Work and Travel USA Part III: Travelling in East Coast

After working for 3 and a half months, here comes the 30 days summer travelling!

Below is the list of places that I have travelled, from Day 1 in the USA until the very last day. :)

1) New Jersey

2) Philadelphia

3) Washington, D.C.
4) New York

5) Niagara Falls

6) Chicago

7) San Jose

8) Point Lobos

9) Santa Cruz

10) San Francisco

11) Sacramento

12) Napa Valley

13) Grand Canyon

14) Las Vegas

15) Los Angelos

Jersey Shore, NJ

Asbury Park Boardwalk

In New Jersey, it's all about shopping because all the apparels in NJ are TAX FREE! Went to Asbury Park, Jersey Premium Outlet, Jackson Premium Outlet, Jersey Garden and Seaside. As I am working in NJ, all the travelling within NJ were in between working days. 

Fun fact: Have you been to Johor Premium Outlet (JPO)? It looks the same as the other premium outlets in the US because, they are owned by the same company, under Simon group! 

Philadelphia, PA
Besides, we also rent a car to Philly and Washington DC for one-day trip respectively. Philadelphia is an important city in America, as it witnesses the signing of independence documents and policy making in the US history. Civil War also painted the story of the city, where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall in town uphold the significance of the revolution and the new birth of real "Liberty" in the US. 

Park in front of Philadelphia Museum of Art.

There are a lot of museums in Philly, namely Benjamin Franklin Museum, Art Museum and more. The most important lesson I have learnt from the city is the rise of slavery before the Civil War, the story of Africans fighting their rights till today. Besides, if you are opt for nature, you can travel to Longwood Garden, which is 1 hour away from Philly to enjoy the vast collection of greenhouses, gardens and sound of nature. It is simply one of my favourite cities indeed, walking in between the beautiful historical buildings with good food, not to forget the food and things are cheap too! 

The best ice cream in town! At Reading Market.

Longwood Garden at night. The secrets of nature under the dark :)

Washington, D.C.
Washington DC is also another city full of museums. A visit to the Air and Space Museum is a must, where they display the full equipment of Apollo and several important victory moments of human exploration into space. The White House is also something not to miss out. Even though it's not for public access, you can still take a photo with the political icon of the country from the exterior. :)

White House is a petite in person! Haha.

World War II Memorial, Abraham Lincoln Monument and Pentagon are also some of the important sites to visit as well. If you're not very interested in the museums, a one-day trip in Washington DC should be sufficient to visit all must-go locations. For food recommendation, try out the brunches at Founding Farmers which is just a few blocks away from The White House. ;)

Facing the Lincoln Monument, and the WWII Memorial is right behind us.

Yankee Pot Roast, a fusion of Chinese & Western food, with tender beef, potato and celery in creamy salty sauce :)

New York City, NY
The skyscraper city of the world. There are simply too many things to do in Manhattan, and it depends on your personal preference. The same story applies, where there are tons of museums in the city. For my personal recommendation, take a tour (2-3 hours each) in the famous ones - The Met for arts (Go to the rooftop garden!), American Museum of Natural History for dinosours and 911 Memorial Museum for the story. I personally love 911 the most, because of its relevance to the world and the content, interaction of the museum that tells you how lucky we are to live in this world and the importance of peace. P.S Probably it's because I don't have in depth knowledge in history, science or classical art. XD 

The Ground of the famous World Trade Center. From 107 floors to ground 0.

To watch the landscape of NYC, go to Top of the Rock. The reason why you choose this instead of The Empire State Building is because, you want to see the Empire building from top, having it as your scenery, background of the pic. Remember to pre-book visit slots because it's always a long queue but limited spots. Sunset is the best time to get both day and night views. :)

Empire State Building standing out from the rest :)

People love to go Times Square. My suggestion is, don't miss watching a Broadway show. The phantom of the opera, The Lion King, Aladdin etc, are everywhere is Broadway. Experience one if you do appreciate musical. I have watched Phantom several times at different locations. Still, nothing is comparable to the one in Broadway! 

Next stop, visit Liberty Island early in the morning. Book online earlier. You get the see the beautiful coastline of Manhattan, avoiding the larger crowd coming in the afternoon & evening. For sunset, go to Brooklyn Bridge State Park for the famous Brooklyn or Manhattan bridge. Walk on the Brooklyn bridge to the other end if you have time. It's breathtaking  :)

Romantic proposal by the Manhattan bridge site :)

For foodie, try Shake Shack, Totto Ramen, Halal Guys, Poke Bowl, Bibble and Sip and more (Google!), just to name a few.  There are also a lot interesting fusion restaurants in NYC, try them out even it's Asian food. You'll be surprised. Trust the Google and Yelp reviews, the pages say it all. <3

Totto Ramen: Although I have never been to Japan, this is the best ramen I have ever tasted by far in life! The flavourful soup, yum yum.

Niagara Falls
There are two sites to enjoy the waterfall sites - New York State / Canada. I visited the New York park due to Visa issuance. When you talk about Niagara Falls, Maid of The Mist is a must-go to have a close-up experience of gallons of water pouring down. Cave of The Winds is also popular to experience walking to the back site of the fall. At night, it's colder by the falls too, remember to wear more even it's summer :)

Magnificent view from New York State Border; High rise building at the opposite end is Canada's.

Almost missed a train to Niagara Falls earlier, glad that we were lucky enough to make it, and watched this fireworks on a Sunday night :)

Chicago, IL
Chicago is an architectural and artistic city. There are rivers and bridges everywhere in the city, giving opportunities to admire the beauty of the city on water boat and gondolas.  Half of city, the buildings across the river was destructed by a wildfire - Great Chicago Fire, and rebuilding those is where the architecture in Chicago started to shine. We took a gondola ride in Chicago, and the tour guide explained about the history of Chicago on how it became the third most populous cities in the US, after New York and LA. We could also view the beautiful night view of Navy Pier from the boat as the boat traveled out to the ocean.

Arts and architecture are what the city is made up of. We went to Cloud Gate 7am early in the morning, to have a solo picture with The Bean. There are a lot of interesting sites and restaurants near the city too - Millennium Park, fountain, sculptures, Le Pain Quotidien and list goes on and on. We were lucky to meet a humanity professor at Chicago Cultural Center, who is also a member of Art Institute of Chicago. He brought us into the Art Institute of Chicago and shared the art history besides interpreting the meaning of drawings and art pieces. This is something I personally think Malaysia is lacked of. We don't learn much of world history. philosophy, arts and humanities etc and how much you know depends on your personal exposure and family upbringing.

Beautiful view of the city :)

Advantage of being there @ 7am, no one would ever photo bomb! ;)

Money Museum at Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, open for public, free of charge  ;)

Tall buildings are what Chicago is famous for. John Hancock Center which is a few blocks away from Magnificent Mile is one of the popular observatory towers in the city. Instead of getting tickets up there, my friend and I went to the sky bar - The Signature Lounge @ 95th floor. The view from the restaurant or sky bar enables you to enjoy the view of the city besides dining. Not to forget, you can even enjoy the landscape of the city inside the ladies washroom. ;)

View from the the ladies toilet;) but sadly nope from the males. :/

The most prominent landmark building in Chicago is none other than Willis Tower, which was once the tallest building in the world! The observatory deck has a section of transparent glasses, to view the ground from 99th floor. Scary yet exciting. We were lucky to get the evening slot to witness both spectacular day and night views. :)

Feeling butterflies in the stomach while shooting this! Haha

Lastly, the highlight of the Chicago trip is all about skydiving! This is the most exciting moment of life by far, to jump off from 12,000 feet. It took some hassle to register, travel and gear up ourselves beforehand. But the 55 seconds of free fall and the few minutes of parachuting afterwards is just a once-in-a-lifetime experience that everyone should at least experience once! :D

Preparing myself to open the parachute!

This is all for East Coast travel, and there will be more about West Coast coming soon:)