Its wed

Time really flies and w/o knowing its wed already. And i hv yet to update on my ski experience last Sat. Hmm not much pics except for those on dear dear's blog. Guess i was busy standing up and falling.

About the Ski trip
Overall, it was a nice experience up to the mountains at 9000ft. And by God's grace, i was fine w/o any altitude sickness. But when reached the mountains, it was so so cold with my layers of clothings that i had to get the hot drink.

The next thing was to get the ski set and poles. I have to tell u the ski and ski shoes weight a tonne!!! So so heavy and simply so hard to walk! Hmm in the end dear dear has to help me carry the ski while i took the poles ;p

We reached the place, oh ya called brighton at 8plus am while my lesson starts at 10.15am so in btw dear dear taught me a skill or not. Hmm just said it ain't help at all as with the ski on, every slope is slippery, regardless the gradient!!

When time was up, we were thkful that there was a bunch of his colleagues who were attending the training too so there my dear dear went to ski on his own with his room mate on higher slopes. I was really thkful for the coach, his name was alan, or shld i say uncle alan. He was really patient and helpful. In short, if we do not give up on ourselves, he won't. So many times i fell, he picked me up. Hmm i tried to pick up sometimes but can be very hard when u were stucked in snow bath with the 2 long ski!

Oh ya, i never fell so many times in my life but thkful the snow was so soft and fluffy that i fell no pain. EXCEPT for one time where i almost knocked into a snowboard boy. To break the impact i had to fall...hmm face down..that was the painful one on the neck but now ok.

Overall, dear dear was impressed by my perf as well as the coach. Not too bad for a 1st timer. But u know...when night came, i was reflecting as what gave me the courage to go onto the slope!! So steep (i mean too me) and the speed..i must be insane. (And dear dear and the rmmate were planning for another trip this wkend)...can faintz..(ok i m not feeling well that day ;p)

Ok the price set in on Sun till now, muscle ache; shoulder, legs, thighs, arms, neck..anywhere and everywhere. Felt like a robot but now slowly transforming into a human.

Oh ya the rmmate's wife is here. Her name is Alice. A nice lady, a bit of similarities in terms of likes and dislikes. For past 2 days had been spending time w her to get to know her better. That's why hardly hv time to update blog.

Nonetheless busy with cooking and grocery shopping. Now need to cook for addn person. Not easy but learning to cope. Eventually i had to if i had a family...hee ideally 4 la, if not 3 also can la.

Finally, my mil sms me!! Me?? Asked how am i doing, how yh, how toby. So surprise to see her sms. Will she think that i hv forgotten abt them aft i came here? Hmm...just say dear dear shld call back more often la. Guess also becos cny is rd the corner, they suddenly feel the absence.

And for my family and my Mr toby...they are well. I called home every week...hee becos of toby. My mum said that he has put on weight cannot see much of the rib bones. Really hope so. Asked my sis to take pics but she forgot...next time i guess. But its really heartwarming to know that each time i talked to toby on the phone, he listened quietly as if he knows who i am. Hope so la.

Oh ya, my sis mms me to ask how i was. Really thkful for mms. She is planning to bring my mum or parents here to visit me. But still not concrete yet as i am worried for my parents as this is such a long journey here. Not sure if they can take it. One of yh's colleagues got economy class syndrome and was admitted to hospital immediately aft touched down. Hence, i am worried for my dad as he has high blood pressure. We see how 1st but won't be so soon. Shld be during spring.

I love them and miss them and my toby dog - the human dog. Did i share each time i watch animal channel i'll miss him alot but if i miss him, i'll watch the channel. Battle of emotions right ;p

Goggles

Last night, after having our curry chicken spaghetti ...hee we ran out of rice..so improvise ;p, thereaft dear dear suggested to go shop for goggles. And there we went. His colleagues planned to go this sun so he wanna get everything ready. But again not sure if its on as i thought there'll be snow showers?


We took a long time to select the goggles. Basically becos of price and me!! Ha ha. Me and my 'no nose bridge'. Initially we thought any goggle will do as long as we like the design, apparently not. It supposedly to fit nicely so that little air will go into the goggle, if not it will fog out if we start to perspire.


So in the end, i need to go for the junior version...in black. Actually we almost bought the same white goggles ;) Luckily, i just say the cashier out of curiosity. And it really pays to ask ;) Thk God.


Here it is..our goggles (hmm shaky hands again ..paiseh)

23 Jan -- Away fr home for 1 month

Yes today is 23 Jan. It marks the close of 1 mth i had been here. 9 more mths to go. Its time flying? I know not but seems like i hv been here for a long long time.

Miss toby still, miss the sun, the sea and the S'pore food. Not forgetting the family and friends back there as i saw the tp growing up pics. God makes life unpredictable yet at the same time full of expectations and hopes. Each day passed, its a day closer to home. It may not be the fantastic home to be in given the increasing standards of living and burning sun at times, yet u know its where your roots are.

But at the same time, life at the other side of globe is always fill with new discoveries, new experiences and new people ... and new memories to reflect as we get old one day. Embrace them and its a gift from God and give thks.

Heavy Snowing

Late last night there was heavy snowing. It continues to snow thru out the day. Now the snow is abt 5-7 inches deep. Really thrilled to see snow everywhere again. Past week had been thinking when will it snow again to make the place white, and there it is.

So early in the morning, i went out to the balcony to take pics. Whenever u see snow accumulates on tree branches, u know the snow its thick.

But becos of the heavy snowing, dear dear is late for work today. 2 hours late! Only 1 lane on the highway was open. A no. of cars skidded. Thk God dear dear is fine. It's must be a thrilling and trying experience.

By now, snowing has die down. If the road condition is ok tonight, we will go do some grocery shopping and hee to touch the soft fluffy snow ;)

Snow, snow every where. On the trees, on the roof top...

Weekend again

First & foremost, yesterday was the last wkend alone before dear dear's rm mate & his wife will be here. Hmm..i think i miss being hm alone. I really enjoy it but gonna learn to socialise if not really become yellow-skinned ah-ma.

Just now dear dear brought me to cabela's to see hunted animals. Was really eye opening for me. Never imagine that a moose can be so so huge. On the other hand, thought that bear shld be bigger, guess bears are smaller in these areas. And i saw toby's face in all the deers...especially the eyes..they look so similar.

By chance, we saw ski outfit on clearance sale..yahoo!! Really a steal. So we kept trying on each and every of them hee. We were supposed to go to another place to buy our ski outfit but thk god we saw this ;p...

Thereaft, went to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant for dinner and its so so yummy. The best asian food i ate so far!! I had pad thai. I miss asian favors and they delivered it exactly or abv s'pore std. Will ask dear dear to go there again but its a long drive there.

Finally we headed home for fashion show of our ski outfit. Personally i feel eee in it as so thick..esp the ski pants, like wearing santa claus pants..haha..Oh ya its fr spyder, and there is a spider on the outfit...hmm a 8 legged creature that i awfully fear, thkful its just a sewing and behind the back of the jacket. Next thing is prayed that i will not freak out last min or simply cannot tanah the cold temp up on the hill!!

Memories of the day
Me with the deer
The deary couple
A whole bunch of them!
Me and the guns!!! So so many of them and the bullets are simply laying on open shelves!!
Dear and me, infront of the deer couple. Hee so cute, male on the left & female on the right..just like us..or shld i say we just like them ;p
We trying hard to get a shot where the trot is liking kissing me..not too bad right?
Finally me in my white ski outfit! Cool?

Dear dear said i look professional in the outfit but imagine i can't ski..its going to be a great laugh...nevermind too many pple to notice a chinese girl like me...Oh ya..the ski pants, i got fr a boys' section..as ladies ski pants are way too long for me. Too bad no pink..it'll be sweet to be in pink right ;p

We are staying...longer

So fast its friday again. Last 2 days had been snowing and temp is dropping..less than 25f. So so cold. And for the last 2-3 days had been having headaches. Dunno know why. Becos of temp? No idea. Hence, i have to turn down dear dear's suggestion to go skiing this wkend. Ok next time..plenty of time.

Just received news from dear dear last night that he will be here for another 3 months till 0ct08 as the fab in s'pore is not ready to in action by mid of the year. So here we are. And i miss my toby boy..very very much. We are contemplating to bring him here...but again hv to consider dear dear's rm mate ;( So so sad. can't bear to leave him for close to a year given we have been together for 2yrs.

Still thinking...

Good times and Bad times

Last fri, dear dear decided that we shld head for Las Vegas..hee or shld i say 'Vas Legas';p i said it when my tongue is tight. So there i was searching on the net for a reasonable hotel below usd100 as we'll be there only for a night. And thk God i found one!! Super good deal, at the middle of strip rd for a luxury rm at usd68, the same price as a standard rm!! Its really a catch. We stayed at Harrah's LV.

Before i headed to bed, i rang up my mum to see how's toby but was really sad to hear that he seems to lose weight and he is pretty frighten by my nephew...no abuse but sometimes he can be loud and toby may be scare by it. I broke down in tears and felt really sad as it really aches to see him lost weight. /Yesterday i just gave my mum a call and she assures me that toby is better now, sometimes will go inside toilet to hide if he is frighten. But overall is ok and even will wake my mum up in the morning. Pray that Toby will be fine. I called my sis up to ask her to see if toby really lost weight. If yes, need her help to bring toby for a checkup just to be sure. Ask my mum to feed him more. Really hope that toby will be strong till we come home for him. Hmm dear dear & i are thinking worse come to worst, i shld go home and be with him./Will continue to monitor.

Ok where was i? Abt the vegas trip. Ya we woke up at 3am plus to prepare for the 6 hrs drive. Get all the snacks & drinks ready and there we go with the aid of GPS! Cool. Hmm but we met with heavy fog! Freaked the both of us then (but now as i think abt its was a memorable experience ;) thk God we are safe). The visibility was low and there wasn't many cars ahead of us to guide us. We called them out "road markers" and the back lights show us the contour of the rd. And the worst thing was i ain't feeling well. I started to shiver badly as the temp was really super low that i find it so hard to maintain my breathing. The coldest we been thru so far. 3F, that is -15 degrees!! Dear dear was even thinking if it will go down to 0F! Thank God it didn't. So we stop at 100miles. Pit stop to get a hot drink for myself to warm my body and it helps tremendously. When we got out, we found our car plate was frozen with ice!!

Finally at 10am we reached LV. Along the way, enjoyed the scenary and the transition from ice mountains to dessert mountains. From 3F to 62F! Amazing. There was times where we felt hot in LV and dear dear said might be becos we are getting accustom to cold weather.

Our rm ain't ready so we visited the famous hotels ard. They were gorgeous. From new york theme, to disney theme. Casear palace, nature, italian theme, chinese theme, french theme etc. Really very very nice architecture. They really replicate it almost exactly. Its astonishing to see how one can build fabulous building! Among all i enjoyed the bellagio musical fountain the most. Its really so so captivating that i can just stand there and watch and watch. And we got a wonderful location and took a video of it. Enjoy ;)

Now are the blessings that came fr God. Really thk god. We were supposed to have a luxury rm, which has a view to the street but they upgrade us to a premium room. At 68usd, it was really a catch! Newly renovated, and came with lcd tv in room and bathrm. Really very glad as i was a bit sketical of the rm given the price we paid. The rm rates hovers ard 90 or more usd at central location. So was really thkful.

Next blessing was in the evening dear dear wanted to bring me to the free pirate show at treasure island. By God's grace we had a wonderful location, given that we ain't the hotel guests. a chinese couple brought us in and we were so so thankful as we were just infront of the show. Very unique show i must say, the ladies in skippy attires and the man with great bodies. And the men jump into the freezing water!!

Also i was very thkful that dear dear bought me to a very nice restaurant for dinner. We had juicy steak. Mine was 8oz and his 12 oz. He said its the most tender part of the beef. Indeed it was.

After dinner, we walked again to visit other hotels. Overall was a very very nice trip except for the pair of super tiring legs hee. Beautiful hotels...yet there is one thing i guess they can never replicate its the essence of the place. Somehow lost the culture sense of it.

Next day, we went shopping at premium outlets!! While waiting for them to open at 10am, we tried our luck at the jackpot! Hee we just tried with $10 as we were not into gambling but never tried be4. And we won $30!! Dear dear accidentally pressed the buttons too many times but we won so the money kept tickling in. And we cash out immediately be4 we get tempted further hee ;p Las Vegas - its really a sin city. Unknowingly u can fall for it. I saw so many uncles and aunties there at the machines ;(

Ok lets talk abt shopping! Wow the premium outlets were cool! Dear dear bought 4 shirts and i finally found my jeans!!! Though its too long, thkful as i really like it alot! Ya overhere the jeans are so long...;(

By 4pm we headed home. And here i am updating my blog! Dear dear really thk you for bring me to LV. Its tough to drive so long hrs under such unpredictable weather. thk q ;) Luv u

GSP set up..all set to go

A quick snap of dear dear..opps its blur

You see its 3F....freezing cold!!!!! ;-{

Along the journey aft going thru the coldest valley ...
The hotel rm..not too bad right ;p
A snapshot at Flamingo hotel, infront of manmade waterfall. The flamingos are so so beautiful! They are real and in pink!

The spiral staircase at caesar palace. Nice architect!
The statue of liberty!! In LV hee ;p infront of the beautiful skyline
Me taking a rest at new york street...My legs are crying out for a break!

The sign to venetian hotel. Oh ya they can't use the original name 'Venetician'...some rights i guess..interesting..same thing with palazzo..A fabulous architect. Very detailed i must say. (But still must go italy ok)

Me with the gondola. My fav pic ;) Too bad the gondola srvc is over. If not, wld like to give it a try.

Finally, the unspeakable musical fountain at bellagio. It captures my mind... And paris tower makes everything pic complete

I am a hair dresser...haha

Last night dear dear was home early, thought it'll be late. But tonight he won't be home for dinner. His VP giving them a treat.

After dinner last night, we send his colleague Andrew to airport, he'll be flying back to portlandt where his family is and thereaft he will go to s'pore for recruitment. He is really nice guy. He speaks with such proper english and get to know that he is actually fr ireland. Stayed in the states for 9 yrs. Ya i am fascinated by his blue eyes! So special, God really is magnificent.

Thereaft we headed to my fav waltmart haha ;p We walked ard to see what to get but the main thing is to get scissor to cut dear dear's hair. His colleague cut his hair at one of the hair salon and he said was horritous! So why not we cut our own! Hee cool. Oh ya we also bought a shaver set, so so cheap, only usd$13! But hmm a huge step for me!!

When we reached hm, we used the zip zap scissor to trim & thin dear dear's hair hee. Overall quite satisfactory ;) 4/10 lah. Next rd is to use the electric shaver...hmmm

For myself i bought a ceramic straightener, as either its dry here or becos of static, my hair quite messy. Cool it can be use on both wet & dry hair and i find it cheap, $23usd. And there is digital screen showing the temp setting. Hee so happy ;) Maybe try tonight ;p

Nightmare

Nightmare! Last night i had a nightmare and woke up at 2am! All thks to glue-ing to the tv hee. Need to control abit haha. But when i woke up simply cannot remember what's the dream abt. And my eyes and mouth were so dry. We did not on the humidifier and i didn't expect it to be so dry!! Dear dear also complained so woke up drank some water, on the humidifier and headed back to sleep hee ;p

Last night it snowed! Haha smthg that dear dear dislikes as he needs to clear the snow on his wind screen, outside the cold temp. I watched him fr upstairs ;) Oh ya the snow ain't thick, got to realise that Sandy doesn't has as much snow as compared to other districts. Ours abt 4 inch (the lowest) while some can go up to as high as 15 inches. More snow, pls ;)

Ha ha but again my body starts to ache becos of the cold weather. Last night was rather cold and the wind was gusting strongly.

Tonight dear dear will be home late so i hv plenty of time on hand. Going to do some research on Las Vegas. We thought of going over the weekends if dear dear's wk permits. So now do some search on hotels but can't confirm till Thu, Fri.

Its Monday - A Full Week Ahead

It's monday again. Over the weekend went shopping and touring ard. Still no luck with jeans hee. But enjoyed going out. Yesterday snow a bit. Temp was not too bad, still at 0 degrees but it was nice & manageable. Supposed to snow today too but don't see any ;( Kind of miss snow now. Everything covers with snow is nice.

Oh ya 1 thing on my mind, i am scare to put on weight. Somehow gets more hungry here and the portion is so big. So i try to cut down on what i eat. Thought of skipping lunch but not easy ;p Also has never perspired since i came. So not used to it. So far hv been wantg to go to gym over the weekends but always wake up late at 11am!! Somehow with the low oxygen level here, u dozed off easily. Really.

Oh ya i watch tonnes of tv. Feels like a couch potato here. Reality or actual life stories here. Those crazy cops video that reminds u that u are in states. And ya yesterday has a shooting case at Utah, the other end of it i guess. Thk god. Seems like homicide is nothing unusual in the states especially in popular states like california, florida etc.

Also u will see teenagers working at 17 years to support family. I never expect to see this in states. Guess i m naive, this ctry is so big. Just like the ang moh version of china. There is bound to hv wealth discrepancy. Really eye opening for me. Learn to appreciate life even more.

By now the sun is going to bed hee. Night falls at 5.00pm. So early!

Getting ready to prepare for dinner. I am still adjusting to buying groceries for the week. I develop a table for it to make life easier or organise for myself hee. Over here, lunch is not easily accessible as compared to s'pore and its always burgers . So now we try to pack lunch for dear dear as well as myself. A lot of singaporeans are starting to do that as well. Guess they are also sick to eat ang moh food!

Lastly, start to pick up reading than watching tv haha.

No luck at sales but got to eat lobster

Today is a fruitful day, i mean i pack myself with hsehold chore today hee as no need to cook. As usual, our plan will be to dine out on Fri and weekends. Vacuum and mop the floor, desks etc. Hmm the -ve of carpet is the whole hse gets dusty easily. And you can hardly open the doors or windows as it'll be freezing cold.

Oh ya today the snow melted and i saw grass on the floor! Silly me i always thought that underneath the snow shld be just bare grd but apparently not the grass is still there. That's the power of weed i guess. Strong will. Hee i suddenly remember my fav 'meteor garden'... But the wind is so so strong, and the sound is so loud. Today is 9c. That's why most of the ice melted. But dear dear said becos snow storm coming. Normally be4 that it is warmer temp, then rain followed snow storm. Interesting!

Ha ha bo liao, here is meteor garden & F4!!! ;p

Where was i? Talking abt sales. Today when to macy to see if got any sales on jeans. Hmm not every label/design. So sad. Levis was on sale but can't find size :( They only start with size 4, for us asians shld be looking at size 0 - 2 onwards. So super hard to find. Those not on sale hv size but too exp i feel. Moreover, i am not a jeans person. Then i headed to look at shoes & earrings. Nothing i fancy for shoes but earrings yes! Hee never buy as don't find a need to hee. So paiseh, the sales lady kept asking if i am done ;p

Overall, the pple here are very nice. Basically becos many are momons, so very courteous. Also get to know fr dear dear (thru the culture lesson he attended) that pple fr the west (SLC is midwest) are more open and friendly as compared fr the east (where NY is). More reserved and can be snobbish. Also SLC in general is a rich state so its comparatively safe, no beggars ard so far.

After macy be4 heading for seafood, we went to petco - a pet supermart. So so big as compared to s'pore. They hv all sorts of things for fish, birds, cats & dogs. But they don't sell dogs? Thought can see dogs. But there is a section for cats adoption. So sweet. Oh ya, saw cute sweater and down jacket for dogs!! So so cute! If only Toby is here. I just called hm, he is doing well. Always looking for someone to play with or get food fr ;p Mum says he is a greedy boy hee. Ha ha becos mummy always snack ;p and he follows. Just 1 photo in the pet shop, cannot take pic, just sneak to take this beautiful and colorful bird.

Today dear dear brought me to eat at 'Red lobster'. Nice and rustic place. He had snow crab legs (gigantic legs!), prawns and lobster tail. For me, i ordered a lobster and steak. I am not a seafood lover so need to hv red meat to standby. But the portion here is so big. I can't finish the beef, shld i say i hardly touch it! So box it home. Oh ya, eating here is exp, need to give 18% of tips - the common practise here. Some areas are 20%. Hence, it makes economic sense to dine at home. Didn't take any pic as crowded, paiseh ;p

Lastly, yest we went for a late night ride ard and we stop at a railway junction. The barrier came down and the train passed. So interesting, only saw on tv and now happening in front of my eyes. I quickly took out my ph to take pic ....but too late the train was gone!! Ha ha ha

Yeah its Fri

Ya 2moro is fri! That's fast! And dear dear just reminded me that i hv never spend one full week at home. True as for the past 2 weeks, there had been holidays in btw the weekdays. Next week will be the 1st. Hope i'll be fine.

Oh ya, i think i am more and more of an auntie as i enjoy going to walmart! So many things to see! They have everything and they are opened for 24 hrs! They even sell make up and they are really cheap! During t'mas period, they even went on 40% disc for brands like Maybeline & loreal! Really regret not buying but again i lack nothing. So i enjoy window shopping there.

From grocery to clothes and anything. I even share with dear dear i can spend hours there going thru every single column to see what they hv got.

Today i cook curry chicken..hmmm not too bad..forget to buy lemongrass thou. Hee no other agenda on hand so feel like going to walmart again hee ;p Each time i go, we are always in a rush, didn't really hv time to really 'see'.

Weekend going shopping as got new year sale, 50 to 70% discount! The discounts here are simply crazy. Need to buy a pair of jeans. So far still surviving on my 1 pair of jeans. Thk god there is washer & dryer! Not easy to find size here at times. Hope i will run into luck this week!

Today is 2nd Jan

Ya today is the 2nd day of new year and now i am home alone waiting for dear dear to be home as well as his rm mate chee ming. Today, they are working late. Guess becos most of them will be flying to china as well as back to s'pore for recruitment. Need to tie up some ends. Oh ya our rm mate will be away for close to 1 mth, and we will hv the whole apartmt to ourselves hee. But the time he returns, his wife will be with him. Hmm mixed feelings, dunno if will hv chemistry or not. She is a capricorn too but she is 5 yrs my junior, so dunno whether got generation gap. Will pray on this hee :)

And today my menses came so kind of tired easily so need to be careful not to exhaust too much energy. Lastly, i still can't get used to my red highlight!! The more i wash, the redder it gets. Feel likes an ah lian. Really regretted that the hairstylist whom i didn't know to decide on my hair color ;( Also shldn't hv leave it till last min but again in btw so many unexpected things pops out ...sob sob..get to live with it for a while. (Me nothing to do, took a pic of myself hee to see my dark hair color..wow really not easy for me to adapt to a darker hair color..hmm my hairstylist is right, she said i will need some time to adjust to it...guess so hee)

Oh ya over here is so dry that my hair is so so frizzy and entangle easily. Need to check out any good conditioner ard. Those leave ons once.

Oops did i share that on the new year countdown, i chit chat with one of female engineer who has stayed in the states for 9 yrs. And she stayed in arizona. So my dear friend came into the pic..miss her..Hope we can meet one day.

Happy New Year

Hi all, Happy New Year to you all out there! Wish you all the best in 2008.

Last dear dear & I went to salt lake city for countdown. It was really really super cold. -10c. After we finished our dinner, we decided to head home to change to even thicker clothes as it was really cold. Hm how cold..i wore 4 layers on top, and 2 layers below stockings + jeans..but still so so cold. The countdown was outdoor and there is a iceskating ring in btw. I was so cold that i kept going into a warmer tank to defrost. The worse was really the feet. Like putting my bare feet on ice. It reached a pt it was so cold that the toes felt numb and painful and getting harder to walk. Thkfully it was towards the end.

All dear dear's colleagues were also freezing but there was one guy who wore track shoes and no gloves. Wow really admire his will power!! And i even saw girls who wore skirt or leggings!!!

Overall it was a new experience, once in a lifetime celebrating countdown at the other end of the globe. Hmm but the fireworks was no where comparable to s'pore. That makes me wonder how much $ had been spend on it.

Oh ya only manage to took a few photos or shld i say only 2 photos w my ph as i was freezing. Can't even take gloves off so its rather hard to snap. And ya lousy photos with gloves on ;p










On new year itself we went shopping again as dear dear and colleagues were checking out ipod and cameras so for myself shop for clothes as i aon't techno savvy person ;( reasonable pr but didn't get any. Really lazy to try with so many clothes on. Ma fun hee

On the way took some pics fr the car. Very scenic. Slowly get to enjoy the views as more settle down.














In sum, life here is simple. Really simple. Not as competitive as in s'pore. Pple don't compare as much here. To them family is most impt. That's why they call it free land here. Yet i miss the convenience and familiarity of s'pore. Many things money can't buy...my toby..my family and close friends.

But thkful to hv dear dear next to me and God too ;)