HI PEOPLE!

By now if you're one of my good friends you should know that I'm embarking on an exchange programme to Mexico for a period of 4 months! Omg that's long :( So I'm gonna miss you guys a lot BUT I'll also be skyping and whatsapping and blogging so it's still alright!

But now, this post is about the entire pre-trip we had to the big apple and DisneyWorld! Yes, it's New York City and Orlando in Florida!

New York City

Day 1

We had a flight that was 24 hours long! The first part of it was bearable, much sleeping because it's bedtime for us. After 12 hours gone, (and many a time woken by the air stewardesses for meals), we had a transfer at Frankfurt. It's like my first time out of Asia (ikr) and it was so cold outside! Well, we were but still half asleep but pretty soon we got back onto the plane. The next 12 hours was worse, won't know how to deal with it when I'm coming back! But we simply watched movies over the SIA tv so it wasn't that bad.

And finally we landed at JFK airport on Monday morning 11am. Whee what a relief to be out of the seats. Then came the horrid process of lugging our crazy luggages into a cab, which took us to Manhattan and into our hotel. Thankfully we gave ourselves time to rest and freshen up, then we took off again! Went to Times Square at night to get our explorer passes but we were lost and misled and ended up being late for our schedules! Had dinner at Shake Shack then off to Ripley's Believe it or not Odditorium! Hahahah. It was awesome but we were kinda sleepy and tired so we headed back early!

Day 2

Rising up early, we had breakfast of bagels from a small breakfast pushcart which type litters NYC. Then we headed for our trip to Woodbury Premium Outlet... WHERE WE WENT SHOPPING CRAZY! Hahah it was great. Everything was cheapER (especially the Levi's) :) Had a horrible chinese lunch and went for more shopping! Caught the late bus whilst heading back to our hotel.

Day 3

Up early again, the effects of jet lag are slowly wearing off. We rented our bikes and headed off to Central Park for an early morning cycle! Caught sight of the Belvedere Castle, then returned the bikes and headed to Sarabeth's for brunch. We were jokes because everyone was so well-dressed at Sarabeth's but we were still in our cycling outfits hahaha. Then we headed back to our apartment to wash up and have an early dinner, afterwards heading out again for the Top of the Rock observatory, where we had an awesome night view of New York City. Absolutely stunning.

Day 4

We went to a nearby grocery store which was crazily and awesomely stocked with food and bought some back for breakfast! Went to visit the Museum of Modern Art for some artistic fun! Then we took a train to Brooklyn which was so so so pretty! Had lunch at Clark's there (omg good food) then walked the Brooklyn bridge. :) It was amazing. It spans between Brooklyn and Manhattan so we reached Manhattan like 2 hours after. Headed back to hotel and we ordered Japanese takeaway. It was not bad! Went out again to find more stuffs. Bought lotsa cheap cosmetics! Omg 99cents nail polish. Got Sally Hansen for mommy for only 2.99!

Day 5

Woke up early to accompany Rachel with her shipping of shopping back home. Headed to look at the Statue of Liberty. It's awesome. I've always looked at it in books and writings and its really great to be there to see it for myself! Trained back to hotel, bought some mashed potato mixes and cup noodles, and we're saying bye to NYC!

Took a plane from JFK to Orlando. There were a few hiccups here but we managed to overcome them. Reaching Orlando was the best feeling! Orlando is warm and sunny and everyone is cheerful and friendly! We checked in to a beautiful hotel for the night and ordered more chinese food. It came with fortune cookies hahahah! Had a great rest!

Day 6

Had breakfast at the hotel, then decided to take a local bus to DisneyWorld. Bad decision. Sun was super hot and we were at the shelterless bus stop for like 30min. Finally managed to lug everything up the bus and got down 40min later at a ticketing centre in Disneyworld. Apparently Disney is hugeee too so we bus-ed a few more times and finally managed to check-in! It was horrible with all our huge and heavy luggages!

Headed over to Animal Kingdom after lunch at about 3pm. Beautiful place! Over to Hollywood studios at night!

Day 7

It's Magic Kingdom for today! Magic Kingdom is like the happiest haven on Earth. Everyone should go to DisneyWorld! It's made for people of all ages, and is a step out of your favorite fairytale storybook. :) Obviously the firework shows were superb! It's just the amazing feeling you get when a story is told with awesome music AND accompanied with fireworks!

Day 8

And Magic Kingdom/Epcot for today too! Epcot was just a contemporary park with sci-fi stuff! Attended a firework show here too!

Day 9

Epcot/Hollywood studios for the day and we ended our vacation with the show Fantasmic which was like the best lights/fireworks/music performance I've ever watched! Went to drag our luggages from the hotel and boarded a bus service back to Orlando airport. And we freaking camped in the airport till 4am when we checked in.

Day 10

Landed in Texas for awhile and I can't stop myself from singing a piece of Taylor Swift's edited Fearless, "Houston, Texas now, capture it remember it". Original lyrics was "In this moment now capture it remember it" but her concert was in Texas so I thought it was pretty awesome!

Took a connecting flight to Mexico and arrived in Mexico City at around noon! Took a bus all the way to Queretaro and headed straight to our host families. Had trouble settling in the first night!

Mexico

Day 1/2/3/4/5

Now it's been five days since I'm here! Haven't really gotten used to this place yet cause it cold and so different and far from Singapore. I have an awesome host mom though, called Maru and I'm still skyping/viber calling boyfriend and family. It's alright now but I'm starting to miss SG! Hahahaha. May I have fun here for this four months. Lessons start tomorrow but I'm so looking forward to all the Mexican trips.

To this four months, here I come!

To all the friends and family back in SG, please wait for me to be back and welcome me with your open arms! I'm also looking forward to the day I step back onto Singapore soil!


Love,
Your travelling girl ValHo


new past