In this case, we went to Genting Highlands. The place itself was nothing new. (To me, at least – considering I’ve been there countless times.) But this trip was special. It left me feeling absolutely high, and that ‘high’ feeling still remains until now … even though I’ve already returned for a good four days.

Prior to the trip, I knew that Genting Highlands always had a sentimental spot in my heart despite being same old, same old. Most of my travel memories there had been with my extended family and cousins, although it’s been a while since we’ve done a family trip there so all these memories had already begun to fade, leaving me wondering what exactly was so sentimental about the place. As a result, my interest in Genting Highlands as a travel destination also began to dip. (Well, I go there largely for sentimental value than anything else – so when the warm fuzzy feeling fades, it pretty much becomes pointless for me to go there again.)

But this trip was just way too awesome. Granted, Genting Highlands is not the best travel destination in the world. It was nothing new to me either. But somehow, I feel as if this trip has so far, been the best trip I’ve ever been on.

At Genting Theme Park with Terry, Dayna and Cherlynn. (Left to right.)

It wasn’t only because of the wonderful moments spent with Dayna, Cherlynn and Terry. (More on that in a later blog post.) But also, as I went from one familiar place to another (from Genting Theme Park to First World Plaza to Genting Hotel), the memories from the past slowly returned. As in, hey, this place reminds of the time where my cousins and I blahdeeblah ….

Needless to say, my emotions were in hyperdrive throughout the three days I was there – from extreme happiness, to OMGIcan’tbelieveyoujustsaidthat HAHAHA, to nostalgiac, to pensive.

If anyone were to suggest Genting Highlands as a trip destination again in the near future, I will readily agree – so that I can go back and relive moments from the past, as well as build fresh memories with new people.

I think I practically have a location-based repository/timeline of memorable moments for nearly every corner of Genting Highlands in my head now. If only there is some way to document it. I don’t want to lose all these memories, ever.

There’s just something about nature that slows time down. (Or not quite – I’ve had similar all-nature days here in Singapore but the time still felt the same.) Up till today, I still can’t solve the puzzle of the seemingly “extended” time we’ve had on one particular day in San Francisco.

I can’t quite describe the day in words, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Umbrella frenzy at Japan Town, San Francisco.

Waiting for the bus. Awesome weather we’re having.

Picnics in the outdoors are awesomeness, at least in San Francisco. We had 2 picnics on this day alone because the weather was just too, too perfect. It looks pretty hot out but it actually isn’t – it was a cool 15 degrees. Couple the weather with great scenery and company and you’ll get a perfect setting for a picnic (with good food).

Can’t quite do the same in Singapore unfortunately, because you’ll be sweltering before you can even spell H-O-T.

Packed sushi and chocolate eclairs for our peekneek lunch.

This is Land’s End. The place to which we boarded the wrong bus and (nearly) got lost. You’re guaranteed fantastic views of the open sea every direction you look.

Land’s End – rockiest coast in San Francisco.

Taking a breather in the sun.

We strolled South along the perimeter of the San Francisco Coast from Land’s End until we arrived at Camera Obscura, which is near Ocean Beach. There’s a huge, rotating lens with an attached sensor mounted at the top of the structure that captures 360 degrees view of the surrounding area, which is reflected on a large, circular concave screen within the structure.

You can actually walk right into the camera to view the projected image (and basically spy on everyone at Ocean Beach). Pretty fascinating.

Camera Obscura – Friggin big-ass functional camera with a 360 degree view of Ocean Beach.

The extremely vast (and crowded) Ocean Beach.

It was actually at this point in time when I did a time check and to my shock, it was only 2pm (while I expected it to be much, much later – closer to 4pm perhaps). So much for “time flies when you’re having fun”.

We’ve actually explored more places beyond the above but I hardly took pictures. Just wanted to chill as much possible and enjoy the walk around without the camera around my neck.

Towards 5pm, we returned to Ocean Beach to watch the sun set right into the ocean. Judging by the crowd, it seems to be a natural attraction for most SF residents as well. (;

Ending the day with watching the sun set right into the sea.

If you’d like to retrace our route, here are the details.

Board bus 38 from downtown (Geary Street) heading West to Japan Town for a bit of exploration. (Tip: don’t go there on Sundays because most shops and restaurants are closed! Supermarket is open, though.) You may pack some food from the Japanese supermarket in the heart of Japan Town if you intend to do a picnic later. (; From Japan Town, board the same bus (line 38) heading West to Land’s End.

There are multiple trails around Land’s End, so explore at your own will. Once you’re done, walk South from Land’s End and you should be able to see Ocean Beach (and Camera Obscura, if you look closely enough). Pop by Camera Obscura (trust me, you won’t want to miss it! (;), and then stroll along the stretch of Ocean Beach to Golden Gate Park. Stop by the windmills, and then head East to the Chain of Lakes.

Walk West towards Ocean Beach again if you’d like to catch the sunset. (Sunset times vary with the time of the year.) After nightfall, board bus 5 along Fulton Street to head back downtown.

Have fun!

Imagine knowing a fellow blogger online, but she’s thousands of kilometers away. But yet, there’s still this sense of closeness because we’ve been sending the occasional encouraging messages to each other, on top of reading each other’s blogs since 2005. (That’s 7 whole years.)

So the opportunity to (finally) meet comes along, we seized it! I finally met Elea during the last few days of my trip to San Francisco.

Elea, me and Jess.

It was an awesome night out … in fact, possibly the latest we’ve ever stayed out throughout our entire US jaunt. (We were quite wary of staying out too late because it was just us two girls travelling together.) It began with dinner at South Park Cafe. For the life of me, I can’t seem to remember what I had there, but they had beyond decent food and I’d definitely return if I am in San Francisco again.

Then, Elea lowered the boom. Well, we did plan to have a karaoke night … but the sly one decided that it’d be at an open-stage karaoke joint instead of the usual closed-door, individual-room karaokes we were used to!

My jaw fell all the way down to the centre of the earth.

Weeeelll, part of me felt a bit of trepidation at the prospect of performing in public (unprepared, no less), but the other part felt excitement. Based on my past experiences, I always experienced a strange high when on stage (despite bombing big time nearly 100% of the time thus far). I didn’t mind experiencing that high again, but was (naturally) worried of making a vocal mess of myself.

What I needed was a little push. And Elea provided that push. :P

Later within the karaoke joint, I was further consoled by the fact that hardly anyone else in the vicinity could sing well. I’ve heard mangled versions of “Barbie girl” and “Rolling in the deep” among many others, save for about two girls with decent voices. Considering that, I highly doubt the audience would care to judge any further. I felt emboldened.

So, Elea and I took the stage together.

Performing “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.
(Apologies for the quality, this is a screen grab from a video.)

Followed by a solo round by each of us. The wait for our turns were tremendously long, and we practically had to bribe the deejay to bump our songs to the front of the queue. Despite that, we waited for close to an hour and a half to take the stage.

Definitely a night I’ll never forget, though! Thanks for everything, Elea, and hope we’ll get to meet again! (This time, in Singapore? (;)