Unforgettable California!

The trip to California was awesome!
I was never really interested in American culture.
Now I'm absolutely in love with it!
It was my firsts for so many things.
Everything will most probably stay in my mind all my life.

It was like stepping into an alien world completely different from the one I know.
Nowhere close to anywhere in Asia.
The culture is completely different.
We tend to keep to ourselves, but the Americans like to reach out to the others.
I took a while to get used to it.
Everyone is just so friendly I don't know how to get used to it.
From the supermarket cashier to the average man on the street.

It was Western food heaven too!
Though the folks can't really get used to it.
Pasta, burgers and pizza.
I couldn't get enough.
Especially when Asian food is more expensive.
And I was loving the weather too!
Even when the temperature was hot, I seldom sweat because the air was so dry.
And I love it when the weather turns cold!
Less those really bad chills, it would be a waste to don jackets to keep the cold out!

It was fun to step out to explore the city in public transport.
I very much miss the trains and buses in Singapore.
We have such an efficient and extensive system that can get us anywhere on the island.
It is still a lot better and faster to drive in LA.

Exploring Los Angeles made me step into the very source of modern culture.
The legend of Hollywood, all the good old classic music, the places that inspired many songs.
Even the street names are known to some extent throughout the world.
Names like Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica,and so many others.
We see it all the time in movies, games and MTVs.
Not to mention visiting the actual locations where movies are filmed.
To visit the very source of all our theatrical amazement,
It made me shiver in awe!

I finally got to fulfill my dream of watching a proper sunset by the beach.
Unobstructed by clouds of other things.
Something quite difficult to achieve in Singapore.
Would have been mighty romantic if its with a girl!
And got the chance to snap some great photographs too!

Not to mention Disneyland too!
I was never a fan of Mickey Mouse and gang.
But when I saw him in the park I joined in the celebration too.
And by the end of the day I was a kid once again.
It was amazing, to be able to live a childhood I thought was no longer significant again.
In so many parts I had tears in my eyes.

I had my first opportunity to visit one of those great Museums of the West.
Though it was nowhere near the scale or extensive collection of those really top museums.
Like the Smithsonian, British Museum or those in New York.
But it was still a great eye-opener.
Things I've read about since I was a kid came to life.
For example the Aztecs, dinosaurs and geological sciences, the wooly mammoth.
Real dinosaur bones!
And they are really huge!

I took a big break as well.
Mentally and emotionally.
I guess things are easier when you go to a place far away,
And just stay there for a while.
Out of sight, out of mind.
I come back feeling completely new.
Refreshed and awake.
With a new mindset too.

It made me see things in a different light.
And from then on things are not the same anymore.
The world is so big.
And flying around to feel the distance humbles me.
We're just a small part of the greater world out there.
Our concerns seem so small.

There's so much more we can do.
So much more our minds can go.
I find myself freed of many things.
In a culture that doesn't rush as much,
People smile more.
And I've learnt some of that too.
I can live my life differently.

It was magical alright.
But the more dreamlike it is, the more we must wake up.
My reality is here, in Singapore.
What stays with me are the things I get to learn in the US.
They sure can make my life here better.
Sometimes we don't really need good conditions to thrive.
All it takes may be just a change in mindset.

I'm glad to be back.
No longer as fearful anymore.
I look forward to starting my adult life,
And the many challenges ahead.
There are more things to learn along the way.
And happiness to harvest with every step into the future.