (not quite obvious here but the heat was
enough to kill) |
Our fooooood. Affordable and good (at least much better than yesterday's macs lol)
So we took the bus back and arrived about 430pm, left our stuffs at the hotel and went out for dinner!
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| People queueing for cheap musical tickets. The queue was never-ending |
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| Yeah, we totally couldn't survive without asian food hahaha |
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| Because my sis just likes to take photos of me |
Went to walk around since we had a little time and yesss I bought my first yankee cap as a souvenir since I couldn't go to the stadium. The most expensive cap I've ever bought lolol
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| St. Peter Cathedral (if my memory didn't fail me) |
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| Looks kindda fake in here |
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| Statue infront of Rockefeller, which I had no time to visit :'( |
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| Lights are just too prettaye x3 |
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| Situation at the famous magnolia bakery even at night. |
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| The banana choc pudding was soooo good! |
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| Red velvet was nice too! But too much cream |
Day 7
The day I meet Deon!!! Was so excited to meet her since we haven't met for a year!! And was glad that I could actually meet her at US this time round!
Nearly booked a tour at the September 11 memorial but we were glad we actually didn't. Because we went to take a look at Century21 (outlet store) and missed the tour timing anyway hahaha. Was too engrossed there because there's actually so much more stuffs to get there compared to Woodbury Commons (probably branded goods just ain't my style lol). Stopped at the memorial still and nostalgia feelings kicked in. Not that I was there myself that time but visiting the site alone was just overwhelming.
Felt that the architecture was so meaningful, placing two fountains at the site which the twin towers stood then. It felt peaceful. The scene of people crying and placing flowers just pulled me into the sorrowness even more.
Moving on, sis brought me to see the statue of liberty... Passed by the famous charging bull statue and it was soooo packed that every inch of the "small island" in the middle of the road was filled. Gave up taking photo with it 'cause it's almost impossible without photobombers ._.
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| Totally shocked about how far it is to mainland... |
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| The best I could.... :\ |
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| Met deon and it was finally time for shake shack!!! |
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| It was soooo good although it costs about 20+sgd |
So after spending an hour at shake shack, we went back to hotel room to put our buys before heading to the Intrepid Museum since it's around the same area. Waited super long for sis to return from the post office and guess what...we missed the last entry timing T.T
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| Ohwell, let's just take a photo of the museum LOL so near yet so far :| |
Feeling disappointed, we decided to head to Times Square instead and chill there lol.
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| Ma favouriteee |
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| With the pretty girl who surprisingly still retains her Singaporean accent xP |
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| Has been a long time since I last drank Tall. Since when was it soooo small??? :x |
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| After nuaing for a while, decided on The Halal Guys for dinner! And the hot sauce was really no joke :\ had to spam so much of sour cream but the spicyness just doesn't go away T.T |
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Finally saw the horse guards! Although I have no idea what's the use of
them there on horses except to serve as a photo spot lol |
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| And then we went to a really cool store which sells all sorts of stuffs! Although most of them can be bought on taobao xP |
Just wanted to take a photo of the inside before I realised the "no photo" sign lol
And it was time to part :((( Hate this LDR but I guess I could only see you next year thennn! Can't waittt :')
Day 8
Last day in america D: bring me back to day1 please :(
Since we had some time and we've decided to cab to airport which is faster than subway, we decided to visit the museum that we missed yesterday!
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| Managed to get discount ^o^ |
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| Went to the submarine first and they made us go pass this structure before the queue! So cute |
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| The amount of people... x.x |
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| Look at all the pipeees |
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| It's actually quite tiring going through these throughout lol |
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| The bed was super cramped |
The walkway was legitly just enough for one to cross. And the stairs... How do people even run down during emergency situation??? It's sooo narrow and the steps are quite far apart that I took some time going down lol
Headed over to the Concorde next! 'Cause there's no one there, so it's a good place to take photos while everyone went over onto the intrepid haha
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| Just wanted to photobomb hehe |
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| Kindda love this photo :) |
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| Lemme take some time to appreciate what I've learnt LOL turbine from rolls royce |
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| Should we climb that...? |
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| F18 Blue Angels!! Finally seeing it in real life |
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| Hi my love +.+ |
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| Most stealth of them all |
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| Captain's bridge |
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| Space shuttle Enterprise! The pathway leading up till here was quite cool 'cause it has voice recordings of launch and of astronauts. |
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| Still curious as to why both wings are attached because the right wing is supposed to be torn down and used for testing ._. |
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| Of how they transport the shuttle orbiter |
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| The first step :) |
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| So, if you ever come to this museum, COME TO THE HANGAR FIRST. There's so much information here about the submarine ._. |
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| AND THIS. Was the coolest in the hangar. It's a storytelling area at the exact same spot that caught fire in the war when intrepid was attacked which killed many. It's a 4D experience for you while they show you the video (ft. the smoke from the fire) |
A must visit place - SOUVENIR STORE!
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| Awww all them KE7 hall mascots hahahah |
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| Instantly reminded me of Zhiyang lol |
Bought an intrepid junior pilot pin each as souvenir and bought sis her favourite blue angels plane model to add to her collection ^^
Left the place later than planned and went to the grand central terminal before heading back to the hotel.
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| A capture that doesn't exactly reflect the "grand" part hahaha |
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| And lunch was awesomeee |
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| Time to say goodbye |
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| Caught a glimpse of brooklyn bridge |
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| Even their construction sign was creative lols |
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| THE CROWD AT AIRPORT. Luckily I checked in first |
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Had to waste some time so I bought venti for starbucks. And best part?
My favourite breakfast muffin is AVAILABLE at this timing!! |
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| Two different lengths of straws because they provide a jumbo size here in NY |
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| Salmon sashimi was nice ^^ their carrots was sweet too (carrot-hater here but this was the only one I am willing to eat :P) |
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| Chose this 'cause. EGGGGG :D |
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| One last flight |
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| And the last airplane meal for this journey! |
Just felt good being home after such a long flight. Till the next time then, America! :)
