Reflecting on June
June was a memorable month for the family. It would be the first time that wifey would visit North America and I had always wanted to give her the opportunity to do so although she was less interested in seeing the place and more interested in meeting my cousins and aunt, especially since she never had the chance to meet my mom. So I would suppose this would be a big trip for her in many ways.
For me, however, it was definitely a trip I was looking forward to. Our itinerary was simple – Washington DC, Orlando, and NYC. I was looking forward to seeing DC as it was the capital city of one of the greatest (debatable now) nation in the world.
We arrived in Newark in the morning of Thursday and immigration was smooth however there was some concern in collecting our baggage – baggage was delayed to the point we got worried whether we would be able to catch our connecting flight to DC from Newark.
Thankfully we managed to do so and everything was smooth and we safely checked into the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington DC. It was truly a memorable experience for me to be in DC! I soaked it all in although we were dead tired by the time we hit the bed. As the little one needed some food and so did we, we ventured out to a nearby Wallmart to get some basic provisions to keep us through the day.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were amazing days filled with lots of family get-togethers. The wifey for the first time got to meet all my cousins and it was definitely one of my happiest moments in my life for 2019. The fact my cousins’s siblings could also meet and get to know my son was also a special moment for me as we could all see the next generation of family members evolving. For me, that was a very special moment as I had never really seen all my cousins’ kids at one go. It was brilliant.
The wedding ceremonies and church wedding were also equally memorable and we enjoyed every bit of it. Towards the end on Sunday, we ventured into the National Basilica of the US and it was an amazing experience to just be there and experience mass. We also got a chance to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House – it definitely gave me a greater appreciation and perspective on the US seat of power and all the fanfare that goes with it which I used to read about in the news or watch on TV.
We departed from DC on Monday morning with a flight to Orlando. It was a pleasantly smooth trip and it was also another exciting moment for me as I would be driving on the left for the first time. We rented a Hyundai Sonata and it was a comfortable drive back home. I remember checking my surroundings during the drive and making sure everyone was okay while I navigated my way to my uncle’s holiday home.
As the house was not ready and we had arrived earlier, we decided to go to Chick-a-fillet – a uniquely southern restaurant. From there we headed over to Walmart (once again) to stock up on provisions for the next few days. It was a nice feeling being back in the US and shopping in a store like Wallmart although over the years the type of store setting that you see has become so common that it wasn’t that great of a novel feeling I experienced compared to 15 years ago when I landed in Canada. That’s globalization for you!
We ended up the night heading over to the premium outlet mall and we had such a good time shopping! I for one never realized how fun outlet malls were until I saw the price tags! We ended up carting a lot of stuff and we told each other that we would be back for more in two days’ time.
The next day, we went to DisneyWorld. It was definitely an experience for us although at the end of it, despite the horrible rain that almost ruined our spirits that evening, I felt I would definitely want to take our family again to DisneyWorld when the kids are much older. It was definitely a fun place to be and I am sure they would enjoy the trip when the time comes.
We ended our second day in Orlando feeling drenched and tired, but we were looking forward to continuing our shopping the next day.
It was funny waking up every morning and turning on the TV to see local Singaporean Joseph Prince on his TV evangelization mission. I would often joke with the wifey telling her how the accent is the same despite the different audience group and whether she felt “at home”.
For our third day, we started the day early by heading back to the premium outlet more. This time with a full day’s worth of time in our hands we took our time and shopped our hearts’ content. Wifey managed to get lovely CK dresses for herself and I managed to get some awesome clothes too. We even managed to get some really good clothes for the little one and for some of our friends’ kids.
By the time we were done shopping we felt we were all ready to go home. I felt spending a good number of days in Orlando was great to be fully satisfied with the holiday. I also ended up stocking up my Old Spice stash courtesy of Wallmart.
We left Washington on Thursday morning and headed off for NYC, our final destination for our US trip.
More details to come!
