The Trip Thus Far~

We began our journey on that faithful day, where goodbyes were said and parting messages were exchanged. The date was June 12^th 2008. And so the 3 of us took the 1^st step towards a 16 day adventure of the US and Canada. We took an overnight flight into Toronto Canada, transiting at Las Vegas where prominent street lamps and neon lights greeted us in the sky, and slot machines in the terminal. We met Auntie Ping and her family at Toronto. Auntie Ping was my nanny (maid) from the time when I was born till when I was 2. It was a very weird but heartwarming experience for me and I bet for her as well as this weird reunification brought much lost time and connections together. She and her husband went to a great measure to bring us around Toronto and make sure we enjoyed ourselves in this short one day stay. We visited the CN tower, apparently or rather REALLY the tallest building in the world, saw the magnificent bohemian architecture of Parliament, walked around Eaton Center, Harbourfront Center and drove past Chinatown, the University of Toronto and York University. The next day, they took us to the Niagara falls, where e experienced the ferry boat of our lives. Dubbed the Maid of the Mist, we managed to get close enough to the falls to experience the power of the falling water, which without raincoats we would be drenched from head to toe. Because of the lack of time planned in Niagara Falls, we couldn’t really walk the streets of the little town which bear resemblances of the touristy ones in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. When it was time to say goodbye, I could sense the sadness and tears of Auntie Ping which echoes in my heart because of that special and intimate connection we have with each other, as we do not know when we will see each other again, considering that we only saw each other after 21 years. As the bus slowly inched out of the terminal and as we wave and caught the last glimpse of Auntie Ping, Uncle Jojo and Eric, I am forced to think of our biggest challenge of the trip, crossing the border back into the United States.

We were told that we might face a problem when entering the US because our student visa has expired, but we know that by immigration laws we are able to enter the US under the Visa Waiver Program, a program which Singapore maybe because of its close ties with the US, entitles its citizens the privilege of touring and holidaying in the US without having to obtain a visa. All thanks be to God, we managed to clear customs smoothly and safely unlike one of our fellow passengers in the bus, who was detained by the customs for God knows what reason. Hence, we crossed over into Buffalo, NY, to catch yet another overnight ride (bus) to Boston. These overnight bus rides although they provide a cheap and time saving alternative to accommodations and traveling during the day respectively, drains one’s energy and strength with much efficiency. It was evident that all of us were tired despite it only being the 1^st 3 days of the trip, but we persevered and pulled through.

The date was June 15^th. We arrived in Boston at midday and checked into Hostelling International in Boston Fenway. The sight of a room with beds and shower proved to be a boost to our morale and energy. We freshened up ourselves quickly before heading out to visit the famous universities of MIT and Harvard. At night, we headed to Boston’s chinawtown where we had Taiwan cuisine “family style” (zhi char). We ordred Kang kong, Sweet and sour pork chops and ma poh toufu. It was a sumptuous meal that reminded me of food in Singapore and the great dishes that await our return. The next day, we took a 3 hour drive to the little and humble town of Waterbury, Vermont , where Ben & Jerry’s originated. We visited the factory where most of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream are made and managed to catch a glimpse of their ice cream making process through the factory tour.Of course, the girls were ecstatic and it proved to be a fun filled day of ice cream, memorabilia and not to mention, the horrendous roads in Boston. People say its difficult to drive in Boston because the drivers are not so polite as compared to drivers in the North West. I say it is difficult to drive in Boston because the roads are just ridiculously confusing, and it stupefies first time drivers like me which in turn leads to “rushing to work” Bostoners being impatient and impolite. In the evening, we visited Boston University and our knowledge and memories of the place is limited to the photos we took as there wasn’t really much to see so late in the day. After which, we visited Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Redsox baseball team, and the oldest baseball park and the most expensive place to play baseball in the United States. For dinner, we went to Legal Seafoods, apparently a must try for the “best Boston experience” as mentioned in the HI brochure. The food and service were pretty good but the price I would say was slightly exorbitant.

The next day, we checked out of the hostel early in the morning and just walked around downtown Boston, before catching the 1 pm bus to NY City. Till then…