Road Trip (Daytona-Cape Caneveral)

Another week of grueling work has ended and it was our break day again (Monday - 28th July). It was just a day before where we were working like cows (it was a Sunday and crazily busy), and I thought that we deserved a timely ‘vacation’. It was so that we had already planned a trip up to Daytona 2-3 days ago and booked a car online. On the very awaited day, me and Winson were up early in the morning (this time, Dickson and Damien will not be joining us, because Dickson can’t afford to spend and Damien, erhmmm :)), we were already knocking on the Taiwanese girls apartment door by 8.50am in order for us to catch the 9am bus to Downtown. An hour of bus ride and we were already at Downtown, and so the plan was that we headed to the Bank of America in Downtown where the girls can collect their ATM cards while we deposit our cheques. Once we were done, we headed to towards International Drive where we will collect our car at 3pm, but it was only around 11am when we arrived, so after a short walk, we decided that we catch a movie in order to kill time. So it was Hellboy 2 (It was Dark Knight at first, but due to the timing of the movie, too bad..), the ticket was a miserly USD7.50 (very expensive compared to what we get to pay in Malaysia) but guess what, there were only 5 audiences (4 of us and another stranger) in the whole theatre, and it was free seating, plus no one came to check on us, so we thought that we could just get a ticket and stay in the cinema the whole day watching any show we can, but it was just too bad that we had an appointment to pick up our car at 3pm.

After the movie (which was so-so), we left the cinema with and unsatisfied feeling, because we felt that the money we paid for the ticket was unjustified for. It was already looking as if it would rain heavily when we left the cinema and we hurried to the car rental outlet which was a 15 minute walk away from the cinema. After some short paper work and dealings, we finally got our car and it was a Pontiac Vibe (intermediated SUV) instead of a Mustang which we rented online. The reason was because the Mustang is a special car and the driver has to be of age of 25 and above in order to rent. Nevertheless, we took the Vibe and it was really comfortable and spacious (and about the petrol consumption which I will talk about later).


A picture of the car we rented

Off we go and with a GPS guiding us, we headed towards Daytona, and the very first destination was the all famous Daytona International Speedway. An hour of driving and we were already there but the bad thing was the it looked like as a heavy downpour is about to take place. Below are some pictures of the jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring Speedway.


The journey to Daytona...


The Speedway’s signboard (and the dark grey sky)


Me & DAYTONA!


Look at the magnificent audiences' seatings of the speedway!


Me & a race car :)

Some thunders was the very reason that prevented us from continuing our tour of the speedway and so we left before it started raining because we wouldn’t want to get stuck in the speedway just because of the rain. It was not long we were in the car before a downpour started, but we still had our GPS to navigate us to the Daytona Beach Shores. After a short 20 minute drive, we had arrived at the beach shore (the downpour had just stopped) and we decided to stop by and had a look at the beach. The beach was great but I was a little disappointed by the lack of people by the beach (because it has just rained).




A view of the street

A short while of admiring of the beach, we then chose to have our dinner at a Subway outlet nearby (some Subs anyone? :P). After our dinner, we then went on to look for a motel for our night stay (after the last experience in Tampa, we really didn’t wanted to go through that again :p). So after scouting a few motels, we decided on the Oceanside Inn for a USD78 night stay with breakfast. We unpacked our stuff from our car into our room and soon, we were walking by the beach. It was already dark when we were walking with some great lightings by the beaches (unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of them due to the inability of my camera to take a good night picture without a tripod). But it was no kidding distance that we covered by the beach (a whole 45 minutes of walk) and we arrived by the Main Street (a street where all the night activities are). There were buskers performing (which reminded me of myself volunteering for the Kuala Lumpur International Buskers’ Festival during December 2006) and lots of bars and pubs around not to mentioned lights and sounds (and again sorry for the lack of pictures).


A picture of Main Street

After a short walk around the street visiting gift shops, we dropped by a 7-11 outlet and got ourselves 4 cans of 16 oz beer and some chips where we can enjoy once we are back at the motel. It was a long walk back (felt like never ending) before we reached our motel. All of us got our bath and we had a few round of games of poker cards with the beer and chips we bought. It was only a can and the girls were already high, lol, while me and Winson were still downright sober. It was 2am when we were all snoring away on our beds.

Before we (I believe all of us) could get enough rest, we were all awake by 5.30am, because we had planned to catch the sunrise by the beach. By 6am, we were all ready and we headed to the beach. And it was all worth every single bit-of-lack-of-sleep because the view of the sunrise was just captivating and awesome. Here are a few pictures of the sunrise.


The sun wasn’t up yet when I took this picture


A picture of the coastline


A picture of the motel where we had our stay in


The sunlight breaking the horizon


And the sun rises!

After a good session of picture taking, we headed back to our room and left all our stuff in there, then we headed to the beach again, this time, we had a splashing good time by the beach (what a feeling it was because I didn’t really got into the water at Tampa due to my poor dressing) and not to mention that I volunteered to be buried in the sand by the rest (it felt like a spa treatment :) ). It was indeed one of the most enjoyable moment in Florida I’d ever had since I came to the US. After that, we then went back to our room to have our bath before we go for our free breakfast provided by the motel.


A picture from our room window

After a satisfying continental buffet style breakfast, we then packed our stuff and were ready to leave. It was already 10.30am when we left checked out and left the motel. Next on our list was the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral.


Our journey towards Cape Canaveral from Daytona...

Another hour of drive and soon we were at the parking lots of the space centre. I can say that I was so eager to have a look at the real life space shuttles that I’ve always seen in pictures and it was like a dream came true when I laid my eyes on them. We even got the chance to go through a simulation of shuttle launch. After paying some USD38 per person for the entrance fees, we were thoroughly scanned through before we were allowed to enter the visitors’ centre. Below are a few meaningful pictures taken at the visitors’ center.


The entrance of the visitors’ center


The real-life space shuttle on show (amazing indeed!)


A picture of rocket gardens (where all the previous rockets which were sent to space on display)


A group picture of us with a NASA signage behind us

It was time that prevented us from going on a bus tour which will take us around the whole space port (launch pad, training centre and so on) because we had to return the car we rented by 3.30pm before we were being charged for another extra day’s fee. It was really a waste of the money we paid for the ticket and I would admit this was due to some poor-planning on our part, but nevertheless, the pictures we took and the sights we had partly overcame the bad feeling. We headed back towards International drive to the place we where we collected our car, and we got caught in some bad traffic jams on the way due to some accidents. For that moment, we thought that we wouldn’t be able to make it but luckily, time and luck was on our side and after we refilled the car till full (which was just 5+ gallons for the 200+ miles we travelled, way better and in fact very excellent petrol consumption compared to the car we last rented). When we returned our car, we were at first given a bill of USD188 but after some checks and calls, our bill was corrected to USD112, which was the agreed contract price at first (thankfully).
The girls then decided they want to drop by Prime Outlet for some shopping and so after spending 2 hours there, we all headed home by foot (to save some cash) and it was a good 30 minutes walk when we finally arrived at our beloved Walden Circle. All-in-all, it was really an thrilling eye-opening trip indeed and worth every single dollar of the roughly USD100 that each of us spent for the whole trip, because this might be the only chance we will have in our foreseeable future. I was about to say ‘Life well spent’ again but guess I wouldn’t this time. :p

Road Trip (Tampa)

It was the 14th of July (Monday) and after another grueling week of work, our day-off came again, but this time, we had a very different plan. Instead of planning to what we're suppose to do for the day, we decided that we take a bus ride down to Downtown Orlando and check out about renting a car. It was 3 of us again (excluding Damien) plus the Taiwanese girls, which were suppose to come along, but somehow due to some misunderstanding between them and us, so it was only 3 of us (Me, Dickson and Winson) who ended up on the bus. After an hour of tiresome ride, we reached the station at Downtown, and without wasting much time, we got out searching for the car-renting concept and it was within 5 minutes that we spotted the concept. As I did mentioned earlier that Winson was trying to apply for an international driver's license but gave up on that because the driving school he contacted said that can only be done in your home country, we were all praying so hard that we could rent a car with just only our Malaysian driver's license. Indeed, our prayers were answered and the attendant at the concept allowed us to rent a car. After a short discussion between the 3 of us, we made up our mind and rented a Chevrolet Cobalt which cost a meager amount of USD42.99 (but with all the other extra charges, which I'll explain later). And if you were wondering how are we gonna get around on the road, we also rented a GPS unit. We headed back towards Walden Circle with an air of excitement around us and hoping that the girls would change their mind and come along.


A picture of the car we rented.

The girls were still sleeping when we woke them up from their slumber and true enough, they agreed to come along and after a short wait, we started our historic journey towards Tampa and below is roughly a map on where Tampa is.



After a painstaking 2 hour ride (the Cobalt was a 2 door compact car and we had 5 person in it, so imagine), we arrived at Tampa at last and the very first place we made a stop since we started traveling was the Treasure Island.


A picture of a street of Tampa.

After our lunch at McD's we headed to a nearby beach, what a feeling it was! It's the first time I lay my foot on a beach since the last time i was on a beach was around this time last year when i was on a trip with my college mates in the Tioman Islands. But how regretful i was for not putting on a proper attire (i was in jeans and shoes! We didn't even knew we were going to Tampa at first), but we still had a short walk along the beach and time for some pictures.


Treasure Island beach


Me & the beach


Me, Wendy and Jessica

After spending roughly an hour at the beach, we decided to move on and next on our list was the Clearwater Beach. And look, it's the first time I've seen a draw-up bridge and here's a picture of it.




A random picture along the way to Clearwater Beach

After a short drive, we arrived at the Clearwater Beach, we were jaw-dropped at the sight of the beach and this was the kind of beach we used to see on TV, and compared to the previous one, the beach at Treasure Island was nothing compared to this one.


A picture of the beach


A picture along Clearwater Beach, what a magnificent view!

After another hour at Clearwater Beach, we then took a pointless trip to the Busch Gardens (a themed park) and had a short walk around outside of the park. We were so envious of sight of people shouting at every turn of the coaster but we could only just look (the tickets were expensive and it was already close to 7, no point for us buying one anyways).

Next, we headed towards the cow-boy like town of Ybor (no idea how to pronounce that). Again, we were captivated by the sight of the streets of the town and it was like we were in a town in the 1970's. Here are a few pictures of the town.






Me and a theater as the backdrop

Soon, we continued our journey again and we this time, we decided to have our dinner at Taco Bell since the girls had not been to one before. Some chats and talks at the restaurant and we left as soon as the restaurant closes (which was around 10.30pm). We looked for a gas station nearby for a refill and it was a good USD40 we put into the tank. All of us then agreed that we should spend our night by the Clearwater beach again, and so there we went. This time, i didn't even thought twice and i took off my shoes to had a feel of the sand by the beach (what a feeling it was! :)) Walking, sitting and drinking by the beach with the wind blowing at our faces, all we had done.


A picture of our faces 'drunk' of root beer :p

We spent the rest of our night at a gondola nearby the beach, we had some chit-chat and really addictive games which really worked in passing our time. And soon, it was already 5am in the morning, we were ready to move again and this time back to downtown to return the car (we had to do so by 10.30am or we will be renting the car for a 2nd day). If you could see our faces (unfortunately i don't have a picture of it), we all looked like you know, people-who-had-not-slept-for-the-whole-night faces. It was a short drive and before we could get any further, we decided to stop by a parking lot and all of us had a short nap in the car (which i clearly didn't due to the super uncomfortable back seats of the car and to make matter worst, was shared by 3 person). The short nap passed and we continue our journey back home and it was another painstaking 2 hours (it felt like forever for me), we arrived at downtown at last. We refilled the car again before returning the car (it's the rental policy to return the car at full tank). All the under-aged charges, insurances and taxes brought the rental of the car to USD36 for each of us, which was around USD180 in total, but i would say it was worth every single penny of it and what a waste for Damien to be not with us.

After accompanying the girls to the bank in order for them to open a bank account, we headed back home to Walden Circle by bus at last and the first thing in my mind was my bed, and I had the slumber of my life :)
Again, what a trip it was!!! (and the only missing thing was my family, otherwise, it would have been close to perfection)

Random Outing

The date was 7th of July on a Monday, after another 5 days of work, we finally had our days off again. These time, we had a few things in mind. We decided that we would at first accompany our Taiwanese colleagues in applying their Social Security number then head to a driving school by West Colonial drive in order for Winson to apply for an international driving license. As usual, we got up from bed as early as our body could, since we were both mentally and physically tired after a week's work.

Anyways, Damien for the first time decided that he wouldn't wanna come along, because he said he was tired (although we doubted that:p) and the following sequence of events would later lead to him coupling up with one of the Ukrainian girls by the name of Anne (and I'm not joking :p ). Back to our part, we took a bus at first, to Downtown Orlando, there the guys decided that we bring the Taiwanese girls to Gino's Pizza (where we had the super sized pizza in Downtown Orlando). And we had a new girl by the name of Xiao Yu (the Taiwanese's room mate) joining us because she wanted to had her Social Security application done too. Xiao Yu was also here on a work and travel program but unfortunately, she didn't passed her test in her work place and was later sent to New York for another job (poor girl). I guess how lucky we were to actually secure a job with everything gone smoothly. Here's a picture of us having pizzas at Gino's.



Then after a short walk around Downtown Orlando, we headed back to the central bus station and hopped onto a bus which will bring us to the Social Security office. And after roughly and hour and a half at the SS office, we hopped onto another bus and headed towards West Colonial drive where eventually we didn't achieved anything since there wasn't any driving school nearby there, but it still wasn't a waste since we got to see new places :).

Since it was still early when we were done with what we have set out to do for the day, of all things, we decided to visit Universal for the 3rd time, this time to see the night life there, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of the day. Here are all the sights (but not sound) of the night life in Universal Orlando.






A group picture of us (Wendy as the camera girl)




The Universal Merchandise Store in the night (I had posted one in a day in my earlier post)


Me and Hard Rock Cafe in the night.

And it was really our day indeed as we were treated to a live sound stage too, where we had some head banging moments :)




This time, a real group picture of all of us who were present (realised that Damien was missing? I'll get to that later:p)

Finally, we gave in to our stomachs as all of us haven't had our dinner, we left Universal with our heavy hearts and hoping that this will definitely be not the last time we visit Universal again :) When we arrived back home, we found that Damien wasn't at home too and our guess was true as he had spent the day with the Ukrainians, but to more of our surprise, started a relationship with Anne O.o...

So a new chapter begins... :p

Downtown Disney

It was 1st of July (Tuesday) and the 1st time we had made up a plan with the Taiwanese and through that, we decided that we would pay Disney Downtown a visit and see for our own eyes how magical it was :). And so here we are, we woke up early in the morning at 8 to catch the 9am bus. Unfortunately to say, due to poor planning on our part, we detoured the whole of Orlando before we reached our destination as we didn't planned our bus route properly, we ended up spending and hour plus on the bus before we could lay our foot on the floor tiles of Disney. But what's done is done and here are some pictures of Downtown Disney itself.


Disney, Disney and Disney

Five-foot ways of Donwtown Disney





I still remember how i was a fan of Lego while i was young and i would say it was a dream came true that i got to visit one of my childhood dream places. (but i will say that i'm no more such big a fan of it anymore :p)




A smiling Lego dragon :p

After having our lunch (of all places, we chose Mc Donald's, since we didn't had any other choices), we decided to continue our walk. And you had guessed it right, we visited the Disney merchandise shop and it's decorations inside was really really magical :)




Spotted Goofy?


A picture of the entrance before we left Downtown Disney.

Immediately after that, we brought the Taiwanese to Prime Outlet (the place where they sell cheap branded stuff that i was talking about in my earlier posts, to show them around what girls does best :p ) Well, it was only their 1st time shopping and they already got themselves (Wendy & Jessica) a pair of slippers, which roughly took them about an hour to make up their mind before they are willing to part with their money (which was understandable:p ). As for me, I can proudly say that I've not got myself a single stuff (while the rest had already started spending) and the reason was I'm holding back myself until we are done with our work and I'll shell out everything in a single shot :p (I'm eagerly waiting for that day).

Anyways, after an oriental meal at the eatery in prime outlet, we decided that we call it a day and headed back home to our respective apartments.