NADZIR & RAHIMA

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

USA Trip Day 4

03.02.09
I woke up @ 12 midnite and as usual, can't sleep after that. I slept from 6 in the evening yesteday after got back from Winston-Salem. Pretty tired...
Once I woke up called my dear wife and she was kinda dissappointed with me for not going out to explore Charlotte City. Well, having said that I decided to go out to the city center and check-out their nightspots alone. It was pretty nervous at first but soon after I saw Charlotte's skyscrapers, I got excited.
Drove around the city for like 40 minutes but didn't managed to find any nightspots. Saw a few bars such 'dixies', 'sports bar', 'ice club' & 'uptown cabaret'. The bars were scattered around the city. By the time I got there at 1am, most of them are already closed.
About 2 am, I drove back to the hotel. Nothing to explore after midnite in Charlotte. Reached my hotel at 2.30 am, watched some TV, and went to sleep.
Woke up again at 7.30am, planned to go to wal-mart or factory outlet shop in uptown charlotte after breakfast. This LaQuintas Hotel is really good. They provide free breakfast. This is the only hotel in US that provide free breakfast so far. They have waffle, muffin, cereals, bread, egg, fruits, yogurt, juice and coffee (as usual).
We moved out of the hotel at about 8.30am and head straight to charlotte city center. The traffic was a bit busy. To my surprise, most of the shops in the city are still close! What the heck??! Cruised around the city for 15 minutes and we set our GPS to Alamo's rental car area at Charlotte Airport.
Once arrive at the destination, I saw the spike at the entrance barrier. Hesitated for a minute but the shuttle bus driver behind me signalled me to just go forward. Then I can see that spikes are one-way pass. It's like the non-return valve in our plant. You can only go thru it one way, while if you go the opposite way, you'll get stuck. In this case, your tires will get burst!
Checked into the US Airways counter at the outside of the airport. Took only about a min or two...have about 2 hrs before we board our flight. Walkaround at the airport, and bought 3 souvenirs. 2 fridge magnets & 1 t-shirt. Not sure yet for who. As I walkaround the airport, I can see that there are a total of 6 starbucks outlet spreadout in the 5 airport concourse area. There were also at least 4 large bookstores in here. It says a lot about the culture here in the US when you see these stores. They like coffee and they like to read books. The end.
And speaking of culture, I cannot be more amaze when I went to their restrooms (are as we say toilet). It is soo clean, dry, very modern, and they even have listerine and sweets too in there!! I mean this is an airport for heaven's sake! They can maintain the standard even though hundreds of people using it everyday. How did they do it? I'm a shame to say this but their restrooms...are cleaner & shinier than my house's living room! You can sleep in there if they allow you to. I just wanna have a last look at their restroom and maybe take a pic or two just to prove it to you.
My flight to Hartford, Connecticut is a bit late. It was scheduled @ 1245 hrs but we only boarded the flight @ 1305. Took off @ 1325 hrs. On my way to Hartford now.

Labels: nadzir, vacation

posted by NADZIR & RAHIMA @ 1:29 AM

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