Disclaimer: I'd like to clarify that this post wasn't published to boast or brag about what I have experienced during the period of time I was in the US. This is to simply share with you all the things I have done that have formed into happy memories, so that when you all get the opportunity to visit the Dreamland someday, you know exactly where to go. *insert winky face* (And sorry for some of the low quality pics, hehe these were the best that I got so shh.)
We departed for the United States on the sunny day of March 1st on an Eva Air flight with a short stopover at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (which was an exquisite experience in itself, and is fit for its own blog post someday!). Of course, what's a plane trip without the cliche shot of the view from the window, right?
Our flight was great, but what I enjoyed most was the in-flight entertainment that came in the form of a screen in front of my seat. I was able to watch Frozen all over again (and mentally sing all the words to almost all of the songs), make a playlist out of One Republic, Paramore and Fall Out Boy songs from the Music Gallery (I cry) and watch the only episode of Masterchef US that I missed. Besides that, the stewardesses attended to my every need and the food was bearable enough after a pinch of salt here and there. ☺
A fact about the place we stayed in the US: My Tito Sonny's house is in the most AWESOME location a house could ever be in! Right in front of it is a WalMart branch and The Village Mall, accompanied by a row of perfect restaurants and snack places such as Olive Garden, Red Robin, Todai, Panda Express, Panera Bread, Yogurtland and Jamba Juice, just to name a few. To its left is a long block of establishments to choose from: McDonalds, KFC, Target, Starbucks, Cold Stone, Taco Bell and Togo Sandwiches. To the right are Chick Fil-A, In N' Out and Del Taco, and just around the vicinity are Vons, Denny's and Pho 99. We are literally just a walk away from all these places, so you could probably guess why I put on so much weight!!!!
- The Outlets of Orange
But of course, our gracious hosts wouldn't allow us to just enjoy walking around their neighborhood. Our first shopping adventure was at The Outlets of Orange, a shopping haven for teens like me. I absolutely adored going around for the day, even if it was just for the mere purpose of window-shopping and photo taking (but fortunately, I was able to buy some stuff anyway, woo!). I loved Forever 21 the most, and I was able to buy myself some tops, a sling bag, headband and pairs of jeans. H&M was a rather huge boutique, but unfortunately I wasn't able to spot anything that would match my taste out of all the basics I found there. Brandy Melville had such cute tees and accessories, but they were a bit pricey compared to the other shops, as well as in Pacsun, where they had just released the new Kendall and Kylie collection. [sighs]
- Irvine Spectrum
Funny story about our trip to Irvine Spectrum: As some of you readers may know very well, I am a fan of the band 5 Seconds of Summer. They had released a song that was relatively new during the time of our visit called "She Looks So Perfect", and the chorus of their song had went, "You look so perfect standing there, in my American Apparel underwear." Well, because of that, I swore that I would check out an American Apparel store during our visit. And guess what, I did at Irvine Spectrum ha!!!
- South Coast Plaza
Let's face it, we Filipino teenagers think of certain brands when we hear the word 'high-end'. For us, Topshop, Zara, Mango, Forever 21 and Cotton On may be 'expensive', to the point that we could be saving our weekly allowance just to be able to buy a piece of clothing from that particular shop. Well, let me tell you all that the prices of the clothes at these boutiques are ABSOLUTELY NOTHING COMPARED TO THOSE OF THE SHOPS AT SOUTH COAST PLAZA.
- Barnes and Noble
Yeah, I probably know what you're thinking: NERD ALERT NERD ALERT NERD ALERT. But yeah, I can proudly say that I absolutely enjoyed my time at Barnes & Noble! With some of the money that I had brought, I was able to buy two books during our *sniff* first and last visit there: It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini and Girlwise. I devoured both books within days, and though I was hoping and praying that we could've gone back before we left, we didn't really get to. But, I don't worry because I know that by the next time we're in the US, I'm going there first! ☺
- California Science Center
There was also a certain day where we took a break from all of the window-shopping and bargain hunting to go to the California Science Center. (Now, I know what you're thinking...*yawn*, but really it was extremely fun!)
I had such an enjoyable and intense experience with food in the US. They have food from every single cuisine in the world...best of all, they're served in large portions at an affordable price! Above are some of the ice cream tubs that I was able to take a picture of at WalMart: I'm not exaggerating when I say that I'm already feeling hungry just looking at them all ♥_♥
Did you actually think I was going to forget to put our trip to Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth, in this blog post? Ha, I don't think a trip to the United States would be complete without going to the happiest place on Earth. During our visit, we were fortunate enough to be able to park hop and go to both Disneyland and California Adventure in one day. Though it was extremely tiring (and the Doc Martens I was wearing that day murdered my feet), there was no denying that it was one of the highlights of my whole vacation. ☺
And here's just a gallery of photos of the people I was with during my three-week visit to the States. And no, of course I would never forget to include them in this ridiculously long blog post of mine, pssh.
xx Angel