this trip has been a truly enjoyable one and also an eye-opener for me. its my first time to a western country in my 21 years of living. and i am really glad that i finally got to spend some time with spencer and get to see him physically. also, i dont know how i will survive without him in the states throughout the trip. ♥ you b and thank you for being so tolerate with me the whole time.
i will just write about whatever i can rmb and it might not be in order because i really cant exactly rmb when i did what or go where. haha. i'll just be summarizing my 9 days at his place for this post. i'll continue about california - L.A, Las Vegas, Yosemite and Chicago in the next few post! Too much to do in one post. =X
so let's begin!
because food is so sexpensive in the states, spencer bought some ingredients before i came over so that we could have some home-cooked meal to save some moolah. so here are some of our creation. heh.
and i must show this meal in full size because we cooked curry for the whole of pres house that night. hehe. it turned out pretty well i guess? heh. just in case you guys can't follow -pres house where spencer is staying in wisconsin. and there's 6 people sharing the apartment, so we cooked for 6 people that night. funn!! :Dand i did mentioned that it was pretty cold when i headed over in my previous post yea? so half the time i wanted to go into the shops whenever we were roaming outside. and my favorite hangout was the supermarket across the street from spencer's place. why? because its WARM and COSY. =P and one of the nights we were there, we chanced upon the pancake mix and decided to get it for breakfast the next day!
and ta-dahhhh! here's my creation. wahahaha. i did this while spencer was still sleeping. because the sun rises super early in the states, like 6? and his room's binds aren't working, being a light-sleeper, i ended up waking up super early most of the time. so, i decided to cook the pancakes before he wakes up so that he can eat once he's awake. heh. but he told me he could smell it even before he came out of the room. haha. =\ anw, it tasted YUMMEH. ♥♥♥
so here's state street which is just outside his place. and if y0u walk further down, there's american apparel, GAP, urban outfitters and many thrift stores. i totally love the states.
he brought me to five guys for lunch on one of the days. their meal portions there O.O - huge. so we shared the meal and headed down for some free ice cream after that. we walked into this ice cream store - campus candy, cause i saw that they serve fro-yo. so the sales person was just recommending the flavours and all, and we were supposed to take whatever amount we wanted and add any toppings of our choice. the system there isn't like in sg where there will be ice cream girls scooping it for you and all, you just take whatever amount you want and they charge by weight. when we were done and all ready to pay, the cashier told us that we could have it for FREE. we were like 'huh? are you serious?? ' hahaha. and she was serious. i think perhaps the cash register was down or smth and so they cant process the sales, so they had to give free ice cream. really love US!! imagine if this were to happen in sg, i can confirm plus chop that within 10 mins the whole shop will be flooded with people and everyone will take whatever amount they can. the store will just close down within a day mann. love the integrity-based culture they have there.
we went to walk around the campus after that.
SO NICE RIGHTTTT. imagine NTU having such a field. haha. people actually sun-bath there yknow. during summer. i've no idea how they do that cause its freaking COLD.
walked over to lake mendota after that. very naiseee. but beri colds. brrrr...
this is pres house. its a church actually.
but there's apartments behind the church, so that's spencer's place.
i think this was another day where he wanted to bring me for yummy jap food but the place was closed, it was their break time or smth. so we settled for the other jap restaurant along state street. quite yummy still ! heh. and their portion was indeed hugeee.
more strolling after food!
oh yes. alfresco dining works there!! because its cool enough outside. i dont understand why sg wanna copy them for?? its so freaking hot in sg ? i think you will melt even before you get your food mann. alfresco dining's kinda popular there? i do see a lot of such seating along state street itself. BUT, i will not dare to sit and eat outside because its so freaking COLDDDDDDD. :O
i got to try the the made-in-wisconsin ice cream as well. (this isnt the free ice cream i was talking about before tho)
if you read closely enough, you'll see this : "Nutritional Information: Don't even ask, this is the best ice cream made in Wisconsin , and it taste so good because it has gobs of Wisconsin cream, tons of real ingredients for boat-loads of luscious flavour. This means that it is not low fat, low calorie or low-anything. That's why everyone loves it. You want nutritious, eat carrots."HAHAHAHAHA. best.
we rented the car, i think on friday? so that we could go places further away. heh. here's my safest-driver. i miss him. :<
our first stop - TARGET. to buy the GPS for our road-trip. and here's spencer posing sexily. a bit fails tho.
then we hop-ed over to macys which was just opposite after that. actually, i dont see the hype in macys, target, etc. i love WALMART. hahaha. cheapcheap plus its so big and has almost everything you will need. reese at such cheap prices and all kinds of snacks. i will so grow fat if i stay there. but me rikes walmart still.
then it was to west town mall for some shoppingggg. hehe.
they have this vending machines in the mall. SO COOL CAN? Reeses' for 1 buck! me wants it now!♥
and they have this 25cents candy machines everywhere too. and you actually do see people buying. interesting.
and of course, VICTORIA SECRETS. every girls' dream mann. haha. and yes, most of the VS i saw were this big. the interior is kinda deep, so its really HUGE. not like the one at rws, so punny.
headed for yummy pizzas for dinner after that.
and finally!!! catching a movie together. its so common for couples in sg to catch movies together and most couples do it so often that they catch almost all the available movie. but its so rare for us because we're always so far apart from each other, like now. we decided on 'hangover 2' ! nice show! i love their theaters. again, integrity-based culture. they only check your coupon once at the entrance where you enter and you wont be checked again at the doors. plus its free seating. so technically, you can pay 9.50 and after one movie, walk over to another theater and catch another and no one will know. how cool! but we didnt have the luxury of time, so we could only catch 1 :< the next time i am there, i will make sure i watch at least 2 movies ! =P
then it was the weekends! weekends during summer, they will have this event known as the 'farmers' market'. where local farmers will come down and open a store to sell organic vegetables , cheese, meat, fish ,etc. which they produce back at home. and i would say the locals were quite supportive. many of them actually manage to sell-out most of their items. and the opening hours was only from 10-1pm? 3 hrs? kudos to them mann.
you can also see street performers along the roads as well during the event.
AND kids climbing trees, in total approval of their dad. how cutezzz !
oh, they happened to sell bbtea there that day as well. non-legit ones tho. haha. but spencer does seem happy enough with it. i still prefer koi. XP
we headed for some bagels after that for brunch.
focus on the JAMBA JUICE on the table! its my favourite drink in the states!! i miss it so much :O i am willing to trade koi for it. :C its THAT good. its just fruit smoothies, but the way they blend it, omg... so smooth, so nice. i was telling spencer that they should franchise it in singapore. definitely a hit! if its the same price as koi, taste as good or if not better, plus its 200% healthier, i dont see why no one will buy it! come to singapore please jamba!
we took the bus for the first time to east town mall on one of the days as well. their public transport isn't as versatile as sg's one tho. the bus frequency's roughly an hour? so the best mode of transport there is either - walking, cycling or driving. but i can tell you parking's a bitch. so the best will be walking. haha.
dinner at ella's deli after shopping! :D very interesting concept for a restaurant. the interior was decorated with old toys and all kind of toys i've never seen. but the best part is that they have a carousel on the outside! so pwetty!! ♥
as usual, super big portion meals. haha. we always end up having to do take-aways. but its kinda common in their culture i suppose. headed back after that for the night. we almost froze to death waiting for the bus outside. =S colddddd.
chipotle for brunch on the next day. its mexican food. pretty nice. other than the fact that there were a lil too much green peppers+ tomato, which i dont have any liking for.
bus day again (becuase renting a car is super expensive at madison) !
spencer finally tried chili's !! he havent tried it in sg and after being in the states for so long he still hasn't tried it. lousyyy. chili's kinda common in the states, unlike in sg where you can only find it at tanglin mall/ RWS. and its so expensive to dine at here in sg.
we got the $20 meal with 1 appetizer and 2 main course! cheap or what!! :>
after which, we had to wait for the bus again and we kind missed the bus and had an hour to kill. so we headed opposite to barnes & noble nook, a bookstore, to keep warm especially. heh. i went around to look for a few of the books i had in mind but didn't manage to find :< spencer got a genome book, sci fic? haha. maybe i'll read it the next time i go over.
its no joke standing out there with the cold winding brushing across your face while waiting for the bus. because you will get cranky. like ...
become sun wu kong?
or start doing crazy jumping movements. hahahaha.
♥
my stay in madison's coming to an end and spencer decided to bring me to wisconsin dells on the following monday! and thank God for good weather! i think it was 27/28 degrees at day? so RARE! wis dells is a water theme park, smth like wild wild wet in sg but much bigger and definitely much funner! it was an hour's drive away from where we stayed at tho. but worth it!
sonia came with us as well!! :D sonia's one of spencer's housemate!
i rikes wis dells!! the next time i go over i'll make sure we head there earlier so that we can play more games!! cause they close early :< like 5pm!?!? and by the time we got there it was alrd close to 1pm :<
us queuing for some ride.
you see that sign. 'all rides start at the bottom of the hill' ? and see what we were doing? going up the hill. damn joke please. we seriously can't follow instructions. hahaha. there was really nothing up there and we ended up walking down again. the park's so hugeee. finally, we realised the rides were further down on the other side of the park. -.- |||
our favourite ride! black anaconda!! ♥♥♥ we played it 3 times i think? damn thrilling!
we queued for like an hour for this? cause it was down for filter checks or smth mid-way while we were queuing. definitely the scariest ride ever. you actually stand upright and the bottom flap, flaps down and you fall straight down. *screams and die* we only took this once. haha.
and while waiting, we saw this very 'pretty' tree brunch. i initially thought it was colourful shells on it or what. but upon closer examination ....... its chewed-bubblegums!?!??! gross max. =S
when it was close to 5, we decided to head to the wavepool before we leave! fun max!! but the water was duper cold and dirty. (as seen in the pictures) ohyes, reason why i even have pictures at a water theme park is because i brought along this waterproof bag for cameras! but the size doesnt fit very well, so you keep seeing black sides. paiseh, skill not very zai. haha.
so cute!
trying out underwater shots! the water's really kinda musky huh?
left wis dells after that!headed back to his place to fetch raj and sam (also pres house peeps) before heading to a chinese restaurant for dinner!
i like the dessert! its called 'shuan pi nai dan' i think? super yummeh!!
and since we had the car for that day, we decided to go for supper later at night! at Perkins! my favourite eatery in the states! its kinda the same as Dennys, but it taste way better. no idea why. perkins/dennys are like the 24hrs eatery in the states if you were wondering. we only have macdonalds in sg. failsss.
and here's my all time favourite! PAN CAKES. its pretty common in the states. not so easily found in sg tho.OHYES, i forgot to mention that i went for one of their house party in wisconsin as well. and the way they consume alcohol there ... O.O . pure shots. not even on the rocks. zai. hahaha. i think i will die if i party there. but i didnt party throughout my stay there. main reason - ITS TOO FREAKING COLD. hahaha.
alright, finally done with one-third of my journey. till my next post!
ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment