Grand Canyon Tour

Hmm, Grand Canyon ok very interesting  was my reaction when my dad first told me about it. I was quite uncertain about the idea because what's so interesting about a pile of dumb rocks. Well that pile of dumb rocks comes with different interesting photo points, historical facts and a deep trench that one can jump into anytime they want :) Also, it serves as a great escape place from the bustling city lifestyle as the canyon is a great place for hiking and for chilling on the edge of a clliff to have a picnic.

As we had never been to the Grand Canyon before, it was better to join a one day tour group to ensure our safety is taken care of. 
http://www.grand-adventures.com/#./west-rim-skywalk-tours

Starting of our journey was a picture at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, followed by breakfast at the golden arches, which was really just Mcdonalds. Chad tried his best to glorify the fast food restaurant. I have to say it was the best Mcdonalds meal I've ever had. Firstly, the menu is 90% different from the one in Singapore. Also, Chad delivered our food and cleared the table personally. Table service in Mcdonalds! I'm sure not many people have experienced that before,

After a two hour car journey, we finally arrived at Grand Canyon. Our first destination was at Eagle Point where the SkyWalk was located at. At first I thought it was called Ego Point until I saw the sign at the location. The place got its name from these two rocks that resembles an eagle's wings.

I thought the SkyWalk was a super cool glass-floored bridge that connects from one end of the canyon to the other but the real deal was truly disappointing. Instead of what I had expected, the attraction was this tiny circular walking area, no more than a 10 meter radius with a glass floor so scratched and dirty it barely feels like I'm walking on air. This was probably why we were not allowed to bring any objects into the Skywalk to prevent more detoriation of the glass. Even so, Chad managed to snap a few photos of us on the Skywalk.

While waiting for the other tourists, we had plenty of time to take many insta-worthy photos.

 

Our next destination one stop away from Eagle Point to learn about the Native American Tribal Structures. As Chad grew up in environments like these, he was able to share some interesting facts and information.

Afterwards, we began our hike. Just a tip for all of you: wear dark colored clothes as you might have to climb up some rocks to take a good photo and to wear sports shoe or old shoes as it might get scratched or dirty. I really enjoyed the walk around Grand Canyon because it was the only chance I had to exercise this trip and who wouldn't enjoy climbing around right? To be honest I was probably the only one in our group that had fun climbing up the rocky slope. It was no kick for sporty men like me hehe.

I could tell that Chad was really passionate about his job as he shared all the interesting photo points that we came across and offered to take photographs for us.

All those walking actually made me lose my appetite during lunch and the ice cold sandwiches certainly did not help. There were also cheese crackers, grapes and chocolate chip cookies but wouldn't it be better if we had a bowl of steamy hot noodles instead?

Our final destination was Hoover Dam. At that time I was already exhausted but I couldn't resist not spamming photos of the gorgeous scenery in front of me. I thought that the dam was pretty cool since many places rely on it's water and generated energy.

Although the Grand Canyon tour was exhausting as hell, it was the most fun I had in Las Vegas and I really recommend that all of you visit it, be it with a tour group or alone. However, for safety reasons, I think that going with an experience guide will be better as there may be some places that are out of bounds and hazardous. 

Top 5 Places to Visit in London

While I was planning the itinerary of this London trip in November, I realized how difficult and straining it was to do so. Finding the tourist attractions of a country was pretty easy. The difficult part was to figure out how much time I should spend in one. There was also the problem of budgeting for the trip which I was so bad at doing at over budgeted $1000 for this trip.

And so... 

Top 5 Places to Go in London


5) The London Dungeon

The targeted audience for this lovely attraction here is for the sad and masochistic souls who love being tortured, scared, treated like a slave (exaggerated). Well, this is the place to be. Entering Olden London as one of the traitors plotting to overthrow the great King James, you will be living the murky pasts of London a millennium ago, experiencing what the peasants of the past did. To be hung alive as entertainment for the civilians; to rebel with the infamous Guy Fawkes against the higher authorities of the country; to live in fear, not knowing when the notorious Jack the Ripper will strike again with you as the next target. 



With its 360 sets, great actors, screams and special effects, one might actually think that they really have been sent back to the past through a time machine. "Oh shit what am I doing here... oh yeah I paid to come in here." The duration of the attraction is 90 minutes which will fly quickly once you've immersed yourself into the theatrical storytelling by the guides. 





If you are interested in visiting this dungeon, do book online to save money. The prices start from £18.95 for adults and £16.50 for children. By purchasing tickets of other attractions in the vicinity such as The London Eye and Madaam Tussades Museum, you will receive a bundle offer which will save you money.


4) Central London

To be more accurate, it's this area.

Westminster neighbourhood+ area around Buckingham Palace. If you enjoy taking photos, this location must be included in your itinerary.

I started off at Buckingham Palace to watch Changing the Guards. The dates can be found in this website but just to be safe, you can also go the palace a day before to confirm with the workers there.

After a long hour of watching guards march around, we walked through St James Park which is the most beautiful park I've ever seen. Autumn colored leaves dotted the grassy fields; swans frolicking in the almost crystal clear lake. It is truly a refugee from the bustling city life. 

We walked towards Big Ben, right before crossing Westminster Bridge and then walked south-west towards Westminster Abbey for more photos.

3) Les Miserables

Firstly, it is pronounced as 'Lay Me-zeh-rab' (in English). So if you're planning to buy the tickets on the spot, learn how to pronounce this first. At first I didn't really know how it's pronounced and I was quite embarrassed that I had said it wrongly. To be honest, I'm still not sure if I'm pronouncing it correctly but well it's on the internet so it must be right, right?? :) (nervous smile)

Because it is such a popular show, the better seats are bound to be gone weeks before the show even started. I think I purchased mine online on 3 weeks before the play and 90% of the good seats were gone. Thank god I managed to get a hold of 2 3rd row seats in the Dress Circle.

Since The Queen's Theatre is an old theatre (more than a 100 years old), the theatre is quite small- cramped seats with little leg space. Imagine how inconvenient it'll be if the person sitting right in the middle came late. However, the tiny theatre had a spinning stage to make up for it's size. 

Great plot. Great lighting. Great actors and really amazing songs. I really recommend this to theatre lovers who haven't seen it yet.

2) The Slug and Lettuce

Looking for amazing food that comes with a cheap price? Look no further.

The Slug and Lettuce is a national pub that serves great food and alcohol. When I first saw this on TripAdvisor, I thought 'hmm it's a pub. It's probably going to be quite cramped and loud' but I stand corrected.

Because we went in the morning, we had the whole place to ourselves but it starts to get cramped during lunch hours. We were really lucky to go on a Monday as there is a promotion every Monday. Half price off food! There is also a buy 1 get 1 free sort of deal for desserts on other days too. 

Well I had to order 2 plates of dessert for myself since I am a glutton. I really recommend this one^ . I forgot what the name is but there's the word cookie in the menu. It's basically a brownie, baked in a cookie with nuts, finishing off with a scoop of icy cold vanilla ice cream. My mouth is already watering at the thought of it.


1) Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel

Lastly, my favourite location- Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel. 

I had a bit of trouble finding the location because my phone had a little glitch. Also, the tunnel is hidden in a car park beside a skyscraper. At first we found the closed end of the tunnel and I was really disappointed because I was really looking forward to it. Then there was this guy just walking there and that was when I realize that the tunnel isn't closed. After asking a few guys in the car park, I found the entrance to this insta-worthy background heaven!!

London is truly the perfect place for art, photography and to relax. I'd definitely come back to London as there are many interesting places to go to despite being a small country.  

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trails: Movie Review

I've always been a the-book-is-better-than-the-movie kind of person until I watched the first Maze Runner movie. Wanting to have a better experience when I watch the other movies, I stopped myself from reading the second and third books afterwards because I didn't want to spoil the story for myself.

For once, the movie is better than the book.

And the second movie, The Scorch Trials didn't let me down.

I never really understood the feeling of 'oh this movie kept me at the edge of my seat' even though I used it quite a lot in my previous movie reviews. But for this movie review, I can finally say that it kept me at the edge of my seat because it really did. The actors, storyline, all-surround sound made me feel that I was in the movie. I was so engrossed in the movie that I thought that I was in the Scorch with Thomas and Minho, that I was clinging on my life for survival.

At times when the characters were running and parkouring around, it made me stomp on the ground because I thought I had to run for my life too. Though, it wasn't just the action scenes that were amazing. There were no boring and irrelevant scenes, not even when the actors were plain talking.

Let's not forget the amazing storyline with one mind-blowing plot twists after the other which really got me wondering what's going to happen next in the movie. The characters and story were developed so well that it could easily invoke emotions out of the audience (maybe just me but still ). Hope, despondency, anger, relief and fear. All these emotions welled up inside me as the movie played as if it was really happening to me

Although Maze Runner is a popular movie and I think it was just released, the cinema wasn't fully filled which is quite unexpected. Maybe it's because I have a liking for escape-and-survive stories such as Lorien Legacies so this post is 95% bias but for those who are Maze Runner fans, this movie will surely pump up your adrenaline even when you're seated down.

(ending off with my favourite character's poster)

"The Maze is one thing, but you' kids won't last one day in the Scorch" 

Ratings: 5/5 stars ★★★★★