so where was i? lets see... ah yes... after sunday is monday. =p

on monday, i ate korean food for lunch and then wanted to go to the met (metropolitan museum of art). however, it was closed. lol. weiming's fren was still telling me about how much she liked it and all over lunch. walked over to the guggenheim museum which was kinda expensive and didn't really look like my kinda thing or i wasn't in the mood for it that day. either way, i skipped it and decided to head to central park.

central park is huge. and beautiful. there's this huge reservoir which is dedicated to jacqueline kennedy onassis. its calm, beautiful, scenic and lotsa people jog or just walk around it. i walked around part of it before heading to the observatory/shakespeare garden. nothing much. just another nice view of central park and manhattan (so many places have scenic views of manhattan... its the skyscrapers, the nature, and the contrast between the both of them if you ask me). then, i jogged/walked over to strawberry fields which is dedicated to john lennon and in particular, his song 'imagine'. [sidetrack: jogging in spring weather over here is wonderful. its cool enough for you not to get sticky and disgusting but not too cold such that you'll shiver] strawberry fields isn't much to look at, but the meaning behind the place is kinda cool. there's a plaque somewhere in there that says 'imagine all the people in the world living in peace', and then proceeds to list all, if not most of the countries in the world.

after that, headed down to ground zero (the old world trade centre). its nothing much to look at now cos they're rebuilding it but its still a place you must visit. just looking at the site and reading the names of the deceased and the heroes makes you remember how temporal our life is on earth. wall street isn't much to look at either; unless you're a budding investment banker or something, its just alot of huge skyscrapers built by really rich people.

at nite, we went to the east and west village for dinner/dessert. pastries! there's this place here called viniero's that sells pretty cookies and miniature tarts and good cheesecake. the tarts and cookies looked so good that i bought almost 3 pounds worth! which is alot... haha. still slowly finishing them up till today. heh.

tuesday... (wow, monday seemed long) we went to south street seaport for lunch and to walk around. i ate deep dish pizza, which was alrite. but i somehow think the deep dish pizzas in chicago will def be better cos it originated from there. bought some clothes from gap and abercrombie. my 1st bit of shopping for myself over here. ha. i dun really like to shop if you dun already know.

Broadway musicals! if you've heard of them, you almost def wanna catch one in new york itself. and i did... on tuesday nite. its called avenue q and its really good. its a social satire of which half of the cast are puppets but its really funny and perceptive. it doesn't shy away from discussing sensitive issues (of cos... this is america) and it does justice to watever topic it discusses. although i didn't agree with all the opinions of the scriptwriters/play, i thoroughly enjoyed the play. i dun believe that you need to agree with a piece of art in its entirely to appreciate it. likewise, if you appreciate it, it doesn't necessarily mean that you agree with it. just my point of view. and i wouldn't shy away from expressing my opinions about a piece of art, even if it differs from the general public.

on wednesday, i met another fren of mine who was my jc classmate for awhile. alvin liong, nice, smart, tall, and too bad looking too (like i'm advertising for him or something... lol). it was nice catching up with him and just talking about anything, nothing and everything.

finally, i went to the met. i thought it was kinda small at first cos it was mainly only 2 floors but boy was i wrong. its huge! and lovely. it segmented the exhibits by nation/culture (ie. american, chinese, japanese, etc.) and that was great cos that gives you a good feel of what the art of that particular culture tells you. i saw japanese, chinese, american, european (dutch, french, italian, spanish, etc), greek/roman, and modern art amongst others. i could tell you my individual opinions on all of them but it would be too long for me to do today. overall, it was really good cos i got a better insight and perspective into all the different cultures (their influences, concerns, modes, methods, etc) and got to see really good art. i like it alot... its a museum worth repeat visits.

then, i went to madison square garden to see if i could catch a basketball game. the new york knicks were playing the cleveland cavaliers, who just so happen to have lebron james. that was prob one of the reasons why tickets were so hard to get. such that, i had to queue for 30 mins and the cheapest tickets i got were 80 usd. 80! however, something really cool happened. cos we were waiting for so long. the guy behind me was kinda agitated and upset at the long waiting time and he started talking to me. when it came to my turn, i asked him if he wanted to go first cos he looked like he was in a rush for time. he was appreciative (he managed to get a cheaper ticket!) and it turns out that he's actually a season ticket holder. thus, he brought me along to some reception for season ticket holders where there was free food and drinks and where the knicks management talked to the fans. it was a great experience.

the match itself was really good too. the fans were quite disinterested at the start of the game because they thought that the knicks were prob going to lose seeing as how they've been playing. but as the game progressed, and the knicks were still in the game, the fans slowly started to warm up. when at the start no one was chanting and cheering, the whole stadium was rocking with about 2 minutes left in the game and the knicks still leading. the chants of defence and the clapping rang throughout the stadium. when marbury hit the winning shot with seconds to play, the stadium erupted. everyone was already standing in anticipation but when he hit the 3-pointer. everyone just jumped and cheered and hi-fived or watever. the cheer was even louder than when the game ended and the knicks won cos everyone was rushing out the exit. ha.

today, i did some shopping. need to finish up buying watever everyone has asked me to get for them or watever i myself wanna get. at night, i went to watch chicago, the musical. the songs were good, the dancing stunning. but i was falling asleeping during the first half. lol. i dunno how or why but it just happened. thankfully, the second half was the better half and i was wide awake.

hmm... wanted to publish this earlier. sorry it took so long. past 3 days coming up soon.

haven't been updating in awhile. heh. not even sure anyone reads. =p

i'm in new york city now. was a bit of a hassle getting here with plane delays and mess-ups with public transport but i arrived at weiming's house safe and sound. he (and his roommate, kenneth) have been treating me super well. i thank god for frenz like this. he's been bringing me everywhere (MoMA, serendipity[!] cafe, times square, good food...) and overall, just being a great host.

i missed my snow patrol concert. ha. wasted bout 120 bucks but it was a good lesson. thought it would take me awhile to get over it cos i had so much time to think bout it on the train. but i prayed, gave it up to god, and i just felt peace. awesome.

i've been trying to watch my spending and all this trip. its a good thing... but it can easily lead to too much focus on money. which i was in danger (and as humans, we prob always are) of falling into... the greed of money. thank god for teaching me this valuable lesson and keeping me safe. cos the concert was in camden, nj, which is supposedly the most dangerous city in usa and most of my frenz here say it isn't really safe too.

my two halves of my trip have been really different. like almost two polar extremes. but they've both been great. southern california was good... checking out attractions (disneyland, universal hollywood, etc), walking around (... alot... to look and appreciate the surroundings.. and to save money... lol), and in general, being much like a tourist. but besides that, it was a great time of solitude (which isn't always a bad thing), reflection, and aligning myself with god. even though it was a bit sian to take rides by yourself. but because i was alone, i got to see most of the things and ride my fav rides countless times. the family i stayed with were really nice, godly people, who were such a blessing to me. i like san diego. its a city with unique areas like gaslamp quarters (row of pubs/restaurants), seaport village (shops and restaurants by the sea), and balboa park (san diego zoo, great museums, and just overall, a very beautiful place).
[sidetrack: i realise i have been using the word 'nice' alot of times. can't be helped. vocabulary still in quite a state of shambles after army.]
didn't really get to spend much time in los angeles, but the central library in LA was well-designed and had a good selection of books. read a bit of cs lewis and neruda while i was there.

new york city is a really big cosmopolitan city. i understand why people call it the centre of the world. like i've said, so far, its been great. gonna catch a broadway musical soon and visit places like the met, soho, east and west village, wall st, etc. prob won't get to catch a sporting event here though cos tickets are quite expensive and hard to get.

visited two churches today. times square church is an inter-denominational, charismatic church. it has a choir (like the kind you see in shows) which is really big. and the church looks really beautiful... and expensive to build. the interior is done like a renaissance building. i just liked being in the presence of other people worshipping god. the message was interesting but i didn't really agree with some parts (or rather, the way he expounded and expressed them). redeemer presbyterian, on the other hand, is totally different (as you can prob tell cos its presbyterian). their worship was very different from times square's; it was a jazz band that had a simple set-up, great musicians, and did what it was supposed to (leading people to worship god). i did like the times square worship too... just in a different way. the sermon at redeemer was good. the preacher knew the word of god really well and he was interesting without straying too far from the topic. it was just great to go to church again... wherever.

ok. shall update another time after i've done more stuff. take care and god bless.

Whew. finally, i have time to blog. not much though. only paid for 15 mins but its enough i believe. hmm... where shall i start? from the beginning then...

took 5 planes in like 30+ hours. crazy. as a result, i wasn't really jet-lagged, just groggy from on-and-off sleeping. so when i finally reached orange county, my body wasn't ready to last the whole day. it wanted to take short naps here and there. lol. and i couldn't sleep thru the whole nite. but sleeping at uncle john's was much better than sleeping in the airport.

uncle john and aunty amelia are really nice people. from the first day i was there, until i fly to new york, they're always looking out for me. shall tell you more bout them if you ask me.

disneyland was my first real day of this holiday. got myself a city pass which means i got 3 days in disneyland/disney's california adventures. dca was my 2nd day. i'd love disneyland if i were a kid. i'm not saying its not nice, just that i prefer dca for its rides and all. the parades and shows are really nice though. both kids and adults can enjoy it. i was telling people who asked me if i would come back to disneyland that i would when i've a wife and two kids. =) think that'll be great. cos a family of 4 would be perfect to do all the things, like take rides and all.

today's the 3rd day of my real holiday so i'm in san diego! took the greyhound (bus) down here from santa ana. got cheap accommodation at ymca and visited balboa park today. its great. nice museums and nice places. oh no. time's running out. shall tell you guys more next time. cya.

heading off to the airport in about 2 hours time. starting to get a little excited. =) its been more than a year since i've updated my blog. shall use my blog to share my experiences in the states yeah.

really hope that i'll enjoy myself but more than that, that i'll learn from the experience and grow. i must lead myself well first before i can think of leading anyone else in the future (be it my girlfriend, wife or kids).

looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones. think i'll have a blast. i honestly do.

god bless this trip and keep me safe and happy. =)
god bless my family and friends back in singapore. keep them safe and happy too. =))