Planning Phase

Anticipating how big of a deal this U.S. trip would be, I've planned as early as last year, procrastinating until last month to push it forward. Getting the visa really got the ball rolling. Now, the real game plan has to be drafted ASAP.

For starters, I needed to book tickets. The original plan would bring me to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, New York, Boston in a four-week triptastic holiday. Of course, the powers that be in the office wouldn't have it. So the longest I can have is three weeks. To add to that, I keep forgetting that I'm very, very far from being a millionaire (maybe in rupees or dongs, but not in pesos, much less dollars) and that going on a spending spree will greatly affect retirement funds. That brings it down to essential travel i.e. San Francisco (because of my newborn niece), and New York (because I want to go to New York). I was also determined to fly Singapore Airlines (SQ). However, after checking the prices, I decided against it. That way, an SQ flight from Singapore to San Francisco would even cost a bit more than what I ultimately got. The final flight plan is roundtrip from Singapore to San Francisco and roundtrip from San Francisco to New York, all the way via Northwest Airlines. Both of these booked through Zuji. And so it was written, so shall it be done -- on the 22nd of August.

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Here's a draft of the ever-growing list of things to do over there. Now this is aside from most of the touristy stuff that I'll be doing (like going up the Empire State Building and riding the ferry to Liberty Island). Most of the things listed here I won't be able to do or go to. But listing them down allows me to plan the itinerary better.

Here we go:

1. Great America
2. Woodbury Common
3. Six Flags
4. Eat at Medieval Times - Cable Guy!
   
5. Eat at White Castle - Harold and Kumar!
   
6. Nathan's - Hot dogs! Hot dogs!
   
7. NBA Store - Getting my jersey
   
8. Napa Valley - Maybe not. I'm allergic to alcohol, after all.
   
9. Vacaville
10. Eat at Papa Johns - I saw this on TV
11. Eat at Krispy Kreme
12. Eat at Arthur's
13. U.S. Open - asa pa. But after the epic men's final at Wimbledon last night (between Federer and Nadal), who wouldn't want to see them face-off again?