Catching up with Yee Lin

After about 4 long weeks of not meeting Yee Lin, I met her last week! So happy!

She brought me pineapple tarts ( too YUMMY and it is one of my favorite cookies , so I have fininished them, of coz ) and some chips-which-became-a-big-hit-after-I-came-to-US(forgot what is its name) . She is always so sweet! 

Ze Tian is sweet too! He brought me cookies, which he called ‘tam bun pia’, although I know them as ‘tau sa pia’. ‘Tau sa pia’ reminds me of my dad, coz that is his favourite cookie. There is always a continuous supply of ‘tau sa pia’ at home. I can picture him sitting at the dining table at night, munching them and sipping milo or coffee. 

Btw, Yee Lin looks gorgeous with her curls! Hmm, seems like everyone(Yee Lin + My Chien) looks great with curls. Maintainance is a big headache, though …

Yee Lin also helped to color my hair! Dark auburn (reddish-brown). I think my hair looks healthier with its natural color. Anyways, one of the main reason I decided to color my hair is because CK mentioned a person will look fairer with that color. I also felt a bit bored with my hairstyle and wanted to do something different.

Gaming … $$$

I did not know how GREAT my brother is at playing games until …

He sold his online character for a few thousand bucks!

whooaaa……

Yay! I’ve got POSTCARD

I just received a postcard from Soo Bee yesterday! So happy She mailed it when she was in Prague, on Jan 21. Thanks!!!

The card I sent in October has not reached her, yet.   I’m just hoping against hope, it’s not lost!

I went to Prague before, but I do not remember all the places I went. Some of the places I remebered were Charles Bridge and Palace. Hmm, can’t recall the other places. That is why, writting your vacation on a blog is a good idea! Prague is also known as Praha, Prag, Praga. For some reason, the first thing that came into my mind when Praha is mentioned is Piranha.

Talking about mail, I love corresponding thru mails. In primary school, I was actively searching for prospective pen pal in magazines like Kuntum. I initiated a pen pal relationship with a Malay gal.  

We corresponded a few letters with each other until she asked “adakah saudara seorang lelaki?”.   ……. …  I should have suspected something was amiss when she used saudara in her letters. I did not know why I didn’t reply her letter after that incident, but I just didn’t.

17-Mile Drive, CA

Note: Completed a slideshow for the “Family” page. Took a very looooong loong time. IE froze and shut down a few times. And I have to upload the pics again.

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17-Mile Drive is a road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove, CA. It is the main road for the high-class gated community of Pebble Beach. Why did I say it is an afluent area? Well, there are 7 golf courses there. This road is a tourist attraction and visitors have to pay $9.00 to drive through this road. It is worth it the price?

I had been searching online about 17-Mile Drive and there were mixed opinions about this attraction. Some ppl say it is worth it to pay to drive through this road and another half say do not bother. We decided to go as we wanted to take advantage of the great weather! It had been rainy and gloomy for some time.

It was a nice sunny day! The sceneries are really nice!

At the gate, we were given a pamphlet which shows you the road map and where each hot-spot is located on the map. There are 21 Point of Interests.

The highlight of the day? The squirrels and birds are really really tame! See how close I went near them! Never seen such tame squirrels and birds.. So cute.. Below are some pictures which I find interesting

Two cute squirrels standing. They thought I have goodies for them.

We can not feed the squirrels as they are suppose to hunt

for their food. I guess a lot of people did feed them.

Hmm, I wonder how close can I get to the bird? That is close, rite??!

‘Rolex’ tower clock at The Lodge at Pebble Beach

One of the golf holes. The golfers were to hit the ball (right pic) across the

sea, to the hole(left pic), amidst the strong wind

Looks like the house is built on sand? How stable is that?

It is so windy along the coastal area that the trees grew like that.

Really! Even if there is no wind, the trees stay in that position

The Lone Cypress. Has prevailed on the rock over 250 years.

The official symbol of Pebble Beach.

Below are more pictures!

 

Reminiscing and Visiting Pittsburgh: Prologue

In the previous post, I wrote about what I saw and what I did. This post is dedicated to the people I met.

At the booth. We were given a choice of either red or black shirt.

I chose red, since the fair was on 7th Feb. Black is out of the question.

As you can see, I am the only person wearing red.

I also bumped into two girls I knew from

Oral Communications class. Great to catch up with them.

I met one of my favourite coachs during my college days.

Patient and always so helpful

It is great to catch up with you.
Hopefully we will have another chance to chat while having
brunch at your favourite Pamela’s in the near future

One of my PATIENT ski coachs

Teck Hua, another PATIENT ski coach wearing his head-gear.
A fabulous host too. Thanks a lots~

 

It is always nice to meet people you know.

It is weird that you only realise their presence and

how they meant to you after you do not feel their

presence for some time.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day <3

~ Happy Valentine’s Day ~

 

Huggie would like to which everyone Happy Valentine’s Day and may happiness always be with you   Happy jolly happy! Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers, so SPREAD your love to anyone who means a lot to you.

 

I checked my cell phone after work and realised I had a few miss calls. I listen to my voice mail and guess what?! I heard my DAD’s voice, wishing me Happy Valentine’s Day. Sooooooo .S.W.E.E.T. ! Touched ~

 

Muaks,  <3 you guys back home.

 

Reminiscing and Visiting Pittsburgh

Just came back from a vacation in Pittsburgh yesterday. It all started when HR contacted me and asked if I want to attend CMU Career Fair. I replied her with a YES instantly! Of course I said yes! I was so excited… It was a good time to go as I still know some nice ppl there.

If I were offered to go back to CMU end of this year or later, I would not feel so excited, since most of those nice ppl has graduated.

My flight was on February 6, which is Chinese New Year eve. Being superstitious, I reminded myself to be happy. My flight was canceled and then the hotel Internet connection did not work! Not a great start of New Year eve. I first stepped into my hotel room at about 12 am and tried to get the Internet to work. I called the customer service twice and was told that the network was down. Asked to try again later. I spent 2 hrs trying to go online but to no avail. Nevertheless, I was not unhappy, just not happy. Well, the Internet does not work for the 2 days I stayed there.

eunice beauty care

 

Felt nostalgic while I was on campus, especially ECE computer cluster. Miss college.

Oh, there is a sleeping/resting chair in the library. It was not there the last time I was there. Not sure if you can sleep peacefully on the chair, since it is placed in the noisy area of the library.

I think this is cool! Has a control panel at the right of the arm rest to

adjust the chair to make yourself comfortable. Hm.. I think you can

bring the top lid down for privacy. I certainly do not want strangers

staring at me while I am asleep.

 

Wanted to go to Fallingwater, but it was not open. Disappointed

 

Went for a rushing 20 minutes tour at Phipps Conservatory.

 

Drank a cup of ice coffee from Hunt Library. My favorite beverage in college.

Went for a Chinese New Year reunion dinner with all the nice ppl.

Went to see the controversial Bodies Exhibition at Carnegie Science Center. The exhibits are preserved human bodies dissected to show … what … humans are comprised of. According to a post in the exhibition hall, the bodies used as exhibits were not claimed by their families and relatives. Unethical? No comment.

While looking at those exhibits, I realize that there were sooo many different types of diseases. Every part of your body is susceptible to disease. Does it mean that if a body has a larger volume, the probability of contracting diseases is higher than a body which has a lower volume? Well, just a thought. Looking at the bodies also made me thought about soul vs casing (body). Digressing here …

Met up with Rozana at Pamela’s. Enjoyed my brunch : food and company. Generally I like any food which is made of chocolate or is sweet, so these suite my tastebuds.

Hot Chocolate	Chocolate Chip Banana Hotcakes

 

After approximately four and a half years in US, I skied for the first time at Seven Springs! Thanks to my two PATIENT buddies who accompanied me down the “Beginners’ Slope“. Without them, I do not think I can make it down the slope.

They PATIENTLY waited for me while I rested after a fall, taught me how to get up when I fall, pulled me up when I was not able to get up myself after a fall, tried to teach me how to slow down/stop without falling. Yup, skiing and falling go side by side. By the end of the day, I still could not master the slow down/stop maneuver. The only effective way for me to stop is to fall. I do not really mind falling, since it was not really painful… But little did I know, a day after that, my arms and legs were so sore!

Me up for the challenge

Tired even after the first round down the slope. After the third

time down, pwned …

Blue-blacks everywhere!! I have a few of these on my legs.

 

Guess I can’t go swimming for quite some time

 

 

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You can find many dinasaurs installed in Pittsburgh. According to this website, “Dinomite Days brings 100 decorated dinosaurs to various locations around Pittsburgh. Hand-decorated by talented artists throughout Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, these dinosaurs are destined to add a splash of prehistoric panache to Pittsburgh’s parks, plazas, and public streets. “

Along Forbes Avenue	In Pittsburgh Airport. Dun think this is part of Dinomite Days

 

Gong Xi Fa Cai

~Happy Chinese New Year ~

What is the most important thing that you should bear in mind during Chinese New Year?

Must be HAPPY, whatever happens, so that you will be happy all year long!

Bak Kut Teh … what’s wrong??

We have been looking for perencah bak kut teh for quite some time and and were happy so happy when we found it. I prefer chicken but my friend (called E) prefers pork… So I suggested mixing the two types of meat but E does not want to mix and E suggested us cooking in two separate pots. In the end, I agreed with pork, since it is a bit troublesome to cook two pots of tea.

Bau Ku Tea

 

We got all the ingredients and were start cooking! We even have appetizers and “yu cha kuay” and chicken rice. 

 

Ingredients : 2 types of mushrooms, “tau pok”, “tau kee” and fishballs

 

Appetizers

 

We used this much pork since we know it will sooo delicious! It is

better to have more rather than feeling disatisfied if there

 is not enough meat to satisfy us during the meal

 

~~~~~~~~  Wholesome meal  ~~~~~~~ :)

 

 

The end result of the bak kut teh, chicken rice, spinach

 

After an hour of boiling, I got really hungry, so we started eating lo.. Hmm… sth is not right, the meat is still a bit hard, not soft enough. We boil the bak kut teh for an extra 2 hours, hoping that we can enjoy the bak kut teh during dinner.

Dinner time! I drank my first sip…hmm.. Sth is not right. I do not feel like finishing it. But then, I do not want to hurt E’s feeling so I continue eating la.. After a few minutes of silence, E said ” I do not feel like eating this bak kut teh, feel like vomiting.” However, I did finish my portion.

What a waste! I do not know what we did wrong!? I think maybe the pork produced too much oil, making the soup a bit oily, thus not appetizing.  The soup also has a strong pork smell/taste which I do not like. What should I do with the leftovers??!  

After my dinner, I made myself a cup of tea to cleanse my system.

 

Rainy Weather

I have been feeling really excited to attend the Chinese New Year Flower Fair in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Alas, it is rainy today and wil be rainy tomorrow.