US WAT C1: Departure from Malaysia to Grand Canyon, U.S.

It's all started with a dream.
A dream to explore somewhere new.

And with the minor help of luck, thank god I was able to have enough financial support to pay for the program fees and air tickets. And it started with curiosity and excitement. Here we go!

It began at Penang International Airport. Ethan and HY were there to say goodbye. :)

Checking important documents. J1-Visa, checked! Passport, checked! Boarding passes, checked!

There were few transfers before we could get to final destination. It's really tiring!
Penang - Singapore - Hong Kong - San Francisco - Phoenix

J1-Visa is the visa for exchange visitor and it comes along with DS-2019 for the details of VISA while allowing you to stay another 30 days after the working period.

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
Pen - City of Merlion
1st meal on the flight. A simple snack.

I felt that Changi Internation Airport is quite comfortable. With free WiFi and proper resting places, it felt alright to overnight there.

You can find free massage too!

The shot with myself, planes, and interior of airport.

This little cute gal js enlightened the night. lol!

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
The journey continued with flight to Hong Kong.
Don't forget to switch your phone to flight mode.

Departing.

Beautiful morning.

And yes! Above the clouds.

United Airline (UA) has the screen to show your current location, along with the outside temperature, mileage travel, distance and time to destination as well.

After you had traveled around US, you will find that, 4 hours flight is nothing.
Reaching.

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
Next flight would be HKG - SFO.
A long and tiring 14 hours flight. I gave my THUMBS UP to the plane as it flew continuously 14 hours, above the Pacific Ocean, under extreme cold temperature reaching -55 to -60 °C.

The flight started with visual audio playback for the safety guidance. No more live performance. Lol!

Breakfast. We proudly brew Starbucks Coffee.

Brunch perhaps? or teatime? Confusing time zone~

The journey was not that boring. In fact, UA has latest movie screening on the plane. I watched "Valentine's Day" and other TV Shows. At least, when your 2-3 hours batt lifetime laptop's dead, there's still optional entertainment.

Accidentally, I saw this interesting look-alike island. It's roughly 3 hours after the departure. Maybe near Japan or Sea of Othotsk. Anyone know what's that?

........
.....
...
..
.

Finally!

I forgot how it felt when I first landed on the States.
It filled with excitement, joy, happiness, accomplishment....what else?

And so, this was taken near the boarding gate of San Francisco International Airport.

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
After the tight security check (as we officially entered US), it's time to the main town of Arizona State, Phoenix.
We had to fly there, then got to a town called Flagstaff, and took a shuttle van to Grand Canyon National Park, that's the place we stayed for 3 months.

**Finding #1: Seems like the stewardess for international flight has age limit, while the stewardess for internal flights within the States has no limit.

Internal Flight: United Airlines

International Flight: United Airlines

International Flight: Silk Air

Well, this is Phoenix, capital of Arizona.

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
It's noon and it's freaking hot! Even hotter than Malaysia!
Cause this place is a desert place with extreme temperature.

We gonna take Greyhound bus to Flagstaff. I asked the lady at information counter:
"How far the distance is from the airport to Greyhound Bus Terminal?"
"About 2 miles."

Well, a mile is equivalent to approximately 1.6km. We thought that probably it's expensive to call a cab, so we decided to WALK.
It's definitely not a wise decision, esp under striking hot sun!

After a short time, we were glad to meet a police officer, who was kind enough to give us a free ride.
That's COOL!!!!

We were like criminals, behind the bars! Lol!

The in-car comp system.

And here's the guy that gave us the 1st ride!

He kept on reminding us be careful and watch our belongings.
Probably because Greyhound bus is one of the cheapest ways to travel around US and diff kinds of ppl esp low income group will take the ride. Someone said the passengers on the bus look like those characters in Prison Break. LOL!

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
And yes! We were here at Flagstaff. A town near to the Grand Canyon.
There's a university in the town, so there's lotsa students around.

Here's the hostel we spent our first night. 20 bucks with free breakfast.

The lobby.

The room.

Overall, it's clean, cheap and comfortable.
Of course, we shared the bathroom.
Sometimes, you might see unattended underwear like this. LOL!

Everyone who works in US has to apply the Social Security Card. It's like an employee identity with certain benefits.

Spent some time wandering around the town. She was happy!

That's the shuttle that drove us to the Natural Wonder of the World.

------------------------------------------------- XXX -------------------------------------
The roads in States are long and endless. It leads to somewhere eventually, just takes time.

Finally!

After the registration, we were assigned to our room. This was the first time I stayed in a trailer room.
The road and trees were outside your door step.

Not bad huh.

And I stayed with the wildlife too!

The next day, we've been through a series of orientation programs.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Xanterra, the company we worked for, is a park and resort company.
Xanterra means beautiful places on the earth.
It manages the lodging for Grand Canyon NP, Yellowstone NP, Bryce NP, Zion NP, Mount Rushmore NP and more!

That's my identity.

The free shuttle bus takes you to almost everywhere you need to go everyday.

As life goes on, you have to get used to these food~~

..................
...............
.........
.....
..

This is just the beginning.





If you appreciate the effort, don't hesitate to click "like" as motivation. Thanks