je m’appelle christiannn

i promised a photo trip of my trip to USA in december. well first day didn’t started off well. I had plan to fly on SQ 16 to San Francisco via Seoul but with the full flight I was bumped off the 9.15am flight. I was subsequently put on the 9.50am flight to Los Angeles via Tokyo. Because of this I had to quickly call Samuel to help me to cancel my hotel and book a room for me at Anaheim. Well the flight to Tokyo was interesting, as I sat beside the husband of a famous Mexican singer who performed 2 nights before at the Esplanade. He actually gave me his name card and told me if theres anything you need in Los Angeles, just call me. He stayed in an area near Santa Monica.

I tried to get an upgrade to business class in Tokyo, but was full dammit. She did change my seat to one 4 rows from the back, but at least it was only 2 seats and I did not have to be stuck in the middle for the 9 hour hop to Los Angeles. I actually bought this nice drink at the airport, and I thought the airport was nice. I just plugged my charger into some plug at the gate to charge my phone. A fellow Singaporean was beside me so we chatted quite a bit. There was a Japanese couple who were going on their honeymoon to the USA, and the inflight supervisor told the whole flight, who applauded and wished them well. He kept coming back from First Class with champagne and desserts for them. I thought that was a nice touch. On this flight, I selected the Japanese section and was pleasantly surprised. The soba noodles was really good, and the fish was so so nice. The ice-cream after that was also really good.

However, this was by far the worst I ever experiencd in terms of turbulence. 2 years ago I did hit an air pocket where the plane dived and the stewardess grabbed the coffee and tea and sat down on the aisle. This flight from Tokyo to LA, especially nearing the Pacific Coast was hit by severe turbulence. The guy beside me had his coffee all over my pants, my orange juice spilled, everything was all over the place. It was literally so bad that I think a few people puked. I don’t know why but seems like its customary all flights coming into the US from the Pacific hits bad turbulence, same as the one I took 2 years ago.

Anyway I was quite happy when we landed in LA. I had 2 days to myself since I decided to go over earlier. I chose to stay in Anaheim because I am a little wary of LA city. There was this fat bitch who checked me in, and she was really grouchy. After that I got myself some clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at a cafe at disney main street. This is my second time there and I was very familiar with it. Back at the hotel, I booked a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco since I have a connecting flight out of San Francisco. This time the monorail was running. I swear my room was haunted as I kept hearing sounds throughout the night. I barely slept at all even though I was jetlagged like crazy.

Next morning I did manage to talk to the grumpy lady since she was the only one who was there. When she found out I was a Singaporean she became so nice and talked so much to me. We chatted for a long time till my shuttle came. I was already so hungry by the time I was at the airport and ate this really really good breakfast burrito which had egg, cheese, ham, sausage, potatoes in it. Then I went to the gate and guess who i saw, George Lam!! The Guinness and 选择 guy. I think he just came in from San Francisco.

Anyway this was my plane. I am so excited, first time on an Airbus 319, and Virgin America is only 2 months old!

After we boarded. Don’t you think the seats are so cool? I had a whole row to myself. The cabin was very futuristic and there was mood lighting.

The PTV controls. This small plane has PTVs, and its domestic some more.

Doors were were closed early and we thought we will leave early. But after half an hour still sitting there, the captain came on saying the flight has failed preflight checks, and the plane is grounded as the spare parts will only arrive in the evening. We were to be transferred to a later flight leaving an hour later. The flight crews did give out free water while we were waiting. As we disembarked they kept saying sorry. Well in a way it was cool, cos thats the first time I had a cancelled flight.

However the whole re-seating process was a horrendous mess, and I ended up in the middle of 3 seats. At least they gave those who were from the previous flight free alcohol, and I still have that small 125ml sized bottle with me. The crew from the previous flight helped those on this flight, so service was completed very quickly. I finally arrived at San Francisco.

This was the safety video of the flight. Its amazingly hilarious.

I have to make reference to this lady at the check-in counter, who did all she could for me to change my flight from the next day to today since I had booked for Monday but arrived on Sunday. She did not charge a single cent for changes, and even though today’s flight was more expensive, did not ask for the balance as well. I told her about my cancelled flight and about being bumped and she was so nice and even stepped out to personally deliver the boarding pass. I tried to give her $10 as tips to get some coffee, but she refused and insisted I take it back.

I arrived in Las Vegas at 6, dark and FREEZING. Met an old couple from Winnipeg and finally reached the Hilton Las Vegas at 7 plus. The check-in lady was chinese and gave me this huge corner room. This is my king bed, and the toilet was at another section, and there was another part with a table and this huge window overlooking the strip.

The view in the morning. Pardon the tree.

After checking in I did make a quick run down the strip to get some necessities and dinner at the new Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino. I did walk from Planet Hollywood to the MGM Grand and it was sleazy, with guys keep calling me to pick up their girls and go into bars. Next time, just ignore and walk as fast as possible. I remember I bought Subway, and that night was a much better night as I slept after watching a few episodes of Deal or No Deal!

The Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Hotel taken that night as I walked pass it. I think it came out pretty nice.

The next day Samuel was supposed to arrive. I think I will leave it to next time as the pics are with him for the first part of the trip. That morning I made a quick dash to somewhere I forgot and checked out and made my way to Excalibur to wait for him. I took a freaking $30 USD taxi, and he was a russian from Moscow. Samuel was coming in from Singapore via Hong Kong and San Francisco on United. Lucky bitch was upgraded on the Singapore to Hong Kong sector. The first day was smashing, and I will continue it the next time.