Easter Retreat - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Due to closure, our original plan of going on the Maid of The Mist Niagara Falls Boat Ride on Saturday was thwarted. The plan to wake up at 630 am to watch the sunrise at the Falls also did not materialize as both Yizhuan and I could not wake up in time. I made a last minute proposal to go down to Pennsylvania, since I had told Gaurav and Junhao that I would try to visit them there if possible. We called Gaurav to get directions. It would take a mad 7 hrs to drive down. Knowing my wish, Yizhuan agreed without hesitation to the really daunting task. And so, at 930 am, we started on our marathon car ride. I have always liked long distance car travels. I am not sure if Yizhuan does so too. Nevertheless, I couldn’t thank him more for going the distance with me. Indeed, this has been much the story of my entire visit to Cornell. I think both of us would agree though, that the journey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was more than worth it.

Gaurav and Junhao appeared almost immediately upon our arrival. Yizhuan and I had dinner with Gaurav, who has definitely matured a lot since RI, but somehow, upon seeing both of us, glimpses of the same old Gaurav shone through, and his usual snide remarks at me, and the jokes about the teachers. We all felt 15 all over again.

Supper was perhaps the highlight of the visit to Philly. Yinwei, who I have not met ever since Secondary 4, traveled back from Washington to meet us upon hearing we were in town. Yizhuan, Junhao, Yinwei, myself, and 2 of Yizhuan’s VJ Council-mates Stephanie and Weihan , met in Philly Diner. I think it was the most enjoyable group gatherings I have had since going overseas, or even in the past few years. Not everyone knew everyone else, those who did had hardly seen each others for years, yet endless laughter filled the night. There was I, aiming jokes relentlessly at the expense of Junhao and Yizhuan, with both trying their best to retaliate. Yinwei was laughing his head off, and so were Stephanie and Weihan, all providing the classic one-liners. While the conversations will be censored on this blog, what I will write down for posterity will be that it’s really been a while that I have been so happy among a group. People who want to be happy, who are happy, and who want all around them to be happy, will be the happiest people themselves. Junhao, Yinwei, Yizhuan and I played mahjong overnight at Yinwei’s place till 5 am.

We then awoke at 9am to go on a tour of the Independence Sites in Philadelphia, which is the birthplace of American independence. Both Junhao and Yinwei had incredibly slept less than 6 hrs in the last 36 hours. We were given a very concise but informative talk on America’s independence, from colonization under the British, to the Declaration of Independence, to the Constitution. A group of students from California were in the same group as us. They were taking photographs, and actively participating in the question and answer sessions, showing good knowledge and interest of their countries Independence history. Singapore’s journey to Independence from colonization doesn’t seem any less exciting than America’s (perhaps we had no War of Independence, but we did have WW2), but somehow, my impression is that students in Singapore are hardly enthusiastic about our road to nationhood. I definitely felt proud of our independence as I saw America’s. While the US is huge, and we are a dot, I think it was a similar spirit, ambition and drive that drove us to make our independence a reality and a success.

After lunch at a Malaysian restaurant, where I had the closest semblance to Singapore food overseas (the ones in UK are mainly Hong Kong, with lots of oil), Yizhuan and I headed back to Cornell. It would be another 4 hours before we reached Cornell. And I want to end of this post by saying that, though I myself barely slept when Ping Khuan visited me in Cardiff, and I do subconsciously expect from my close friends what I would give myself, there was never a moment throughout the weekend from Niagara to Philly that I did not feel amazed and touched by the sacrifices that Yizhuan, Junhao and Yinwei made to make my one day trip truly so very memorable. I hope somehow, I brought some joy to all of you through my visit, and made up for all the time you lost. Thank you.

Onboard American Airline from New York to Chicago

Note: For the second time in a week, I have had a delayed flight and missed my connecting flight. Worse still, I have had to go to a different airport form earlier planned. I really doubt I can collect my luggage successfully after touch down. It has been a mad air travel experience. My flight from Syracuse to New York departed an hour late. I missed my original flight from NY to Midway. I was referred to another airline in another terminal which I had to run to, only to be told that plane had left too. Upon transfer to yet another flight, not to Midway but to Ohare (also Chicago). I asked what would happen to my luggage and the reply I received was, “You worry about that when you touch down!” I was then selected for special screening, and had a full body check. If not for my prior experience in Ops Dept SPF dealing with security plans, I definitely would not have been as accommodating and understanding and patient as I was. To top it all, after getting on the plane, we were stuck on the runway for a full hour, waiting in line as other planes took off. To think I thought all airports are like Changi. Now I know. I will cross my fingers that I meet Chin Siong without hassle, and my luggage arrives on time. We shall see.
Afternote: I reached Chin Siong’s place safely at 12mn. But as I expected, my luggage is missing. Nothing valuable within except clothes. Hopefully they return it tomorrow