new friends we met in bariloche, they were real cute and nice to me. one of the things we did along the trip is that when kids run to us and wanted to take pictures, we would. then they ask me where we came from, i would take out my world map to educated them where and what is Singapore.
pay and go in to look at the dead? com'on. my trip is about life. i would rather spend the money on buying a meal to a new friend.
one of the hotel in Bariloche, argentina. when can we get to stay a night??
the town in Bariloche, argentina.
we visited a chinese resterant in santiago. looks cool with all the chinese bosses and chinese furniture. we ordered a wan-tan. big serving of crispy fried dough and 5mm of meat?!
at bariloche, argentina
in argentina, many people came to us and talked to us. the usual questions are:1) Q: where are you from
A: singapore
2) Q : which country did u visit?
A : blah blah......... blah..(the list of the countries).
3) Q: where do u what go?
A: blah blah blah
4) Q: what brand is the bike and how many cylinder?
A: honda. 2 cyliner.
4) Q: what brand is the bike and how many cylinder?
A: honda. 2 cyliner.
bye!
many people talked to us. we kept answering their question. they can see that we are tired, lost, hungry and looking for a place to rest. Nobody iniciate us if we need any help. no body ask if we need to find a place to stay. no body ask if we need a drink. well, i dont expect them to be like the pakistanis that paid us food in the shop. just a little help or a show of concern that we are tired and dont disturb us or at least asking so much questions, may offer us some help about local terrain. NOTHING!
but in this campsite, i met 4 wonderful 'strangers' that became friends. there are the first to offer us help. they ask where we were going next and they start to bring out their map and show us, giving us all the neccessery information. they even bought us breakfast on the next day when we were leaving. these 2 couples were from other cities far away and came to El Bolson to travel also. Thank you very much!
it is common to see this in touristic places.
1328 in santiago
we met friends from Hong Kong... had a very good time with each other, abit of chinese new year mood!
Santiago
one of the camp site in chile
another camp site in chile
恭喜发财
we would like to thank Adrain low (3rd time), Koh Chin Yee (4th time) and Timothy Low (my childhood friend) for making their generous donation. they had given us a very big ang pao for CNY! really really thank you all!
we are at chile now. santiago, applying visa for panama (1 month process), costa rica (2 weeks process), mexico, canada and usa.
we are very afraid of usa because we got rejected once and its very expensive and difficult! US$131 application fee per person. the only problem is that we cannot show them a confirmed return air ticket out of USA.
can anyone suggest a airline that let us have a reservation ticket (showing name of passenger, date of flight and location) without paying any confirmation? we must convince the officer that we are leaving the country, they only reconize a return ticket!?
we need help:
we would now like to purchase 2 OPEN ticket from america (any airport) to australia (sydney), making sure its the cheapest. OPEN ticket means the date of departure could be changed. estimated date of departure is july 2009.
like today, i told the panama embassy that we are entering panama by boat from columbia and will travel to nicuaragua by motorbike. they insisted us to have a two way ticket showing that we are also exiting the country.... how to? well, i will do some magic!
we want to go alaska and come back to usa and ship the bike to australia. that means we have to do a usa visa here, enter usa, exit usa and go canada, apply a usa visa again in canada and enter alaska, exit canada to go alaska, exit alaska to enter canada, do usa visa again in canada to go usa. we have to do 3 times usa visa! (usa do not issue multiple entries visa)
even we get a visa for usa,it doesnt mean we are allowed enter usa, it depend on the custom officer on the border! they can reject our entry on the border even we have a visa.
will update more after we finish the paperwork for the USA visa. its giving me too much headache!!!!
. im going to get Hope Too's rear tire changed 1st before it get any nails in. how do i know if my chain is worn off and need to be replaced? it had been about 48000km since day 1.
this blog will be resting from 26 Feb 09 - 27 Feb 09 due to the chinese new year.
we will be on skype during chinese new year, 26 Feb 2009, 1300 hrs (GMT+8hr) to 1400hrs (GMT+8hr) my skype name is goh.mia.chun
wishing all of you have a properious year of the Ox ahead.
Lottery fans, here are some numbers that will appear on the next draw
1st: 7658
2nd: 3515
3rd: 7413
consulation:
7651 3207 0321 7807 1788
2309 0101 4559 0324 9812
starter:
4437 9027 8916 7717 5333
6890 5155 6109 0480 7382
good luck!
15 comments:
What class of USA visa are you applying for? The Visitor (B) visa?Is there no way to just apply under the Visa Waiver Programme for Singapore passports?
Maybe you can show the consular officer the CBP guidelines on land entry to USA?
The VWP permits arrivals from Mexico and Canada at land border ports-of-entry (POEs). The documentary requirements are the same, except there is no requirement for round-trip tickets and signatory carriers, as there are no carriers involved. You must satisfy the inspecting officer that you have funds to support yourself during your stay and to depart the United States.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/business_pleasure/vwp/vwp.xml
hi contrarian. yes, im holding on to the singapore passport but not sam. singaporean are under the visa waiver program but i would like to have a 90days entry. at the same time, i want to enter the embassy with sam because her expression skills are not that good to the tough officers. the website u gave me is very very useful. thanks alot. did u enter usa by motorbike also?
Glad to be of help. I entered USA years ago by plane on a J class visa before all these new requirements came up.
Maybe you can consult the consular officer, would a good way be for you to apply under the VWP for yourself (this is good for 90 days max), but apply for a B2 visa for Sam?
Good news, the finance minister is giving all of us some GST credits. If you have already signed up previously in 2007, this will be paid to your bank by 1 March 2009.
im quite confident about getting the visa because we are under the visa waiver program. but for sam, i had to do alot of homework for that. its not cheap mann... US$131 x 2 to APPLY only, plus many hidden cost like we have to buy a phone card that cost US$14 to call their service center to book an appointment and it can be used for 8 minutes within 1 year. good?
thanks singapore for the gst refund. 3 cheers!!!
Xing Nian Kwai Le!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!! :D
I'm back in the States, and now celebrating CNY in LA with old friends. It's surreal at first to be home after 3.5 months in S. America but with time (I've been back a little more than a week), I find myself re-adapting to life back here.
When you and Sam eventually make your way here to California, let me know. I hope to meet up with you two again.
Visas are a pain in the neck. I skipped out on Paraguay and Bolivia this time around because of visas - primarily, I didn't want to pay the visa fees. For Bolivia, I didn't think it was worth paying US$150 for a week's visit - I'll go there when I have more time. As for Paraguay, don't know of any 'must-sees' there so decided not to pay $$$ to visit.
Hope you'll straighten out your visas soon. Stay well and strong.
Hi it's me again! saw your previous post - how to make a "better blog"? hey, your blog is already great! like what I said previously, what are blogs for right? there isnt any "good" or "better" or "best" blog! there are only great blogs! blogs that make pple read! blogs that make pple brings smiles and sadness to readers though words. bloggers need not (NEVER!!) needed to have beautiful and flowerly languages typed. remember - it is YOUR blog right? you are penning down your feels not what other pple feel and think abt it!
this round, you gave me great numbers!! (what did they come from? lol......).
(dont wori......m really not some1 u knew though I hope we will meet one day when you are back here in our homeground!!)
thanks for responding!
Wishing U and Sam - GONG XI FA CAI!!
remember to gif HOPE a BIG HUG on this special holiday season!
hey guys.. so much to think of, good we had no trouble at all as Europeans... :-) I understand what you mean with all the questions, but no further indication of help.. I would like to help you somehow, but as you know, also we are short of money and have to get back home somehow from the south, but when we are back and get our jobs back in may I hope we can support you more! good luck and take care, andrea and thomas (we are in coihaique now, at the carretera austral)
Hi Goh, it Norman here from ST group. You were asking about whether your bike chain is it still in working condition. For me when I'm riding a chain driven bike, I usually check the chain by pulling the chain away from the rear spocket. If I can see the tip of the spocket I will change the chain plus front and rear spocket. Hope these information do help you.
hi sandra: happy new year, hope u will have bak gua in LA. u gonna travel more after this? i guess u are thinking what im thinking:how we wish there were no visas in this world. its all politics that affect the normal people like us. will drop u a message when we are near to LA!
heartache: thanks for the pat on my shoulder. hope u won the lottery! can u advise what readers would want to see from our travel blog? im not a good story teller.
andrea and thomas! we had skipped that place u at. did u managed to get any free camping in chile?well, we would need more advise from u rather $ from u.like daniel, he had given great advise and it helped us saved US$400 today! keep in touch!
hi amen23,
i did that pull on the spocket. its abit lose so i tighten the chain abit and it is ok. the rear spocket still looked perfect for me.
btw, is simon busy? hows stoc now? i did not get to meet u guys after stoc helped me on my wedding. because im very busy setting up my business, working 16hrs a day, 7 days a week for $ for the trip. if u see them, tell them i really really appriciate their brotherhood. i wanted to pass my wedding dvd to simon but he never reply me sms....
I have not contact with Simon for very long time already. Last heard that he is busy with his kid. The club is doing fine, all are enjoying themselves been together. Some of us have tone down on touring due to upgrade from single and having kids.....
yes amen23: as age grew, we changed toys. i read that the stoc welcomed the mute rider from russia. that is a very good thing to do. i have alot of friends want to come to singapore but we are not there to host them....
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