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From Arizona to Nevada

I have learned a few things from my travels, especially to places colder and drier than Singapore. One: drink lots of water. It is easy to feel like you don't need to drink when you are in cooler climes. But after a few days of coming close to a throat infection, I started drinking lots of water. We had a six-pack of mineral water in our car which we drank liberally from.

Secondly, I learned to use body lotion and moisturizer. I have never been big on creams and stuff, being the manly man I was. But even a manly man will start using creams when the cold and dry air makes his legs itch and his face dry.

I applied my Aloe Soothing day cream on my face every morning before I set off and my Aloe Soothing night cream at night when I went to bed. I also used my sunblock a lot. And the fancy schmancy French body lotion I took from the fancy schmancy Beverly Hills hotel I stayed in for the first few nights. Eh, from Provence one leh, the body lotion.

Yes, I am very Auntie. If I see nice branded mini-bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body lotion in my hotel room, I will take them with me.

Our time at the Grand Canyon in Arizona was very pleasant. We set off in the early morning to the Visitor Center so we could do a little hiking and filming. We expected to pay the US$25 fee per vehicle to get in but the Park Ranger said it was a free day. Yay for us. That meant we could use that money for lunch and even dinner later.

The Grand Canyon is as majestic as I remembered. I went there as a teenager, and it was nice to see it again. It has not changed much. You know how these grand canyons are: no mobile phone signals, spotty internet, and no rides or casinos. They really should look at modernizing the Grand Canyon like we do in Singapore. Look at how we liberally destroy our historical sites like Bukit Brown because we need a wider road! Such is progress!

I am kidding, of course.

We spent about two hours walking the "safe" trail. I have been to Finland three times, twice in winter, but I still get fascinated with snow. Living in an island state that is sunny all year round makes one look at snow like it's some magic thing. I wouldn't want to STAY in a cold snowy place, but just visit long enough to play with it and maybe ski on it, would be nice.

I could not resist sitting on this ancient rock: an Elves Chasm gneiss, the oldest rock found in the Grand Canyon.

Now I can say I have touched a rock that is 1840 million years old.

I only wish I had time to take the Grand Canyon train. I am such a sucker for trains.

After we left the Grand Canyon, we made our way back to the freeway for Las Vegas, Nevada. This is my second time going there this year, the first being in January for CES. I assure you I have no gambling business there.

Along the way, we decided to swing by Hoover Dam, in particular Lake Mead. It was a kind of last minute thing, the kind of decision you make when you are doing self-drive: "Hey look, the sign says Hoover Dam, we should just exit here!"

One of the perks of driving yourselves, I guess.

Lake Mead is lovely. I was hoping we'd see Megatron arise from its waters, bearing the All-Spark, but no luck.

By the time we reached Las Vegas, it was nightfall. Actually it was only 6pm but the sky was already dark. No matter. Las Vegas is a city that wakes up at night anyway. I heard Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez had a bout in Vegas. Not that I can afford to buy tickets for the match. And the cheapo motel I stayed in had no HBO anyways.

I have to say Vegas is a lot quieter than I remember. CES was a zoo, but there was no major convention going on this time. There were less people on the streets, buildings uncompleted and just less buzz. The Telegraph reported on this downturn recently. Nevada led the US in foreclosures and unemployment is high here.

I looked at the empty plot of land next to Circus Circus, and wondered, where are the hotels that used to stand here? Imploded, it seems. Kaboom. Like the economy.

And the odd thing? Singapore is poised to overtake Las Vegas in gambling revenue in 2012. Not sure if we are supposed to be proud of that or not.

From LA to Arizona

Ryan and I are enjoying our time on the road. The Volvo S80 we received from Hertz was the "smallest" car the Hertz at Beverly Hills had (we wanted a midsized one) and the rest they had were huge SUVs which we didn't fancy, so we took the S80. It was a good choice. The car is powerful enough to drive on the freeways and we felt safe in it.

We thought of flying but in the end, we decided it'd be cheaper, more fun, and more convenient to self-drive. It also gave us the flexibility to go wherever we wanted. In fact, we did not plan much for this trip. We just went with the flow and wherever we fancied. And with the very well-connected freeways in the US, we pretty much got around very easily (pro tip: the Hertz NeverLost GPS supplemented with an iPad and Google Maps is almost foolproof).

We visited Ivan and Becca at their El Mirage home near Phoenix and then it was off to the Sedona to see the Red Rocks State Park. The drive from LA to Phoenix was about 6 hours, and drive to Red Rocks was about 3 hours. Some of the exits looked a little worrying: "Bloody Basin"?

When we got to Sedona, we understood why Ivan and Becca recommended us to see the Red Rocks. It was a lovely state park and we did a little trail hiking. I will let the photos do the talking.

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon and this drive took us past towns like Flagstaff and the famous Route 66. By the time we reached our hotel at the Grand Canyon, we decided to chill and rest. Our room at the Holiday Inn Express was a little old but roomy and comfortable. My only complaint was the abysmally slow internet connection. We had to go to the Wendy's next door for decent wifi speeds and also grabbed some dinner.

Our phones are dead at the moment. There is no signal at all here. But our biggest challenge was the cold. We brought clothes meant for the 10°C to 22°C climate of California and didn't really expect to be facing -7°C to 2°C temperatures here at the Grand Canyon. We were "going with the flow" and this side trip was unplanned, haha!

Needless to say, we did not spend much time outdoors in the cold night air and ran to our car. How cold was it? Let's just say my nipples took a while to recover from the cold.

I love long drives in the USA

Ryan and I left LA after a few days there and we're driving our rental car (a nice Volvo S80, courtesy of Hertz) to Arizona.

Our six-and-a-half hour drive took us through these "windmills" on the i-10 and after we crossed into Arizona, through miles and miles of desert.

It's a little strange for a city boy like me to be in the midst of so much wide open space. It will take some getting used to.

Now THIS kind of Arizona sunset, I can certainly get used to.

Singaporean renounces citizenship, comes back to work in Singapore as foreign talent

This ex-Singaporean renounced his Singaporean citizenship, then got UK passport, then came back to Singapore and now working here as "foreign talent". So smart hor. So smug hor. Machiam international groberist.

Excerpt:

"I suppose if you were a little old lady who worked in a provision store, then fair enough - stay in Singapore and let the government take care of you. I know the PAP aren't perfect, but they have done plenty of good things for older Singaporeans and compared to Greece, well, it's perhaps best to appreciate them for the good things the PAP has done! But if you are a wandering soul with Hakka blood, destined to be 'guest people' - then I guess the passport you hold is far less important, after all, as you move from country to country, city to city, with each foreign language you learn and embrace, your notion of nationality and identity changes and evolves. You become the sum of your experiences - and in my case, that's a mosaic of experiences around the world.

But I guess that's still going to be hard to understand for Singaporeans who'd rather spend the rest of their lives in the same, small, familiar corner of Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Pasir Ris or Jurong. Oh well. To each his own. Maybe the auntie at the Ang Mo Kio 杂货店 can hire some Filipinos or Chinese foreign workers to run her 杂货店 whilst she takes it easy, retire and have some fun at last?"

Join my Muppets' Mahna Mahna!

Watch my Mahna Mahna here! Click this.

Better yet, join me by filming yourself doing the Mahna Mahna, then adding it to MY Mahna Mahna. Just click the "Join This One" button.

Here is the Facebook link. You will need to log into your FB to do this.

I will check back to see if anyone joined my Mahna Mahna ok?

Beverly Bukit Brown 90210

I am in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, to be exact. So if any of you peeps are in the vicinity of LA, let's do lunch (I am told that's what you say in Hollywood).

*hugs* and *muahs*

How to order Kopi like a pro

For those of you who have trouble deciphering the many ways we order coffee in Singapore, this neat poster may help (click on image to enlarge). I take kopi si kosong peng.

I do notice that kopo-o kosong (coffee black, no sugar) is missing from the list. As is kosong si siew dai (coffee with evaporated milk, less sweet). But the list is pretty comprehensive.

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