Tag Archives: USA

Seeing New Things

14 Jun

When evening came, we drove our ‘new’ car to go in search of dinner. We ended up trying Mexican – Tacovore, which was very flavorful. After our meal, we checked out the local grocery store.

Our ride, a Cadillac XT4

Herbivore Taco, Chips & Salsa, Carnivore & Seafood Taco and Seafood Stew

American food items on the shelves are huge which makes me wonder, cheaper by the bulk? We were amazed at some of the oversized items like cereal, peanut butter and chips which we don’t get back home in terms of the sizes. It’s quite an eye-opener.

Huge, huge, HUGE!!!

Biggest bag of chips ever!

The day ended with meeting parents of some of M1’s friends who are also here for the big day on Saturday.

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Long Long Night

12 Jun

It rained and poured like crazy thus we had to leave home a little bit earlier to beat the traffic to get to the airport. What would normally take slightly under an hour took us an hour and a half.

But we had to leave early because sometimes when the timing is off by a mere five minutes, the consequences are very stressful. In this case, anticipating the traffic heading towards the airport.

But luckily we managed to arrive early despite a 45-minute crawl at one stretch on the highway. Oh well, we didn’t mind. Better early than late. We waited for an hour before the counters opened for check-in. And within a short time, we were checked in and all set!

We then went to the Premium Lounge to have a light dinner and a nice cold Carlsberg, chilling for an hour before heading to the gate. Everything was smooth sailing.

However, departure was slightly delayed because the runway was congested and we took off at 11.48pm, a 28-minute delay. We are finally on our way.

Within a short while, dinner was served! My goodness, talk about a midnight snack, it was a hearty Briyani Chicken rice. I ate whatever I could, which was not much, and tried to sleep. Not easy though.

Throughout the long long night, it was very uncomfortable. The seats were very narrow. I turned left, I turned right and couldn’t find a comfortable position. Needless to say, I hardly slept and we have another ten plus hours journey to go after the transit.

I dozed in and out of sleep. Somehow time went by pretty fast and soon, day was breaking and I couldn’t sleep anymore. My watch showed 7.45am, KL’s local time. And the first thing that came to my mind was my Candy Crush Soda! Hah! Still can’t let go.

The phone and the iPad could register Day 1024 because both are in flight mode and not updated with the time zone that we are in. Heheh… maybe the next leg, I won’t be so lucky.

Next I checked my MiBand2 and I actually only had 40 minutes of deep sleep and five hours and 21 minutes of light sleep. Yeah, I’m tired.

As I am jotting my thoughts now, the screen is showing another 23 minutes to arrival. Yay.

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Be Silly or Be Happy

11 Jun

Today’s the day we leave! But there are worries, silly ones and several of it…

Silly #1: my cocoon is still hanging on the front tree and it’s been seven weeks since the giant caterpillar morphed into it; way overdue from what I checked online to be at this stage. Why is the moth not emerging? Is the constant rain stunting its metamorphosis? Is it even still alive and okay? I dare not climb up the ladder to check because it’s way too high. Whatever it is, looks like we will miss the moth emerging from the cocoon if it does decide to come out during our time away.

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It’s nice in here, I’m not ready for the world

Silly #2: my 1000 and more Days trek on the Daily Bonus for Candy Crush Soda on the retired iPhone5S will be broken because I am not bringing the phone along. And will the iPhone XR and iPad Mini have the trek broken too being in different time zones? I told myself I should stop this obsession but I just can’t shake it off. Silly.

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Day 1016 for the iPhone5S and Day 1023 for both the iPad Mini and iPhone XR

Silly #3: will Rooney, official pet number one miss us?

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Should I chew on it or not? Hmm…

Silly worries aside, there are some happy reasons too…

Happy #1: the pineapple in the garden. It’s been more than two years that hubby’s been taking care of it, and thank goodness it decided to ripen on time before we leave. Harvested last Friday, the fruit of labor and love weighed a whopping two kilos! Needless to say, the juicy and home-grown pineapple was thoroughly enjoyed.

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Juiciest pineapple ever!

Happy #2: the constant rain seems to be good for the habanero plant for it has thrived well and we had a bumper harvest. So much chillies! I ate a little on Wednesday night and oh my goodness, almost died from the fiery burn. This batch is super duper spicy.

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The spicy level of the reds win hands down over the greens

Happy #3: we will be meeting up with M2 in Amsterdam! Yes, our baby will fly tomorrow from Ireland to meet us at Schiphol. And she will miss a few days of Summer classes which unfortunately can’t be helped. I feel it’s important for her to attend her only sister’s Commencement ceremony, hence the plan as such.

Happy #4: we will finally be seeing M1. The last time the family unit was complete was when she came back for Christmas in 2017, so that’s like a year and a half since we last saw our firstborn in person. The weekly Skype video sessions do not count. Can’t wait. A 12 hours and 40 minutes flight for the first leg, then a four-hour transit before the second leg of 10 hours and 17 minutes flight (hopefully no delays) before the family will be whole again. Yay!!!

I guess with the happy reasons outweighing the silly ones, I shouldn’t be too silly and just be happy.

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Have Blundstone Will Travel

10 Jun

I am excited that my Blundstone boots, after being fitted with new soles, will finally be put to good use from tomorrow onwards. We are flying over to the US for M1’s Commencement ceremony as she has completed her undergraduate studies.

Initially when I was doing my research for flights, I wanted to fly Eva Air because of the Hello Kitty-themed aircrafts. Heheheh… I know it’s kinda silly for a dinosaur like me but hey, Hello Kitty IS cute.

But I couldn’t find suitable connecting flights to our final destination upon arrival at LAX, SFO or even SEA. The transit options are all too short to clear immigrations. Oh well, forget Hello Kitty then.

So we are going with KLM via Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol with a four-hour transit before the next leg directly into PDX which works out perfectly. Stay with me for the next two weeks plus for our exciting journey to the Pacific Northwest!

And yesterday I managed to schedule another body massage at the spa, a last minute little indulgence before flying. This time unlike the last time with no choice at all, I had the granny undies or G-string to choose before the session. I took the G-string thinking since I had to strip down to my bones to be worked on, I might as well wear something without hindrance to the new masseur for her to do her job.

And it was a job well done for she worked out the kinks especially on the legs and feet, in time for me to be ready for the trip!

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Then and Now

14 Jan

When the girls are four years apart, the heartache occurs four years apart too…

Four years ago, when our firstborn M1 left for the U.S. to further her studies, there was heartache and anxiety. And it took us some time to adjust our lifestyle with one family member less.

Now four years later, history repeats itself.

Last night, our baby, M2 left for Ireland for her studies. And suddenly, we find ourselves having to adjust our lifestyle all over again.

Whether it was four years ago or now, the heartache and anxiety are the same. Sniffle… tears… and more tears.

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My baby’s all grown up!!!

 

 

 

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An American Thanksgiving

24 Nov

This year’s Thanksgiving somehow made me recall the one we celebrated four year’s ago in the most coordinated fashion. It may be one celebration that we don’t do often but when in America, we have to do what the Americans do! And it was by far, the best Thanksgiving ever.

2012 was the year of our Great Adventure Road Trip in the US. And it was the year my niece and nephew – the twins, were studying in Kentucky. And I thought it would be fantastic for them to fly out to California to meet up with us. And their sibling – my niece, K1 can join us too, flying in from KL since she was old enough to travel by herself. And we would all spend Thanksgiving at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland.

It took me more than a year to plan for our impending trip because there were so many stops, friends, activities and lodging to consider. And this extra family get-together time in California needed more attention because the three parties were coming in from three different locations. Very exciting that it culminated with good timing and no delays.

During the Thanksgiving week, we were just wrapping up the Las Vegas stop. By Tuesday, we left for LAX to pick up K1 who was flying in alone from Kuala Lumpur. The great mastermind–me–had planned for her to arrive that afternoon and estimated that she would come out to the Arrival Hall by 1.00pm and we can just pick her up curbside if we started our journey at 9.00am. The timing had to be perfect and it was. 

When we got her, the poor child was so zombied after the 18-hour plus journey whilst we were still fresh from our pleasant unhurried drive. We tried our best to keep her awake to adjust her to the new time zone. It wasn’t easy.

Staying close to the airport at Travelodge LAX minimized the travel time for the airport runs and was without a hitch when it was time to fetch the twins; it was most convenient and sensible especially to avoid the busy highways. The twins flew in by midnight after their last class and the next day, our fun began…

We played tourist and visited downtown Los Angeles for a day excursion to see all the famed attractions. Then by late evening, we made our way to Anaheim. It was to be our base for the next few days. On Thanksgiving morning, we were off to Disneyland and had the most memorable American Thanksgiving.

The seven of us had the best times of our lives with all the rides, sights, food and fun. And although dinner was just a simple meal at Flo’s V8 Cafe, what mattered was the experience and time spent together. The crowd was relatively small, yet there were still long queues for the more popular rides and we took it all in stride.

The Disney experience continued the next day at the main park and Universal Studios the following day. By Sunday, the Thanksgiving break was over and the twins headed back to Kentucky with K1, while we stayed on in Anaheim for three more days before heading north to San Francisco via the Pacific Coast Highway.

After that awesome Thanksgiving experience, our Road Trip continued and all other Thanksgiving was never the same again for us.

   
 

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Road Trip Again

14 Nov

We enjoy road trips every now and then. Four years ago, we went on our most epic road trip and what I called ‘The Great Adventure Road Trip‘. It was a 21-day trip that covered three states and a driving distance of 2,285 miles of the West Coast of the USA, flying distance not inclusive.

We started off from Phoenix getting in from LAX with Southwest Airlines. From Phoenix, we picked up the keys to our rented MPV and headed off to Chandler, Flagstaff (to visit my college), the Grand Canyon, Henderson, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco. 

It wasn’t so much to eat but rather to see old friends, places and do things; to share with my family places that I’ve experienced and to enjoy new sights together. Aahh… What an adventure we had and I would do it again if the opportunity came around.

It sure is nice to reminisce and while we don’t do such lengthy road trips anymore, it is equally nice to go on one, albeit shorter. And of late, the short local trips taken focuses more on food. 

Over the weekend, we took a 3D/2N trip to Penang to attend a cousin’s wedding, skipping work and school on Friday. And while we were there, the local Penang food was top most on our mind. This gave us an opportunity to compare the flavors of Penang with Ipoh, which we visited two weeks ago.

I must say there is a difference and conclude that the Char Kueh Teow, Lobak and Assam Laksa in Penang are simple mouth watering while the Loh Shi Fun and Chicken Rice with Beansprouts in Ipoh are tops. So be sure to have these items at the top of your checklist of must-eat before you try anything else.

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Chat

Sleepless Nights

29 Dec

Monday morning was a zombie day for me because the night before I did not sleep at all and a little headache was building throughout the day. Anxiety, fits of cough and stomach cramps all rolled into one the whole night as I willed time to speed up a little so that we can know M1 is safe. 

Thanks to technology, we were able to track her flight path through flightaware.com and managed to connect with her when she transited in Narita. She told us they departed 20 minutes late from Changi but yet managed to arrive 20 minutes early. Amazing.

Even with such connectivity, there was worry in us. Parents. I simply cannot fathom back then how Mom and Dad felt when I went off to college with the wait and anxiety. Maybe like this but worse without the two things we have nowadays, technology and instant connectivity.

There was one year I came home for Christmas and it took a total of 36 hours, starting with a bus ride down from Flagstaff through the icy roads to Phoenix to catch my flight at LAX but was rerouted via San Francisco instead to head on to Hong Kong, Singapore and finally, Kuala Lumpur. 36 hours, what a marathon.

M1’s journey was not as crazy as mine, thank goodness but still, it’s a long way. It was slightly after 1.40am my time when she landed and two hours later, we heard from her. I then slept better. 

No more sleepless nights!

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One Track Mind

11 May

It was a quirky conversation after dinner. The night before we left for Tawau, Sabah, M2 sounded envious that we were going away again.

Out of the blue, she declared, “Let’s go to Your-rope!”

“Your-rope?” I raised my eyebrow, “you mean Europe.” I was emphasizing the “you” instead of “your” in the pronunciation.

“No, Your-rope,” she reiterated.

I was intrigued, “Why? Don’t you want to go to USA instead to visit your sister?”

“I’ve never been to Your-rope.” Ahh. I’ve been enlightened.

“I know,” I replied her. But before I could go on, she blurted out, “London! But you’ve been there.”

I nodded.

“Paris! Hmm… You’ve been there too. Rome? Been there! See? I am replying for you to me! You’ve been to all these places and I have not,” she said.

“Well, you’ve been to the good places starting with the letter ‘S’,” I pointed out to her, “Singapore, San Francisco and Sydney but Sydney doesn’t quite count cos I was four months pregnant with you.”

Silence.

“Let’s go to Your-rope!”

“When you are older, ok?”

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Just Like Grandpa

9 Apr

Not too long ago I told M1 that her Grandpa diligently wrote me letters when I was in college every single week and she requested that I do the same for her. So I decided to write real letters and mail them weekly to her at university in the USA, just like Grandpa did. Sometimes some things ought to be done the old fashion way. 

There was no such thing as emails back then. Technology was probably at its infancy and for me to even get close to a computer to send emails was unheard of. Moreover, mom and dad didn’t even own a computer! So snail mail was the way to go. I still have all those lovely letters from Dad.

Besides, making phone calls were also very expensive back then in the dinosaur era. Nowadays, we are very fortunate to be so connected with WhatsApp, FaceTime and Skype.

But all in all said for the effort, I find it funny to be holding a pen and writing so much! All these while, with the advancement of technology, one just sits at the desk and type away on the keyboard to compose what they want to say in the email without holding a pen. Now I find myself struggling to pen decent looking sentences that hopefully, she can make out what I am writing!

Then again, I am pretty sure my handwriting will improve with time. For the sake of keeping up with what my Dad did, I will continue with weekly scrawny handwritten letters and snail mail them to her.

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