Merepek

So end of January, I called up the tour agent and booked for a packaged tour for March 7 2008. Manatau, our PM then decided to hold the 12^th General Election on March 8 pulak. Aiksss…..This resulted in many of the people in the travel group to opt out of the tour…me included. So, tak jadi jalan again! Still determined as ever to go jalan-jalan, I then booked for the next date, that is April 24 and just kept my fingers crossed that there will be no more cancellations. I told myself that if the agent were to call and say that trip cancelled because of insufficient pax, then this year 2008, gua tak mau pigi sana lagi….next year baru cerita liao.

Anyway, the travel agent called on April 9. “Ms Tan ah…I am Joe from YYY Tours. I call to let you know we have confirmed your hotel booking for 2 nights extension in Hong Kong ….bla…bla….bla…”

“You mean the packaged tour confirmed jalan ar? Enough pax ar?” I asked.

“Of course! Early-early also enough people ledi. We now have 22 pax.” he answered.

YIPPIESSSSSSSS……………….Finally…Finally….I would be going on a holiday.

So on April 24 2008, I boarded flight no. CX 724 KUL/HKG; transit in HKG for 2 hours and then flew non-stop HKG/LAX for 13 hours. No joke lar….the 13 hours cooped up in Economy Class…..body ached…legs ached…arms ached…and I think I walked out of the plane head 'senget' to one side too. First stop at Immigration and the guys there had to take a photo of my oily-face with panda eyes peeking out from under a dishevelled mop of hair.

Cleared Immigration and collected our bags, we then walked out of the terminal building into the nice, cool night air of Los Angeles…temperature at a comfortable 16 degrees or so. Very seronokssss.

The drive from Los Angeles International Airport to our hotel in Anaheim took about 50 minutes. As it was already close to 11.00pm local time, our accompanying guide asked if we wanted supper and she would then get the bus driver to stop over at Carl’s Junior for tapau. One Uncle in the group asked to stop by a mini-market. He wanted to buy bottled water and Maggi Mee. Soli, Unker. So late liao, mini-markets closed already.

Since most of the people in the group felt tired more than hungry, we went straight to the hotel. By the time we got the keys to the room it was close to 1.00am. And our morning call was 6.00am, followed by breakfast at 7.00am and then on the bus by 8.00am.

It was a glorious Friday morning…clear blue skies with temperature of 19 degrees …..wonderful weather for Disneyland. As we were quite early, the crowd was not that heavy yet so, the queue for the rides was a breeze. At first, I said I will only go for those ‘milder’ ones lest the poor old heart cannot tolerate the other head-spinning, heart-thumping, stomach-churning, adrenaline-rushing and mind-blowing rides. But then, it looked like everybody else would be going and I did not want to look like a spoilt-sport. So I closed my eyes, said my prayers and joined them. No regrets…. I enjoyed as much as I did when I visited way back more than 10 years ago. I won’t mind visiting again…..but then, first let me get over and forget the ‘trauma’ of long-distance economy flight. Or pray that I strike it rich and can then afford First Class comfort.

It was a long, fun-filled day. By dinner time, I was already very tired. Could have gone back to the hotel but then I wanted to stay back to watch the fireworks display. To keep myself awake I went for the leisurely train ride. Bad move! I fell asleep on the train. Cannot blame me mar….cool, night air blowing on the face and with the gentle rock of the train….I visited Snoozeland. The show started on the dot at 9.00pm and it was spectacular…the night sky came aglow with glittering sprays of colour and there was Tinkerbell flying across the night sky waving her magic wand. Yes, it was pure magic.

Saturday – Universal Studios.

Got to sleep-in a little bit longer. Wake-up call at 7.00am; breakfast at 8.00am and on the bus by 9.00am.

Breakfast was same-same like the day before except they replaced the French toast with pan-cakes served with butter and syrup, potatoes, scrambled eggs and crispy, fried bacon with juice and coffee/tea. No fruits.

Wah…..morning temperature was already 26 degrees and the weather forecast said it was going to be hot day…may reach 32 or more. By the time we reached Universal Studios, the sun was already shining bright in the cloudless sky and ya, it was getting hotter by the minute. We went for the back-lot ride first…all of an hour or so riding on a tram going round the studios and movie sets.

After that, we went for the rides and I tell you, it was no fun queuing under the scorching sun…..the temperature rose steadily and I can safely guess it to be around 36 degrees or even more. It was that hot and I was being burnt to a crisp! There are not many trees and shaded areas in Universal Studios, unlike Disneyland, so walking and standing in queue took a toll on me. Plus, jet-lag decided to kick in. By late afternoon, I was practically withering away…..the head throbbed, the injured foot hurt, eyes blood-shot and sore and I needed to shut-eye so badly. What to do? I found an unoccupied table outside a food outlet and I just plonked myself down and slept for an hour.

So all in all, I did not cover a lot in Universal Studios because much time was wasted in the queues. Next time, must visit in February…cooler weather.