Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts

USA West Coast - Los Angeles and Las Vegas

Upon arrival in Los Angeles, we stayed at an acquaintance house. From acquaintance, we become friends now. Heehee...it was really sweet of her not just to offer her beautiful house to accommodate us, she also drove us around in Los Angeles, spending her time with us and bringing us to explore the neighbourhood. 

From Los Angeles, we took a package tour to Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon was really magnificent! I had wanted to see how grand it was, and true enough, it didn't fail to awe me with it's structure, stretching as far as the eyes could see.

This was a wonderful holiday. We stayed with friends, we drove and we explore. The best part of our USA was usually the shopping. We love shopping at premium outlets. In fact, we went to four different outlets during our holiday. I found that Tanger outlets are not as competitive as Simon Premium Outlets. My favourite is still Simon Premium Outlets. I never fail to buy from something when I come out of the shops. I'm missing the shopping there!
Our nice big room in host's house. IMG_3383
"Hollywood" sign from Griffith Observatory.
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View of Los Angeles city.
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Hollywood Walk of fame.
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TCL Chinese Theatre.
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Outside TCL Chinese Theatre.
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Outside Madame Tussaud Museum.
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Spotted along Beverley Hills shopping street (Rodeo Drive).
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Cupcake ATM at Americana Shopping Mall.
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Trolley bus at Americana Shopping Mall.
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Manhattan Beach.
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Sunset at Manhattan Beach.
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Special french beans spotted at Silverlake Farmers' Market.
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Bradbury Building, opened in 1893.
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The last bookstore standing. Selling second hand books.
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Halloween decoration spotted at "Venice Canal Historic District".
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Venice Canal Historic District.
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Welcome to Las Vegas.
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Fremont Street Experience.
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Table top dancing at Fremont Street.
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West Grand Canyon at Eagle Point.
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The Skywalk experience at West Grand Canyon.
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Native American Village
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West Grand Canyon at Guano Point
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Hoover Dam
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Porto's Cafe & Bakery.
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USA West Coast - San Francisco

Gee, I just realised how much I have neglected my blog! I haven't been baking for a while, mainly because I was busy planning for trips and going for trips. I've done some baking, but they are the same old bakes. Nothing new has been ventured.

When my spouse went for his business trip in Detroit, we jumped at the opportunity to have our vacations in USA-West Coast. We decided to go San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and to Grand Canyon. This was my first time to US West Coast, though my hubby has been there at least 20 years ago. I was hoping the weather will be cooling, but it was not. I was disappointed at the hotness when we were there. If only the weather was good, I would have love it more!

For this post, I'll highlight our trip in San Francisco and our coastal drive to Los Angeles.

San Francisco Union Square
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The famous and must try "The Cheesecake Factory"
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Golden Gate Bridge
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Famous Lombard Street where road is curvy
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San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf
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San Francisco "Boudin Bistro" at Fisherman's Wharf
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San Francisco World Famous "Tartine Bakery"
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Stayed with my friend in Livermore. Livermore neighbourhood.
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"Johnny Garlic" by Guy Fieri in Dublin. Super yummy garlic fries.
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Spotted at Costco. For M&M fanatics! Halloween selection.
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Monterey Fisherman's Wharf
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Carmel-by-the-Beach
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Big Sur - Coastal Drive view
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Rocky Creek Bridge
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Elephant Seals spotted along the driveIMG_0397
Morro Rock at Morro Bay
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Santa Barbara
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Malibu along the coast
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Dolphins spotted at "Moonshadow" restaurant while having lunch
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Santa Monica Pier
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Third Promenade Shopping Street in Santa Monica
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Night drive from Santa Monica to Los Angeles. GPS indicate 30mins, took us more than an hour as highway in Los Angeles was jammed during peak hours.IMG_3381
For travellers who drives overseas for your holiday, I highly recommend you to download this app in your smart phone. Available in iOS and Android, and for USA and Europe (I think). With this, you don't even need to bring your own GPS or rent a GPS from the car rental company. I used this during our road trip and it brought us everywhere we need to go. A tip for travellers, make sure you get the full address of your location, and if possible, plan the day before when you have wifi, so that you can check through Google map if you cannot find it in this GPS. No data plan is required to use this, but you need to turn on the location services. Enjoy your self-drive holiday!

Orlando & New York City, USA

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Free & easy holiday in Orlando & New York City for the period 4 - 17 Oct 2012.