My most recent flight to Tokyo and then to Los Angeles is one of the best and most fulfilling flights I have ever done. I had to drag myself to work the day I departed and I was sure I'll be bored to death. I never really cared much about the shopping anyway. I did not even buy a single thing when I was in the states. In all honesty, I just don't being away for so long.

I had a really pleasant surprise! When I checked in for my flight, I realized one of my friends on the same flight! That cheered me up already. Then I saw the next name, it was my ex-classmate from primary 1 to 4! Oh my God. Can you imagine? We live in the same area, attended the same poly and yet completely lost touch for 10 over years! And we were reunited for the first time on flight!:)

The first night in Tokyo was uneventful coz there was too little time to do much. The real fun began when I was in Los Angeles. My friend's boyfriend was a passenger on our flight and the 3 of us rented a car on the first day and drove down to LA Gun Club.

Fucking hell, it was totally awesome handling a gun for the very first time. I am into dangerous shit like that sometimes when the mood strikes. We girls were trembling with excitement when we held the pistol. It was much heavier than I expected. We got 2 lanes, 3 pistols, 3 targets and 150 bullets. The gun shots coming from the other lane was so loud that we kept jumping with every shot fired. I hate the sound of a popping ballon and a gun shot is at least 10 times louder than that.

I loaded a bullet into my pistol and with my heart pounding furiously, I took aim and fired my first shot.

I missed.

I tried again and this time I hit the target sheet. As I gained my confidence, my excitement drowned out the sounds which had fazed me earlier on. I was not even bothered by the empty bullet shells flying over me from the next lane. I managed to hit the centre of the target a few times!

It is fucking exhilarating and you get a high just from the adrenaline rush. I can't wait to do it again man. We made our way down to Santa Monica but it was too dark by then to see anything.

The next day, we headed out to Death Valley National Park in California. It was a 3 hour drive there from Los Angeles. My gal friend and I took turns to drive as well although her b/f did most of the driving. It was quite a rush driving at 80 miles per hour but it didn't feel like we were going that fast coz all the cars were zipping past in equally alarming speeds!

We spent the whole day and evening driving through the park and stopping at various points to take in all the sights. I was silenced by the subtle beauty of it all. If you really know how to appreciate the wonder of nature, you'd love it. I felt an immense calm settling over me and I came back a different person. I could spend all day just doing that and I will not be bored. I feel really happy to have found a gal friend who shares the same sense of thrill and adventure as me:)

We came back at 3am in the morning and had to fly to Tokyo on the very same day.

Tokyo never fails to fascinate me. I have always liked Japan and this is one of the best times to be there because it is the cherry blossom season. A group of us made our way down to a temple to buy charms and make wishes. Then, we headed down to one of the more prominent parks in Ueno. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and absolutely lovely.

Spent time catching up with Corine, my ex-classmate in Tokyo and I am glad we had so much to talk about:) Such a lovely and meaningful trip this time round. Now, I'm exhausted, have not slept well for more than a week so it is time for me to do so now. Goodnight! Muakz!