Cliff jumps & Dancing in the desert! - SUMMER '15

One year later, but never too late! 
The American Dream Trip video is finally up! Credits though to my baby sister who had to sift through a whole load of footage to get it down to about 4 minutes. There are bits of when they did some travelling with my parents and a close friend, when I hadn't arrived yet. I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching and reliving our trip because it meant so much to me and all the fun I had with my sisters! 
Enjoy! 

The American Dream Trip - The Midwest.

We made it to Chicago, people! 

After such a hectic travel itinerary in the West Coast, (there was definitely too much to see and we made so little time to see it all) our next flight took us to the Midwest. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I reunited with my baby sister here along with two of her friends from Uni. They had just returned from their summer break and there was a mess up with their temporary accommodation which meant they were bunking in with us and we would be making our way to Ann Arbor, Michigan with them a little later on - so much more fun eh. Every cloud has a silver lining! 

Chicago was a gem! It had all the makings of a small metropolitan with its tall skyscrapers and bustling sidewalks but with the added chillness factor! There was just something about Chicago that won me over and I wouldnt mind at all if I had to live here! 

Enjoy the pictures..

Cant get enough of my sister's face in this one. We were all really hungry and the deep dish pizza that came with its gorgeous melting cheese.... I'm salivating as I'm typing...

After spending about two full days in Chicago, we were set to take these kids hoMe to Ann Arbor, Michigan. We didnt really notice the 4-hour journey due to some very creative car games that the kids introduced. By the time we reached the small town of Ann Arbor, Michigan the sun was out... and so were the frat boys and sorority girls! The frat and sorority houses that lined the university avenue and the atmosphere of the small university town were so surreal, it felt like I had stepped into a classic American college movie! 

One the things I found to admire about when I was there was the significant University Pride and Spirit that everyone had. The University of Michigan's slogan is: Go Blue! and their nickname, The Michigan Wolverines. You just couldnt help but feel so united when strangers literally call it out whenever they see a fellow Wolverine. Kinda felt a little FOMO not having studied in the States to be honest! 

My sister gets the ultimate treat of living next to a Frat House! Yeay. Lol

And as a treat for us helping out with moving, my sister took us for some hearty Halal Beef Ribs in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn was about a 30minute drive from Ann Arbor and is known for its large middle eastern muslim community. Official verdict: DELICIOUS! 

It was a bit of a bummer that I didn't get to spend more time in Ann Arbor with my sister as we had to be on our way. But I left with so much pride. I got to see the cosy, small town my sister was residing in, her quaint university campus, and also meet some of her friends. The short stopover really made me appreciate how much my baby sister has flourished into such a fine young lady, able to take care of her own affairs and so mature - although, she did still need the manpower of Afiz and I to help with moving the heavy boxes! Lol. I'm definitely coming back baby! 

Mad love, 
Peja x

The American Dream Trip - Los Angeles, baby!

What a week it had been for us in the desert! We were so stoked to finally be in LA! I know we weren't away for very long but it was such a weird feeling to be back in a city where there were traffic and lots of people around with so much background noise! But the one thing we all unanimously agreed on was that we were definitely looking forward to getting a nice proper shower, a warm meal and sleep on a comfy bed!

We managed a short pit stop in Sin City, Route-66 baby! 

As we pulled into the City of Angels, the tall palm trees that are synonymous with the image of LA greeted us just in time for a beautiful sunset! We spent about 3 days, two nights in an AirBnB in downtown LA. It didnt look really public transport friendly if I'm gonna be honest and having a car was probably the best thing if you were thinking of getting from one place to another but traffic in LA pretty much resembled that of Kuala Lumpur so it was annoying yet comforting at the same time. If it makes any sense. Lol

Thats downtown LA in the background!

We spent a lot of time relaxing and werent really hurrying to be anywhere specific. (I mentioned right at the start of this series that being flexible was the key to having a stress-free trip). We still managed to see a decent amount of LA like the Griffith Observatory, The Hollywood sign (which my sister suggested that we do an early morning hike... urhh I think our bodies said, no thank you), LACMA, The Staples Centre (we actually stumbled upon a WNBA game) and the ever famous Beverly Hills!

Glad we took a picture here! What a legend! To character, to religion, to the human race.

Just being silly cause I can!

When talking about our diet while travelling, well its just the worst. As much as we tried to be good, we definitely caved when it came to a good In-N-Out burger! Why are they so deeeeeelisshhhhh! It was worth it. (ps. we definitely had one before we left LA too!)

Unfortunately it was the end of the road for us as a foursome and we had to say goodbye to my two little sisters. It was definitely a bummer seeing as it was so wonderful having them with me on my travels. We've grown closer since all of us have been living in different parts of the world (distance makes the heart fonder eh?) so there were definitely a few tears at the airport. Izzati was going back to Poland to finish off the rest of her summer there and we were going to see Amirah again a bit later in Michigan, but she needed to sort out her move into her new house, ready for the next school term. Can't believe they're both so grown up now! 

Hope you guys have a great weekend! I'm going to be seeing my grandparents in Perak, cause I'm missing them a bit more during this Ramadhan - which is my first time back since I cant even remember. Since internet is a bit scarce in the kampung, it might be difficult to keep you guys updated. But I'll write more when I'm back! 

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a video of us being a dumb foursome! Enjoy! 

P xx

The American Dream Trip - Zion and The Narrows

Moving on to the next leg of our trip: Zion National Park! As the week of nature immersing came to and end, we had one more National Park on our checklist: to conquer Zion! So we left Bryce early morning with a heavy heart and drove for about an hour and a half down one of the most scenic routes I have ever experienced in my lifetime. I specifically wanted to include this driving route in detail because I would want everyone to do this!

So as we pulled out of the South gate of Bryce Canyon, we travelled onto Highway-12 which took us between the Red Rocks of Red Canyon, encountering scenes like this one! We were so mesmerized by the drive that we were not quick enough to turn into the lay-by for a picture so this one on the move will have to do! Scenes like this was pretty much along the whole stretch of highway until we turned south on Highway-89. Stretches of this highway spanned windy roads adjacent to deep gorges and towering mountains of red rock which were terrifyingly beautiful! And my personal favourite would be the stretch approaching Zion, where it merges onto Highway-9, taking us into the East entrance of Zion and through to Springdale, where we were going to camp for the night. 

That drive was so pretty if actually felt silly that we had been missing out on all of this for so long! We met with a group of Brazilian bikers who were riding Harley Davidsons from Las Vegas and were nice enough to allow us to saddle for a bit and join for group photo.

After setting up camp, we had lunch in this little Thai restaurant in the small town of Springdale. I remember feeling really elated to see the little oriental shop that looked a little out of place in a town that resembled very much like a classic cowboy town from the movies. We had been on a forced diet of bread, eggs and instant noodles for about a week and I think I speak for all of us when I say: THANK LORD FOR RICE!! What can I say, we're Asians! Lol

A plate of seafood fried nasi goreng (extra spicy) later, we were energized and ready to go! We had one mission that day: To hike The Narrows! This hike was unique in a way that there arent any marked trails and we basically just hike along The Virgin River that flows to create narrow slots, that are sometimes only 20-30ft wide. The water which sometimes came up to as high as waist-length and very forceful at certain stretches could be slightly intimidating to those who arent strong-willed.

After researching, we decided that we needed to get some gear to prepare us for the hike. We rented our sticks from this company, on the day without making prior reservations. They also had drybags, water shoes and plenty more that you can rent to make your hike more comfortable. We felt that the sticks were sufficient as we were okay with getting our trainers wet. Just to note though, please DO make sure you have shoes with good grip and support as the riverbed is slippery and an accident or a swollen ankle would definitely suck all the fun out of the hike! 

This was the view at the start of The Narrows. There was more to come!

An eerie but beautiful sight.

We rushed through about halfway down into The Narrows but decided to turn back because it was getting late and we did not want to still be in there when in was dark. Safety first! On the way back, we saw the Zion Rescue Team in full force heading the opposite direction and into The Narrows. I shuddered to think about someone getting hurt in here and the difficulty of access for help. Thankfully, alhamdullillah we had an uneventful hike!

Retrospectively, I definitely wished we had been able to allocate more time in Zion. Angel's Landing was something that I really regretted not doing even if was just driving up to the viewpoint. So for those of you thinking of going to Zion, DO NOT miss this one on your itinerary!

When we got back to camp, we were wet and tired but our hearts content! The last night out camping was slightly sentimental as we took one last drive out, the moon on our backs trying to look for a good stargazing spot. As the little ones were setting up the GoPros and posing for a good picture, I remember just watching them from a distance and thinking, "Man, I had so much fun with these lot and I am never going to take nature for granted ever again. I am so lucky." I think I was more thankful that I got to enjoy them with two of my sisters because Family is Everything. I would do it all over again with them and not get tired of it!

One last look back at the campsite.... and we're off to LA! Hello civilization!

Until the next post, 

P xx