USA 2007

Day 1 It was 19:25. I landed again in LA, 4.5 years after my first visit on business. I was a bit nervous because I was about to meet my sweet family, including my adorable nephew. 21:10, I saw the first glimpse of my family walking through the arrival gate. Here they were, sweet and couldn’t be more sweet!!
第一天， 傍晚七點二十五分，抵達睽違四年半的洛杉磯機場，有點小緊張，因為很快就要見到我親愛的家人啦，還有我的外甥！九點十分，看到家人走出入境大廳，真是太可愛啦！

第二天， 天氣陰陰的，有一種不詳的預兆．這一團一定有人很．．．LA是幾乎不下雨的地方好嗎？結果這天居然硬生生地下起大雨，更慘的是，刮大風，最慘無人道的是，我們一行人全在迪士尼．
Day 2 Cloudy in the morning, it was a bad sign. There must be a very …person in the group. LA is a place that nearly never rains, isn’t it? But it was down pouring that day! What's worse was that it was windy. And if you think that’s about the worst you could get, you were so mistaken! It's the day that God hated us so much; we were all in Disneyland.

Day 3 A nice day! The weather couldn’t be better. I felt blessed. We went to Universal Studio. We tried many different rides. The most exciting one was “The Mummy's revenge.” the fastest ever indoor roller coaster. It was a bit like “space mountain” in Disney but twice as fast and excited. I even took photos with the mummy!
第三天， 天氣晴．天氣真是好到不行！覺得好幸運喔！我們去環球影城，玩了好多不同的項目．最刺激的是神鬼傳奇，最快的室內雲霄飛車！有點像迪士尼的太空山，但是刺激度兩倍以上！我還跟木乃伊照相喔！

第四天， Shopping的好天氣．我們到名牌雲集的Outlet去血拼一番！在媽媽的鼓勵之下，我買了生平第一件名牌風衣．（痛啊…我的埃及之旅在轉眼間成為泡影．）二姊名牌血拼經驗豐富，快，狠，準．真令我佩服不已！下午抵達Palm Springs，棕櫚泉．好美的地方啊！真悠閒！

Day 4 A great day for shopping!! We went the designer outlet and shopped till we drop. I bought my first designer coat under my mom's encouragement, (Ah.. my funds to Egypt has just gone the moment I handed over my credit card.) while my elder sister is an experienced designer brand shopper, she got nearly everything she wanted in seconds. (Bravo, well-done! Becky!!)

Day 5 Got up early to see Palm Springs in full daylight. It was very beautiful!! We had REALLY BIG AMERICAN BREAKFAST in Ruby’s. It was really big as it claimed to be and we enjoyed it very much! Then off we went to Calico, a ghost town on the way to Las Vegas. My little nephew refused to get off the bus because of the name, GHOST! Haha.. It was an OKAY place, western style town. No one lived there now. They were government employees and just there to keep the tourists company. Early arrival in Las Vegas; checked into Monte Carlo, a casino hotel. All the other people went to night tour. My nephew and I had a relaxed bubble bath together then we went to M & M.

第五天， 起個大早欣賞陽光下的棕櫚泉，很美ㄌㄟ！在陽光下享用了豐盛又超大的美式早餐，讚！然後我們到卡利哥鬼鎮，外甥不想下車因為鎮名裡有”鬼”！哈哈．．傍晚抵達蒙地卡羅，拉斯維加斯的賭場飯店之一．大家都去夜遊，我剛外甥一起洗泡泡浴，然後再去M & M博物館.

第六天， 起個大清早，這天準備去天空步道！抵達西峽谷，看見壯闊的天地．心情也開朗了起來．天空步道架在西峽谷裡，鷹眼（Eagle Point）的附近．玻璃步道沒有想像中的壯觀，但是真的走起來，還是有點心驚膽跳的．晚上，帶外甥到Mirage看火山噴發，年紀小小的他說，那是因為底下有很多工程師，一人顧一台瓦斯爐，時間到就把瓦斯打開，讓火山岩漿噴出來，還提供他個人的意見，說怎樣設計才會更壯觀！佩服佩服！

Day 6 Early start as well. We went to the SKY WALK, the latest development in Grand Canyon. It’s a glass bridge of a U shape near the Eagle Point. It wasn't as impressive as I'd imagined. However, if you walk fast and keep your head down to see the canyon, you'll feel it!! Late in the evening, I took my nephew to Mirage to see the Volcano. He said there're many engineers down in the mountain, turned gas on to erupt the Volcano, and he even gave his personal advice for a spectacular volcano eruption. How adorable!

Day 7 Easy morning, we took domestic flight to San Francisco. It was windy when we got there. We had lunch, visited some major scenic spots in town, had dinner, and then went to our hotel for a quiet night. We slept well and we’re all set to say farewell to the city the next day.

第七天， 悠閒地吃完早餐，搭飛機到舊金山．天氣有點差，風很大！我們在市區參觀了著名的景點，用完晚餐就回到旅館休息囉！大家都把行囊準備好，該打包的打包，該扔的扔．明天就要跟舊金山說拜拜囉！

第八天， 上飛機前，最後的市區觀光跟Shopping!! 吃完午餐，跟家人道別．巴士停在青年旅館綠烏龜前，真幸運！綠烏龜是個很親切的地方，員工也都很熱心，唯一的缺點是環境有點凌亂ㄋㄟ．晚上跟杜伯特見面，一起去Tapas Bar，還看見有兩個嫌犯在我們眼前被逮捕．太可怕啦！嫌犯的背包裡全都是電線還有膠布，萬一是自殺炸彈客，我豈不是白白送命了嗎？警察先生，要抓他就快一點，不要一直讓他坐在我前面！

Day 8 Last chance to shop and for sightseeing! After lunch, I parted with my family and the bus dropped me off across my hostel, Green Tortoise. It was a friendly place and the staff was very helpful. The only negative thing I could say about it was the messy environment. Other than that, it was fine. I met my friend Dupert in a Tapas Bar and witnessed 2 suspects been arrested by policemen. There were electrical devices and tapes inside the backpack. Oh.. my good lord, would you please just arrest them and take them away. What if they’re suicide bombers?!

Day 9 I was planning to go on Alcatraz cruise but I couldn't get the ticket to go. So I went to Sausalito instead. It was a picturesque place. Relaxing and beautiful! I idled away my time there. I got back to San Francisco in the afternoon and was out of time to que for the famous Cable car. So I went all the way up hill to Lombard street, the crookest street in SFO. Then I found my camera was dead and so did my digital phone. What the ****! In the evening I met up with my friends, Tina and Asad, the then happily engaged couple.

第九天， 原本要去惡魔島，但是沒想到票全賣光了！所以，我就到Sausalito去啦！是個安靜又悠閒的好地方，我把時間全消磨在那裡，回程到舊金山竟然沒時間去排隊搭纜車，於是步行到九曲花街，全是上坡的路，走得我累死啦．．走到上面才發現像機跟手機都沒電啦，氣死我！晚上Tina跟Asad來接我．

第十天， 悠閒地吃完Asad做的早餐，他們開車帶我去Monterey 的Lobo Point健行，是個很美的地方，健行步道走起來也很輕鬆．一路上Asad似乎有意避開人群，我覺得有點怪，但是也不以為意．直到最後，才發現原來他想要藉帶我出遊的機會在那裡跟Tina求婚啦！真是浪漫ㄌㄟ．我被利用了．．．．

Day 10 After having breakfast that Asad cooked for us, we went hiking in Lobo Point. It was an easy hiking path and I enjoyed the tranquil scenery. It seemed to me that Asad tried to avoid crowds all the time and I felt a bit weird but said nothing. It was when Asad got down on his knee and proposed to Tina then I realized that he plotted the whole hiking trip and I was happily used.

Day 11 Time to say goodbye to the happily engaged couple. I felt happy for Tina and her fiancé. Good good good! I checked-in my bag and got SSSS on my boarding pass again. It means Special Security Check. Sigh! I got it on my way from Las Vegas to SFO, and now from SFO to UK! When I walked passed the gate, the officer shouted Female Secondary. I was a bit nervous. What does that mean? It turned out to be a casual pat down. It's okay because I was experienced. Haha.. I had a serious pat down on my way from Amsterdam to London in 2005.

第十一天，道別了朋友，心裡真是爲Tina 跟Asad開心！真好ㄋㄟ！到櫃檯check-in之後，又看到登機證上印著ＳＳＳＳ，怎麼這麼幸運啦！從拉斯維加斯飛舊金山一次，從舊金山飛倫敦又一次，真是夠了！走過安檢們，聽到安檢人員說＂女生，第二級．＂心裡緊張了一下，第二級是怎樣？原來只是被女警輕輕地拍一拍檢查一下啦！哈哈．．不怕不怕，兩年前從阿姆斯特丹飛倫敦就有經驗了！那次是登機前抽檢．

第十二天，回到熟悉的英國．還是沒感覺到英國人的熱情．跟美國人比起來，英國人真的冷漠多了！唉．．在美國享受太多熱情的招呼，回來還真有點不習慣！該換地方囉，回家還是去美國呢？曾媽媽又要擔心了．．．

Day 12 I am back in England. I still can't feel the warmth of British people. Comparing to Americans, British are really cold. Sigh.. I think I am done with the country. Time for either home or America!! Haha.. my mom's gonna get worried again!