0

Location : LA Airport, California, USA
Date : 20/11/1998 (Friday)

Time : 11:30am
Rolled out the luggage and waited by the Airport. Destination: Universal City Hilton Hotel by means of the slim blue "Super Shuttle". Cool air embraced me. Standing beside me waiting was another fellow competitor donned in grey sweater. Greeted the bespectacled guy and asked him which project he did. Too excited I forgot his reply. In a minute or two, the blue beauty arrived. The very first observation I made was the location of the steering wheel and the driver. Hah. Left side instead of the right side. Mountain tortoise me. Climbed into the passenger seat beside the driver. There wasn't a need for any air conditioning - the weather was real fine.

The journey to Hilton Hotel was long. We caught the LA Jam(I guessed) on our way. Enjoyed the scenes as the shuttle crawled through. There I saw the ever so famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign on the far side. Sigh... The jam was loooooong...

What a welcome.

Location : Lobby, Universal City Hilton, Los Angeles

Check in time. Checked my name against the Thinkquest namelist and received a goody haversack, well, sort of. It contained a water bottle, a T-shirt, a disposable camera, a Web Yellowpages and a few mags. Received a Thinkquest collar pin and a name tag as well. I've forgotten my room number, but I do remember the floor number, which was seventeen. Zoomed all the way up on the lift. Hah. First time I was using the swipe card to open a door. Had a little misadventure. Tried swiping the card in different directions but the door refused the budge. Then I swiped once more, saw the green light, and pushed the handle. There goes.

Location : Hotel Room, Universal City Hilton, Los Angeles

The air inside was rather stale. Warmness crept slowly out of the opened door. Stepped in and closed it shut. Oooo... I like the warmness... Unpacked my stuff and had a brief shower(erm... bath).

Ahh. Much refreshed. Called the operator to ask for instructions for International calls. Tried my Grandpa's house(Parents at work). Got through! After a series of greetings and miss yous, I hanged up and proceeded to the lobby to get acquanited with the surroundings.

Location : Lobby, Universal City Hilton, Los Angeles

There, looking around, I noticed someone very familiar. Hey! It's Jason and his Mom checking in! They too saw me and we recognised one another immediately(prior to my flight, we sent one another photos of ourselves). Mrs Anderson gave me a real warm hug. =)

I found myself at the car park helping out with their luggage. The stay was going to be real fun. Heh. We were going to celebrate one of Jason's teammate's(Ania from Poland) birthday the next day! Found myself very much acquainted to them. After all the luggage stuff had been settled in the respective hotel rooms, we went down to the lobby again for a stroll. Jason introduced me to his other teammates who had already arrived and were waiting at the lobby sofas. Wasn't it a little bit early to hold a team meeting? My team mates hadn't even arrived yet! Hehe.

After the meeting, we found ourselves wondering aimlessly into the so-called Generator Room. Upon entering the room, our senses were assaulted by an inconceivably shocking juxtaposition of lime green and navy blue decorating the walls, floor and furniture. What seemed like an endless array of computers occupied bright-green "tables" that meandered their way across the entire room. The "carpeting," apparently blue astroturf, was interspersed with green "troll doll hair" carpeting. Inflatable chairs of all colours, pillows in the shapes of fish, star-shaped lamps, lanterns shaped like fishing bobbins, pipes, larger-than-life flowers, and a massive...erm... "generator" finished out the decor. It was totally awesome!

Jason introduced me to a game called "You Don't Know Jack". I guess those who are familiar with American culture will find this game very interesting. I sat on the chair and pondered over the questions. Ooo.. What the heck... Then we switched to Star Craft and began a multiplayer conquest. Heh. Total annihilation! Obviously, being the one who doesn't play computer games much, I lost terribly.

We went on to explore the outskirts of the hotel. Universal Studios and the Universal Citywalk was within walking distance. Took us less than five minutes to reach Universal Citywalk - a wide gravel path meandering down the street with shops lining both sides, leading up to Hard Rock Cafe with the bigger than life trademark electric guitar model.

Mrs Rosemary Anderson(Mrs A from now on) treated me to a new type of refreshment. Called Frozen Fusion, it's a blend of ice and fruits. A winning combination! Continued down the gravel path. Taken lots of pictures, of course.

Location : Lobby, Universal City Hilton, Los Angeles
Time : Night
Event : International Food Festival

The name sounded mystifying. Who wouldn't expect a myriad of International food? Was quite disappointed actually. Chinese food wasn't included in the fanfare. Duh. The only food worth savouring were the nachos and chips. Heh.

Cameron and Jeroen hadn't arrived. I was worried sick.

Location : Ballroom, Universal City Hilton, Los Angeles

It was time for welcome reception and group experience at the Ballroom. Saw Ms Judy Lee (Singapore Co-ordinator representative), Gim Teck and Vincent(both from National Junior College). No sign of Cameron and Jeroen. Sigh. Participated in supposed-to-be ice-breaker games in which we held our hands(crossed) together and tried to form an unbroken circle. Next came the ever so familiar treasure hunt. Before everything ended, I caught a glimpse of a tall guy with with a cap. Cameron!! Next came Jeroen! Team introduction came next. Sleep came next cause it's way past midnight. Zzz... (What a quick ending. Heh.)

Thinkquest Status
[OOO...........................................] 2.5%

Food of the Day
Self-cooked Egg Toasts! I'm very proud of em! Hee hee...

Colour of the Day
Black remains still

Phrase of the Day
"That's shakespeare in love..."