Hawaii, The Aloha State (Sneak Peek)

Aloha, Hawaii! Oh well, at least I have 1 trip for the year of 2020.

The boyfriend and I went Hawaii early of March this year before our newly appointed Prime Minister announced the  commencement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) which took effect on 18 March 2020 (two days after we back from Hawaii). Both of us were supposed to continue with our trip to Greece from Singapore (yeah, we plan to do around the world in 3 weeks) but when seeing things are getting more critical and serious, immediately we returned back home. Don't worry, we did our 14-days self-isolation at home (luckily I'm staying alone now) and our incubation period was over yesterday. Can't wait to go to the market and supermarket for groceries shopping. 

#1: Aloha not just mean for "Hello" and "Goodbye", but it also stands for "Love".

Not just that Hawaii is the only state situated outside of North America, but it's also the only island state. It's like holiday island or weekend gateway for the American. I just can't believe I made it to USA not just once, but twice within half a year. Imagine all the while I have never ever thought of going to the USA due to the tedious visa application. But once I got it, feels like going there again and again.  

We were in Hawaii at least for 7 nights - might seem long but in reality, it's actually insufficient to cover most of the places and attractions. Hawaii is unexpectedly one enormous island and how I wish I could go back again someday. No wonder the boyfriend went Hawaii for the second time after his maiden trip to there in early of 2018. 

So as usual, here's some sneak peek of what we see and do in Hawaii:


#1: We stayed in hostel located nearby the famous Waikiki Beach.

#2: Not a history buff but a trip to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is kinda like "a-must-place-to-go" when in Hawaii cause this is where the World War II began. 

#3: USS Arizona Memorial - once a naval battleship but due to the Japanese surprise attack, now it turns into a national memorial to create a permanent tribute to those who had lost their lives in the attack


#4: Diamond Head - We did hike up on our last day in Hawaii


#5: Up-close and kissing the dolphin in Sea Life Park.


#6: Another place must visit in Hawaii - Kualoa Ranch. This is where most of the Hollywood's biggest blockbuster movies and TV shows were filmed here, including Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, 50 First Date, Mighty Joe Young and also numerous of Hawaii Five-0 and Lost drama series.

#7: The boyfriend been here before but he's alone. Now, he has companion for this round.


#8: Hitachi Tree in Moanalua Gardens. What's so special about this monkeypod tree is that it's generating millions for its owner. Hitachi Ltd., the Japanese electronics giant, has agreed to pay the new owner of the Moanalua Gardens $400,000 a year for 10 years to served as the advertising logo. Now, who say that money doesn't grow on the trees?


#9: We did a little bit shopping at Coach and Kate Spade in Waikele Premium Outlet but the choices are not as variety as the one in West Coast of US.


#10: Last but not least, a trip to Hawaii is incomplete without a visit to Polynesian Cultural Centre. This is where you get to know more about the original settlers of many of islands in the Pacific Ocean, from the south of New Zealand to the north of Hawaii. It's truly an eye-opening and fascinating visit.

Seeing the current situation, not sure when this global pandemic will end but I really hope this will be over soon cause I kinda miss my mom and siblings (my mom and bros stuck in Kuching whereas my sister and nephew have to cancel their trip back KK for my nephew's 2nd year birthday celebration). Though now only left my dad and I in KK but then, we are staying at different houses. I'm so looking forward for another family gathering again.

Till then, Aloha!   

Share:

The American Dream

Don't let you dreams be dreams. Make it happen. And this is my dream, "The American Dream".

I still vividly remember when I was travelled to Europe and one of the travellers I met in the hostel asked me, "Have you ever thought of going US since you've been to Europe couple times?" I was stunned, paused for a moment - the kind of question which never cross my mind. I keep planning my future trips to Europe but never once planning to go US. Why? Two simple reasons; due to airfares and the visa application.

Most of the times I saw the airtickets are between RM3,000 or even more, which I found quite costly, considering I still need to book additional ticket for my domestic round-trip from my hometown (Kota Kinabalu) to Kuala Lumpur (KL). Secondly, in order to apply US visa, I need to fly to KL prior to the trip (again, I have to bear another additional cost myself). Just with these two reasons, they dampen my dreams of going to US - costly and troublesome.

Not until one fine day, the boyfriend told me about trip to US from Kota Kinabalu which cost roughly around RM2,300 with China Southern Airlines. Plus, we don't have to fork out any additional costs, except flying to KL for visa application. But when I found out I can claim my round-trip tickets to KL as well as hotel stay for free (claim using my MAS Enrich points, AirAsia Big points and Agoda points I managed to accumulate), I think I have no excuse of not buying this ticket to US. 

I went KL alone at end of July cause the boyfriend had applied US visa last year. You can't imagine how stress, nervous and tension I was as I have Iran stamp on my passport. But turn out, my US visa application process was actually pretty fast and smooth - the interview was done less than 2 minutes. And that concludes - US, here I come! 

Since we're flying with China Southern Airlines, we need to transit in Guangzhou first before continue with our flight to US. For transit more than 8 hours, we're given hotel stay for free. Just that we need to apply China visa. Oh well, applying China visa in Kota Kinabalu is actually more convenient, easier and cheaper too (Single entry for RM30 and Double entry for RM50).

After 3 hours flight to Guangzhou, almost 24 hours of transit in Guangzhou plus 14 hours flight to US, finally I arrived in US. Let me kiss you, US Soil! 

The duration of our trip was about two weeks and we only focusing on the West Coast, covering cites and places like:

Los Angeles - We spent three days here and these are the things we do and see in the "City of Angels"

Hike up for the world famous Hollywood sign

Got out Go LA 3 Days Pass from Klook and we can enter numerous attractions such as Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Studios and more with breeze and easy. We even saved a lot for buying this pass.

From Los Angeles, we took overnight bus to Las Vegas. Once we arrived there, we rented a car and drove to Arizona. It's time for nature and landscape! 

Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

It's exceptionally huge that we only manage to cover the West Rim.

Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona

This is one of my favourite spots for this trip. Apparently, Antelope Canyon is separated into two scenic slot canyon sections, referred to as Upper and Lower. We signed for the Lower tour with Ken's Tour. Bear in mind that you are not allow to enter Antelope Canyon without a native Navajo guide.

Horseshoe Bend (not far away from Antelope Canyon)

No entrance fee being charged but those with cars need to pay for the parking fee. And because of that, we went here twice - before the sunrise and during noon time for the sake of the Gram!

Las Vegas - They won't call this place "Sin City" for nothing. I never thought I will fall in love with this place cause initially I kept thinking this city is all about gambling, not until I was there myself.


There are plenty of things to do and see if you are not into gambling, like me. Who will ever thought my friends and I ended up buying a last minute ticket to watch Gwen Stefani performing live in Vegas. Now I know why this city is known as The Entertainment Capital of the World.

San Jose - Known as Capital of Silicon Valley, it is home of most tech industries like Facebook, Google and Apple. We took flight with Frontier Air from Las Vegas. 

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge is #1 on every visitor's list. Do you know that this iconic of San Francisco has been listed as one of the Seven Wonder of the Modern World? 

Don't miss out visiting Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf too when comes to San Francisco

Anaheim for Disneyland - There are two Disney Parks in California; Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. And guess what, we went both of them in two separate days. We played from 9am until 10pm. I definitely need a recharge battery for my body. 

Thanks to Klook once again for the Disneyland tickets. We don't have to bother about the long queue at the ticket booth and by just showing our mobile voucher at the entrance, the next thing we are in. These passes are hassle-free. Tickets sold by Klook is indeed more cheaper than the official website. 

After spending two weeks in US, finally back to reality again. Before reaching back home, once again we transit at Guangzhou and because our transit time more than 8 hours again, we're got hotel stay for free.


Well, the hotel room might not looking so grand and luxurious but at least I'm enjoying staying here for its excellent location - abundance of shops and eateries just outside the hotel (there are 7-Eleven, KFC, Pizza Hut, McD) and not forgetting, metro station just in front of the hotel.

And because metro station is just nearby, I took this opportunity to visit Guangzhou Tower (known as Canton Tower by the local). Now I can ticked off Guangzhou from my China list.

Since I have 10-year multiple entry visa now, I'm looking forward to venture more cities of US like New York and Florida (especially for Disney World) in future. My one and only consideration - cheap airticket. Keep my fingers crossed that I will spot another cheap fares again.

"All our dreams can come true, 

if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney 

Share: