I first came to Florida last summer of 2006. It was sizzling hot. A place nowhere to go without having to drive a car, it frustrates me considering the place where I came from, Singapore. A country full of people, excellent public transportation, huge varieties of food next to each others, Big shopping centers, Flea Markets, Night Outs, and more. It's a place a would call Tiny City with everything great to offer. Having to visit United States for the first time and landing in a place like Cape Canaveral, It's an absolute change. Some kind of a place I have not dreamt of getting into. Ha ha ha, but I came anyway. Shopping mall is limited, some spots are not filled, very few shoppers, not too many food to choose from, amazingly most of the products are made from China,No huge buildings that you can see and from the look of it, there is NO PLACE for me to work to make my living...well, I could care less about all these but transportation is too great to ignore aside from not being able to find establishments to work to.
The first thing I have to look for is the Asian or Oriental Store, so that I can look for some ingredients I can use for cooking since no food rings a bell for me. I happened to be very choosy and stubborn when it comes to food. I prefer satisfying my tongue rather than the nutritional needs of my body, and since most of the Restaurants here do not use MSG, I don't get to like their food. I do notice that most of their vegetables are something not known to my experience except from cabbage, broccoli, tomato and other salad stuffs. I was looking for more of greens that we can use for cooking like Bokchoy, Petchay, sweet potato leaves, and other vegetables I used to eat in Asia. And I said "Here is when Culture difference strikes me". Asian have various funky smelling sauces that we love to add on our every meal, from fermented fish to shrimp to beans and vegetables into anything you can think about and see on the market, they all really smell very very bad but for Asian taste bud they cant help themselves but love it and eat it, and the people I lived with just could not help but Hate the smell! hahahaha. They have not even smelled the fried dried fish which they call "DEAD MEAT" when i showed it to them, I think they would jump out the building if I cook that.. I don't get to see chicken feet or pork intestine BBQ on the street, I think if a Chinese comes here he would really feel alienated considering that in China, they BBQ almost everything. They even BBQ wheat grass. Ha ha ha. I miss China.
As a first timer, i wanna get a prepaid phone line and a new phone maybe to communicate with my family while I'm out for a vacation, Hey, I need to pay for everything. Even for receiving incoming SMS and call would be charged to me. Amazing. We don't have that in Asia, do we? We have free incoming SMS and calls all day long. We don't even have to pay for IDD charge when we receive IDD incoming call. But why do I have to pay everything here? Communication is just too expensive here.
But Hey! They have great white sand beaches around the area! Entrance is free and you can swim all day you want at your own risk. Hotels are everywhere next to the beach if you wanna stay overnight or McDonald's, Long John Silver's and Taco Bells are next to each other if you wanna eat something when you get grumpy tummy. Thinking about Beaches, in Philippines you will have to pay minimum 3 dollars each person to go swim in a beach.. and that is only for a day!!! Just for a day! You have to rent shades for about 12 dollars or more, and rent a BBQ pit if you wanna grill. While in US, they have camping site which you only have to pay 10 dollars in a year if you are a resident and you can swim, bbq, camp all week you want!! That is one of the greatest thing so far that I have seen here. You can see birds flying and walking on the front yard... without fear of being eaten! hahaha If i think about it, You cant see any single bird in Philippines or they will get fried right away!! Crazy ha ha ha.
Wandering around, I don't get to see too many Asians. And you see one or two but they have totally ignored my beauty. I guess I'm too cute to be noticed. ha ha ha..
So last 2006, I was here in Cape Canaveral, with no food that i like, no friends, no malls to shop from except Wal-Mart or Publix, and NO TRANSPORTATION to go wander around the area on my own.
A totally different vacation experience for me. During that time, i always dreamt of spending vacation at New York City, would be nice to see different face of United States:) After all, US is a place where you can easily pursuit your happiness!!! & I will wait for that time to come:)
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