Farewell, Spangled Banner & All Your Idiosyncrasies

It’s been mighty long since I last posted anything, something which shouldn’t come as a surprise, however painful the absence was to my endearing fans, for I had been travelling on so packed and budget-tight a schedule it was beyond me (or anyone else for that matter) to blog, much less get an internet connection that’s free (and decent).

I would say this trip had been a very fulfilling one, in terms of both the expectations of our planned itinerary and what emotional gratifications I had hoped to derive.

I have cycled the coast of San Francisco, taken in all its nostalgia and the preservation of everything that was once and still is beautiful; everything from its cable cars to the elevators with handdrawn grille gates.

 I have gone and went two natural wonders of the world, the roaring Niagara Falls and the incredible serenity and grandeur of the Grand Canyon.

I have gambled and lost, both my money and gaze by the intoxicating allure of Las Vegas, very aptly coined Sin City, which one was prone to commit no matter how short the stay there be.

 I have experienced the eclectic NYC culture and society, every street told a different story. As some New Yorker on the street mentioned to me, if you can’t find something in NYC, it probably doesn’t exist.

I have seen the enchanting side of USA ingrained in our minds by great Hollywood films, but I have also seen its debauchery and self-victimising citizenship enough to shatter the fantasy of the former. You see perfectly able-bodied men and women alike begging for spare change, in one instance even asking for money to point us in the right direction. When it becomes possible to survive by just hustling people on the streets and not exchanging labour for remuneration, it’s time to rethink the welfare system.

You see advertisments on every channel by lawyers asking for potential clients to carry out petty collateral lawsuits. The abuse of the legal system climaxed with a ludicruous case; an administrative law judge, Roy L. Pearson sued a family-owned laundromat, in a lawsuit that sought USD53m in damages, all for losing one pair of his pants. The fact that such a clearly laughable lawsuit actually took 2 years of litigation to dismiss underscores the failings of a highly mature legal system overburdened by the sheer number of lawsuits -many of which are baseless- that were ironically incubated by its own “democratic” beliefs and constitution.

That being said, I still believe New York City and San Francisco are wonderful places to live and work, you’ll get what I mean when you’re there. In any case, with only very slight bias, I can tell you something – Singapore is really one of the best few places in the world to live. Prove me wrong otherwise.

Washington DC: The Tiny Little House In White

Went on a day trip to Washington DC a coupla days back, must say it’s a reasonable experience. To be honest, I’m not really a touristy person who goes gaga over “must-see” national monuments and believe me, Washington DC is like the grandaddy of collections of national monuments in the US.

I saw the White House, it really isn’t that big, a fat let-down that was nowhere near the grandeur of its tragically beautiful scene from Independence Day.

Compare with

Maybe it’s just me, but the lawn doesn’t seem like it’s been mown or trimmed in a while. The grass isn’t even the nice grass you see on golf courses. It’s like the same grass you see along sidewalks, not very sublime, that’s for sure.

I would say, brazenly so, that the White House is probably the place least worth visiting in DC. The museums prove more engaging and fascinating, I believe most, if not all are free, which is incredible considering the museums are not the dinky little museums you find along popular tourist areas built to earn a quick buck, these are huge, beautifully constructed buildings housing multifarious exhibits of specific themes.

I particularly loved the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. They had everything from dinosaurs to mammals to mineral ores to diamonds, and a very very opportune time for me, because they had some of the most famous diamonds on display - Hope Diamond, Tiffany Diamond, Steinmetz Pink Diamond. Amazing.

And their mammalian exhibit had some of the most realistic animal models I’ve seen, not sure if they were real stuffed carcasses, see for yourself.

There are a lot more photos from the trip, but wordpress isn’t very picture friendly, so check them out on my facebook profile sometime soon, when I take the time to upload all of them.