Day 84 (Sun) *LV Day 5* + *LA Day 1*

got back like almost 2am last nite...closed my eyes aft pumping petrol at one of the petrol station along the interstate freeway of Arizona...and the next thing i knew we were turning into Las Vegas Boulevard or rather The Strip as it is more famously known...poor Naf gotta keep his concentration all the time on the road...and i muz say he's a damn steady and smooth driver man...and how do i define a good driver? A good driver is defined when ur passengers can sleep in peace and comfort without much disturbance thru the entire journey...hahaha...

got back straight away started packing our luggage again for in the next few hours or so...we are gonna be on our way to the City of Angels - Los Angeles!! and one good news....mugant finally got his baggage back...apparently there was some cockup with the name tagging and somehow his baggage was not on the carousel...wah lau can seriously imagine how he feel man...haha...

threw the dirty laundry into the washing machine...packed up my remaning shirts...surf a bit of net and before i knew it...it's already 4am in the morning when i hit the bed again...it's been a fruitful Las Vegas leg i would say...indulge in all the vices in the city of sins...and to top it off...a road trip to Grand Canyon for that incredible sunset...and the hostel has been perfect alas the location...air-con, comfortable bed, great internet connection, free pancake breakfast, swimming pool and jacuzzi...USA Hostels! strongly recommended for would-be backpackers to the States...wanna get USA hostels too for LA but too bad fully booked liao...so in the end gotta settle for Hollywood International Hostels...picked it coz it is right in the heart of Hollywood Boulevard or more famously known as the Hollywood walk of Fame...hopefully it's not too disappointing i hope...

checked out ard 8 in the morning...sent all our luggage to the greyhound terminal with Alan...manage to squeeze all 5 of us in plus our luggage...quite amazing actually...haha...while the rest kept watch of our luggage at the terminal...Naf and me went to Treasure Island to return Alan...was about half an hour late though but the lady was kind enough to close one eye..really muz thank her...for introducing Alan to us...andden now for helping us cover up the time late...

next took the Deuce - Las Vegas's public double decker bus back to the greyhound terminal where the rest had been waiting for us...bought the bus tickets and opted for the local bus departing at 11.30am which will take us all the way to Hollywood Bus terminal which is like a 10minute walk frm our LA hostel...the Express though shorter will end up in Downtown LA den very lay chey...if nothing goes wrong should be able to reach at 5.30pm in the evening...wah lau 6hour bus ride...muz get my butt muscles warm up first...no joke... and gotta say adieu to mugant...he will not be joining us to LA but will go San Francisco to meet his frien instead...

In the Deuce back to the Greyhound Terminal...wah kaoz...nxt time come back Las vegas muz be in style...sit limo ride peh kee...no juz have to contend with public bus

Passed by the Fremont Street Experience while walking to the Bus Terminal...voted no1 attraction of LV by Yahoo Travel Website

the well known cow boy sign that has presided downtown Las Vegas for over 50 years

the bevy of rollerbladers chicks doing their weekly stuff at the Fremont Street Experience

all part of the Vegas Experience - Strip clubs

the supposedly 6 hour journey extended to almost a 9-hour ride...one of the worst, longest and no doubt most unbearable bus ride i ever took...woke up to pangs of sweat from time to time because the weather was so damn hot and the whole damn bus got air con like got no air con like that...wah really beh tahan...and worse a severe traffic jam in mid-noon along the desert freeway of Nevada...wah kaoz...jammed until like siao...and so hot and fedup...with nothing but endless ranges of mountains greeting u and rows of cactuses mocking at u...really kan believe how i actually tong the whole journey...apparently according to the driver after we had an interim break at the city of barstow...the accident was quite fatal...he actually saw bloodied bodies along the road...wah lau...seriously can imagine the extent like that...hope everything is fine for the people involved really...

stopped at a few more stops like San Fernando, Lancaster, Palmville, North Hollywood and finally arriving in Hollywood at ard 8plus in the evening...by the time reach 4 of us were clearly drained by the gruelling bus ride...and now gotta find our way to our hostel...after prowling thru the crowded streets of Hollywood Boulevard with all our backpacks and luggage in tow...and squeezing past throngs of bodies on this happening sunday evening...buskers in all kind of movie heros costumes taking photos with enthusiastic fans...street entertainers showcasing their array of musical talents...and tourists shopping for souvenirs along the tons of souvenirs shops...and the pathetic 4 of us...breaking out in sweat wit our backpacks...trying to find our hostel along the world-renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame...haha

finally spotted our hostel after a good 20 minutes...tugging at a small corner of the famous street and guess what...right opposite Kodak Theatre!! the very place they present the Oscars...haha...wah not bad location still quite good we thought...but we were in for an ugly surprise...first the bed mattress was so thin that reminds me of my pancakes in LV...there is no aircon nvm but what's worse there was not a single fan and when we request for it they say they dun have...one socket for 4 power-hungry chaps with our laptops, cameras and handphones as such...and somemore say will have 2 more people joining us tomorrow or day aft...and also it is one shared bathroom across the corridor with an unpleasant wood rotting smell and the taps leaking in the shower...even worse den tekong one lah...and the mother of all "worsts"...no wifi connection...basket...we call ask them got anot in LV they say have...now say muz go to the smoking corner and try to tap the internet...and we sure tried...and the internet strength is really pathetic to say the least...and sometimes cannot even detect...sighz sighz sighz...everything can dun haf...but no internet really sucks!! not a good start to our LA leg...

so we "seek" the advice of the guy at the reception and after we settle down with our stuff...went to Macs to consume our daily supply of dbl cheeseburgers...andden went to starbucks to try and tap the internet...without much luck...jialat bidding about to start and got no internet...how to bid like that...

no choice lah...juz gotta try our best to make do with what we have...and hopefully the next few days juz enjoy ourselves with Beverly Hills, Universal Studios, Hollywood and the famous Hollywood Sign...downtown LA and so on...the rest later den come and say lah...with that...we head back to our hostel to rest for the day...recuperate from our tiring bus ride and ready to kick off our 1st full day in LA with a bang tml!! nitezzz

whistles!! cheers!! applause!! arriving in Hollywood in style =p

along the streets of Hollywood Boulevard on a crowded sunday nite....on our way to hunt for some internet

the Hollywood Guiness World of Records

the Hollywood wax museum - where you get life-sized wax figures of Hollywood celebrities past and present

can u see?!!? the Kodak Theatre is right behind me...ok maybe too dark...didn't take much pics tonite coz quite shagged...promise more over the nxt few days k

Day 83 (Sat) *LV Day 4*

Hoover Dam! Grand Canyon!! Woke up as early as the sun rises...feeling all excited about the day ahead...we really can't wait to take in the all the beauty that the Grand Canyon - dubbed one of the world's seven natural wonder has to offer...and of course the historic Hoover Dam...all the more symbolic visit as a civil engineering student...it's as though paying pilgrimage to this modern civil engineering of the world...2 wonders in day...how wondeeeeerful...haha

with our adrenaline all pumped up...we booked a cab that will fetch us to Treasure Island the Dollar Branch where we will pick up our car...this time we are all well prepared to make our way to the Canyon as Naf had ordered a GPS system along...but juz in case the GPS fail us or as the army always teaches us to be prepared for worst case scenarios...we brought along our laptops with the mapquest maps downloaded last nite...the route to Grand Canyon from LV seems so much straightforward den the route from wildwood to washington...though the former is comparatively longer...there are only 2 main freeways to get to Grand Canyon...and all the more shudden be much of a trouble to get there with a GPS system...

the cab arrived 15 minutes late and it really got us all agitated ...waste of time seriously...finally at 8.30am...gotto Dollar and asked for the Dodge magnum we had booked online...but apparently they do not have that model...and the lady suggested we take a Jeep Liberty since we gotta tackle those rocky roads on our way to the Canyon...and betta we will thank her for suggesting the car when we come back...first time sit car since the accident...i gotta be honest...of coz i still feel the jitters as it was barely 3 weeks ago when i was still on a helicopter to a hospital with stick pads all ard my body...requested not to sit at the front passenger seat and the lads sure understand...though i did volunteer to be the treasurer for this trip...haha...i am juz crossing my fingers that the trip will be smooth to the Canyon and back...and of coz didn't tell Pa that i will be driving there of coz lah

one small prob though...we could not pick up the GPS system from her and gotta go to the main Dollar branch near the airport to pick it up...no choice we sure need the GPS man...the time saved would be unimaginable compared to the time getting to the airport to pick it up...and man the GPS is insane man!! i really can't imagine who da hell invented this piece of s***...you have this you seriously have zero chance of holland and will defitnitely ensure u reach ur destination without fail...the voice prompt, the touch screen, the clear directions on the map, the time estimated to reach ur destination...wah lau even an idoit can reach miami from hawaii lah with GPS...wah lau this technological junk really got us all hooked up...it even has a menu to suggest where to pump petrol...what sort of food be it chinese, italian or mexican food u like...where is the nearest pubs or bars...wah lau we r totally amazed by it...every car needs a GPS man!!!

and after fiddling ard with Tommy (we decided to give it a name)...and settling our finances from BOA and stocking up our journey supplies of mineral water and chips...we r finally on our way to Hoover Dam enroute to Grand Canyon...abt one-and-half hour drive according to dear Tommy...

with laptop in arm while waiting for the cab...still looking somewhat listless due to the lack of sleep...

Dollar rent a car -where we got our Jeep Liberty...the price still quite reasonable...quite recommended if u coming to US to rent car...but remem ur GPS!!

ahhh our dear Alan (lan = blue in chinese) sitting pretty waiting for us at the multi-storey carpark

fiddling with the steering wheel juz before set-off

not forgetting a self-timed group shot before the big set-off

enroute to picking up Tommy...snapped some of the hotels down the Strip we didn't visit and prob not will considering we r leaving for LA tml morning - Mandalay Bay

the Luxor - the pyramid-shaped structure is another significant landmark of the LV skyline

the excalibur...kids will love its castle-themed architecture...parents' trap indeed...haha

MGM Grand - the higher class version of MGM Mirage

and of coz New York New York

Introducing...*drum rolls*...the one and only Tommy...with him ard driving is never a chore...the Tommy man can!! to the tune of "carrier man can"

snack parade in the car boot...gums, pepsi, mineral water, bananas and chips

with Tommy...reached Hoover Dam at quarter past 1...exactly a one-half hour drive from LV...Hoover Dam is like some sort of dress rehearsal for Grand Canyon...and most bus tour packages to Grand Canyon from Las Vegas will provide a pit stop to Hoover Dam...the size of the Dam is really so much bigger than the one i have seen on pictures...and it is located along the famous Colorado River right smack between the states of Nevada and Arizona...the whole dam is built with concrete and it is the second highest dam in US standing at over 220m...and i am really surprised they actually have such a level of technology to carry out such deep drilling in the 1930s and it only took them 5 years to build this structure of such a magnitude!! truly amazing...an engineering marvel indeed!

the view from the top of the dam is really a sight to behold...with the steepness and height of the dam walls spectacular yet a bit scary at times...and the bluish-clear waters of Colorado River...with ripples that reflect like crystals in the aftnoon sun...and Lake Mead, a by-product during the construction of the dam...with people sailing and fishing in this seemingly vast lake...we stopped by Hoover for total abt an hour before we carried on to Grand Canyon...on the way we drove up further uphill to stop at a scenic viewpoint of Colorado River and the famous rocks of Arizona...aftwhich grabbed some cheeseburgers at a Macs nearby which Tommy effortlessly directed us and finally we set off for Grand Canyon National Park South Rim at 3plus...with Tommy estimating we will reach at ard 6plus...hopefully we juz made it in time for sunset at Grand Canyon...with our cheeseburgers and bananas...

sneek peek of Colorado River...a few more miles to reach Hoover Dam

On the road up to Hoover Dam

announcing our arrival at the Hoover Dam entrance

the towers were the first sight to greet us as we parked Alan and got out to explore

the gigantic conduits of the Hoover Dam

posing by Lake Mead...the by-product created during the construction of the Hoover Dam

the quartet at the Hoover Dam...mugant decided to opt out of this trip due to financial constraints =p and he gotta go airport to look for his lost luggage

the recreational activities at Lake Mead seem to be at full swing on this humid Sat aftnoon

this boh kia si bugger ignore the no sitting sign and keh seh to pose for this shot

this is how steep the dam walls actually are...the walls are converged to handle the pressure from Lake Mead and Colorado River below

playing by the regulations this time...it's actually quite scary when looking downwards

the hydroelectric power stations

the Colorado River that runs thru the Hoover Dam towards the Gulf of California

scaling the rocks at Hoover Dam

the winged statues that guard the American flag at Hoover Dam...locals believe that rubbing their toes will bring good luck...upon hearing that i made a mad rush for the toes...aiyah singKaPorelang...tsk tsk

calling a day at Hoover Dam...moving off to Grand Canyon next

stopping briefly at a scenic viewpoint for some photoshots before we r on our way again

catching some 40 winks on our way to the Canyon

hey hey...we are awake!! the back seat khakis - JK & me

the girl gave me a weird stare after i ordered 12 double cheeseburgers and 4MacChicken sandwiches

finally after a smooth 3 hour journey from Hoover Dam...we finally reached Grand Canyon National Park South Rim close to 6 in the evening...paid our 25bucks vehicle entrance fee and made our way up to the viewing point...boy oh mine...oh mine goodness...no quantity of words can described the sight i witnessed at Grand Canyon...it's as though a damn bloody huge postcard juz appeared in front of me...the whole place is juz completely silent and still within the valleys below...and the setting sun simply juz adds a mysterious purplish mist ard the place...the horizon juz seems so beyond and beyond and beyond...and boy i have never seen such a sight in my entire life i'm telling u...4 of us simply stood there totally silent when we got our 1st peeks of the Canyon...juz simply standing there speechless and captivated by what is in front of us...it is really worth every ounce of our effort to come here and we almost didn't wanna come because of the exp bus tour packages and the jittery of having to drive again...we are all glad we took that risk to drive up here...because nothing...absoulutely nothing is well worth what we see at the Canyon...majestic is the word...beautiful is another...and some may say errily beautiful because the whole scene is juz so endless and beyond...

we moved along the rim trail from point to point...hiked down to a steep cliff where only the 4 of us were...took some funky shots near the cliff...and looking down the Canyon from the edge is juz one of the scariest thing i have ever done...one slip and u know that's the end of u...and the stupidly crazy 4 of us...prob pumped up by what we saw...decided to take shots at the edge...attempting all sorts of posture u can tink of...later when we went to the cnayon visiotr center and read about the deaths over the years...we realised our names could have been in there had a loose rock juz broke away or any of us lost our balance...but it was really an experience...eating cheeseburgers with one of the world's most beautiful natural sight in front of u...watched the sunset...and what a moment to relish...juz wrong company lah with 4 guys...haha...but defitnitely one of the defining moments of my whole work & travel experience...

1st shot of the Grand Canyon upon arrival

it's as though a gigantic postcard is floating in front of u

soothe whatever pre-departure jitters i still have abt driving up here

the quartet at Grand Canyon

we followed this rim trail at Grand Canyon

on my way down to the viewing gallery

ahhhh...wish u were here

all my 5 senses satisfied...havin a little banana by the Canyon

cheers to Grand Canyon...with mineral water, cheeseburgers and pepsi!

lazing by the cliff with the Canyon behind me...one of my fav shots

wah piangz...no joke...quite scary looking down from here

venturing further up north this time

yeeyeah!! thumbs up for this picture perfect moment!

things are not looking brighter on the other side either

hand it over...i'm on top of the world!!

taking a little moment to listen to mine mp3

peering at the sunset in the far horizon...when will our paths crossed again??

the moment was juz breathtaking...we decided to hang out a little longer and let the crow slowly dissipate first before making our 4.5 hour drive back to our hostel...hanged out at the souvenir shop for a while before making our way to Alan in the dark and slowly emabarking on our journey back...wish we could have spent here a little longer...should have planned an overnight camp stay here really...but nevertheless the whole trip is simply too smooth to be true...no major hiccups...no loss of directions of coz credit muz go to Tommy for ensuring that...great piece of driving from Naf the man...we were on time for the sunset and everything...and we had great fun generally...in short it's everything i can ask for for a good road trip! i will remember this one in time to come...

Grand Canyon USA - Summer 2006