The most recent update back home is that my room has juz had some new furnishings of a mahjong table and exercise bike.
Now i understand what they mean by getting rid of old things(something that is 26yrs old), to make space for the new(<2months old)....heh~~~
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Crazy US Data
The recent US data is crazy.
On one hand, the Dow is breaking new heights.
On the contrary, housing sales has just dropped 18%, coupled with rising energy costs that has hit consumer confidence. People are also finding it difficult to find jobs. Additionally, the greenback is losing ground against major currencies all over the world.
While inflation is rising, the only consolation that i see is that US GDP is still in the black. But with the ever increasing focus on Iraq, will US's reserves ever recover? If GDP falls......it will be my 1st experience with stagflation.
Time to buy insurance.
On one hand, the Dow is breaking new heights.
On the contrary, housing sales has just dropped 18%, coupled with rising energy costs that has hit consumer confidence. People are also finding it difficult to find jobs. Additionally, the greenback is losing ground against major currencies all over the world.
While inflation is rising, the only consolation that i see is that US GDP is still in the black. But with the ever increasing focus on Iraq, will US's reserves ever recover? If GDP falls......it will be my 1st experience with stagflation.
Time to buy insurance.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Day 10-....Gilroy shopping and Lobster Dinner
Picked my parents from their hotel in the morning for breakfast and headed down to Sunnyvale downtown for breakfast. Rainy day nearly drowned our breakfast!! Anyway, we managed to head down to Gilroy Premium outlets for last minute shopping. Believe it or not... we stayed there the ENTIRE day, until dinner time.
Met Sam & family for dinner at Red Lobster in Milpitas. Wonderful service.... but we would appreciate it if they saved a little salt on their lobster. Servings of desserts was humongous too...7 of us could't finish up our 3 portions of desserts....
And as usual, Little Alya created much smiles and laughter at the dinner table with her squeals and deep deep dimples!
All good things come to an end. And the last place of visit is SFO. As i drove that 34miles up north to SF....the memories of the past 10days flashed through my mind. Memories of the 1st hug i had with Ping at SFO after so many months....memories of 'Narnia'...memories of driving up to SF to meet my parents....Unforgettable. Memories which i was sure would resonate in my mind for the following weeks to come.
Driving to SFO suddenly seemed so fast. At that moment, i suddenly wondered why we had to have this vacation in the 1st place. Why desire for it when i know that separation will be so painful?
It is times like this one will realize the importance of having a family by your side. Living the fast-paced life in Singapore causes many to take kinship for granted. I am definitely one of them. With them constantly by your side, day in, day out.... it feels like they are there all the time, and they will be there forever. Thats a flaw of the human mind. Myopic. We fail to see far. Aging is deceptive and subtle. One day, many Singaporeans will regret.
Thats why, i always re-iterate to my friends, and parents...that i will come back. Maybe not in a year, but i will definitely be back. I will not stay here, its not home. I did not grow up here.
These 10 days made me feel human again. Having faced work and circuits and equipments for the past 6months...i felt like a fully rationale & objective robot. These 10 days made my emotions flow like a roller coaster, with the final day as a wake-up call....a wake-up call that i am not as rationale as i thought.... i am human too...
Met Sam & family for dinner at Red Lobster in Milpitas. Wonderful service.... but we would appreciate it if they saved a little salt on their lobster. Servings of desserts was humongous too...7 of us could't finish up our 3 portions of desserts....
And as usual, Little Alya created much smiles and laughter at the dinner table with her squeals and deep deep dimples!
All good things come to an end. And the last place of visit is SFO. As i drove that 34miles up north to SF....the memories of the past 10days flashed through my mind. Memories of the 1st hug i had with Ping at SFO after so many months....memories of 'Narnia'...memories of driving up to SF to meet my parents....Unforgettable. Memories which i was sure would resonate in my mind for the following weeks to come.
Driving to SFO suddenly seemed so fast. At that moment, i suddenly wondered why we had to have this vacation in the 1st place. Why desire for it when i know that separation will be so painful?
It is times like this one will realize the importance of having a family by your side. Living the fast-paced life in Singapore causes many to take kinship for granted. I am definitely one of them. With them constantly by your side, day in, day out.... it feels like they are there all the time, and they will be there forever. Thats a flaw of the human mind. Myopic. We fail to see far. Aging is deceptive and subtle. One day, many Singaporeans will regret.Thats why, i always re-iterate to my friends, and parents...that i will come back. Maybe not in a year, but i will definitely be back. I will not stay here, its not home. I did not grow up here.
These 10 days made me feel human again. Having faced work and circuits and equipments for the past 6months...i felt like a fully rationale & objective robot. These 10 days made my emotions flow like a roller coaster, with the final day as a wake-up call....a wake-up call that i am not as rationale as i thought.... i am human too...
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Day 9-SF Meeting with Parents!!
My parents joined a tour group for their umpteenth honey moon....extending their stay in SF for a day. Despite my short 2 days with them, it was sufficient enough to make me feel excited about their visit.
Ping and i joined them at their hotel after our dinner with Simon & Grace....which ended our day exhausted in their hotel after getting lost in SF(AGAIN!)
The next morning started off with a good chinese breakfast of century egg porridge and chinese snacks followed by cruise around the SF bay area.
Actually, i was hesitating of putting up this photo of my mum and i in my blog. As i observed this pic, i realized that she seems to be looking younger than me. Because she looks young, and looks so much like myself, she is beginning to look more like my sister than my dear mum....makes me feel that im suffering from pre-mature aging....:(
Pier39 is another pretty place we visited. Nothing very much really, except for cheap souvenirs, expensive restaurants and pretty pictures. Check out my mum's new Liz Clairborne bag she got from one of the outlet stores in Vegas. Only USD$30++ i think... good deal!
We stopped by fisherman's wharf for our crab lunch. SF is well-known for their steamed/boiled Dungeness Crabs. Again, i think its nothing fantastic....its just another crab species with short legs and fat pincers. Pincers which are not exactly very fat and meaty, short legs just like any of their asian cousins in Clementi market and IMM Giant....not impressive at all. Maybe im just missing our delicious Singapore chilli and black pepper crab....ummm hmmm....simply delactable!!
Lombard street was next....as usual. But it was the 1st time i drove down that narrow, winding, super steep road though. Halfway through, i was fearing my brakes would give way....heh...
Finally... one of the rare photos of father & son solo....
Fortunately the sun sets later in spring, and we managed enough time to rush down to twin peaks to catch the setting sun over SF city....well.... its not that far... but i had to make a couple of detours here and there....my poor mum & dad, i hope they did not feel nauseous!
Ping and i joined them at their hotel after our dinner with Simon & Grace....which ended our day exhausted in their hotel after getting lost in SF(AGAIN!)
The next morning started off with a good chinese breakfast of century egg porridge and chinese snacks followed by cruise around the SF bay area.
Actually, i was hesitating of putting up this photo of my mum and i in my blog. As i observed this pic, i realized that she seems to be looking younger than me. Because she looks young, and looks so much like myself, she is beginning to look more like my sister than my dear mum....makes me feel that im suffering from pre-mature aging....:(
Pier39 is another pretty place we visited. Nothing very much really, except for cheap souvenirs, expensive restaurants and pretty pictures. Check out my mum's new Liz Clairborne bag she got from one of the outlet stores in Vegas. Only USD$30++ i think... good deal!
We stopped by fisherman's wharf for our crab lunch. SF is well-known for their steamed/boiled Dungeness Crabs. Again, i think its nothing fantastic....its just another crab species with short legs and fat pincers. Pincers which are not exactly very fat and meaty, short legs just like any of their asian cousins in Clementi market and IMM Giant....not impressive at all. Maybe im just missing our delicious Singapore chilli and black pepper crab....ummm hmmm....simply delactable!!
Lombard street was next....as usual. But it was the 1st time i drove down that narrow, winding, super steep road though. Halfway through, i was fearing my brakes would give way....heh...
Finally... one of the rare photos of father & son solo....
Fortunately the sun sets later in spring, and we managed enough time to rush down to twin peaks to catch the setting sun over SF city....well.... its not that far... but i had to make a couple of detours here and there....my poor mum & dad, i hope they did not feel nauseous!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Spring Vacation...Day 7 & 8- Magnificence of Yosemite
Being unfamiliar with the winding terrain to Yosemite, i rented a Chevrolet from Enterprise(yup, so as not to shorten the life of my 12 yr old Camry any further). Not exactly comfortable.... it really feels like it lifts off the road at 70 miles an hour. Terrible experience. Now i know why US American cars are so cheap.
We dressed thinly for our hike in Yosemite, expecting sun and heat. But when we reached there... it was snowing!!...Though we brought some extras, but our frozen hands badly needed gloves!
The trees covered snow really reminded us of the movie Narnia. Its like we have come into another world altogether!
Yosemite is really beautiful! As we drove along, we realized that the snow was not that bad. At the lower altitudes, temperatures were a little too high to have snow. It was during those times our hands thawed a little.
The 4 mile trail brings us up to the Glacier point where its well-known to be extremely beautiful. Driving up is much much easier, but it was closed due to the snow. So we had to hike up.... but even so, we only managed to cover half the trail due to the snow and the lack of time.
Yosemite Falls taken from halfway up Glacier Point:
I was glad i made the decision to visit Yosemite despite the winding roads and long drive. It definitely gave us much more freedom of exploring Yosemite as compared to taking a tour bus.
Both of us agreed that Yosemite is the most enjoyable and scenic so far. It is definitely worthy to drive that 200 miles again. There is still so much to explore!
The day ended with a mad rush back home to have dinner with Simon & Grace(my landlord and landlady), who so kindly offered a comfy home-cooked meal.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Spring Vacation- Day 3 to 6 - Guided Tour
Knowing the long drive to Vegas(~540miles one way, approx 9hrs non-stop), we signed up for a guided tour during these 4 days to Death Valley, Vegas and Grand Canyon. This would help lengthen my car's life, and probably mine as well.... heee...
While the northern side of the bay area is filled with greenery.... the way down south to Vegas via highway 5 is flanked with desert sand. Vegas is afterall built on a desert.
Death Valley is one of the well-known national parks in the US. Supposedly twice the size of Taiwan, one can almost imagine the shear grandeur of it.
Vegas is another pretty place with lots of neon lights and interesting architecture. Casinos look the same in every hotel....so nothing facinating, really. But its really a place of vices. There are cabarets, strip clubs, booze and gambling everywhere.
These are some pictures taken in the hotels..... pretty cool actually. Its not everyday you get to see a gondola and a trojan horse in a shopping mall...
As for Grand Canyon....its magnificence is stunning! However, the noon sun was a little too bright for great pictures. Morover, its 8 hr ride to and fro from Vegas made us really weary. It will be much much more worthwhile if we can camp there overnight or something.
After a free and easy 2 days at Monterey and Santa Cruz....both of us agreed that this tour package thingy is kinda rushed. Although many would agree that going for a tour package is a dummy proof way of touring a place....but the effort spent to plan, and navigate around really makes the whole tour more fulfilling.
Having said this, i will really think twice about joining a tour package next time round.
While the northern side of the bay area is filled with greenery.... the way down south to Vegas via highway 5 is flanked with desert sand. Vegas is afterall built on a desert.
Death Valley is one of the well-known national parks in the US. Supposedly twice the size of Taiwan, one can almost imagine the shear grandeur of it.
Vegas is another pretty place with lots of neon lights and interesting architecture. Casinos look the same in every hotel....so nothing facinating, really. But its really a place of vices. There are cabarets, strip clubs, booze and gambling everywhere.These are some pictures taken in the hotels..... pretty cool actually. Its not everyday you get to see a gondola and a trojan horse in a shopping mall...
As for Grand Canyon....its magnificence is stunning! However, the noon sun was a little too bright for great pictures. Morover, its 8 hr ride to and fro from Vegas made us really weary. It will be much much more worthwhile if we can camp there overnight or something.
After a free and easy 2 days at Monterey and Santa Cruz....both of us agreed that this tour package thingy is kinda rushed. Although many would agree that going for a tour package is a dummy proof way of touring a place....but the effort spent to plan, and navigate around really makes the whole tour more fulfilling.
Having said this, i will really think twice about joining a tour package next time round.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Spring Vacation Day 2 @ Santa Cruz
Day 2 was largely spent at Santa Cruz and Gilroy.
1) Mystery Spot @ Santa Cruz
2) Lighthouse Beach @ Santa Cruz
3) Boardwalk @ Santa Cruz
4) Shopping @ Gilroy Premium Outlets
The Mystery Spot (http://www.mysteryspot.com/) is an attraction because mysterious things occur in this area. Things defy gravity, and people appear shorter than they seem to be.
Being on a flat platform, with my darling in the "Mysterious Area", she seems so much shorter than me....
Swopping places, she has suddenly grown half a head taller!
In conclusion, i think its a hoax... probably some illusion... but i will willingly let it go, than to crack my head over it....its a vacation!
Next, we headed down to Santa Cruz's Lighthouse State Beach... yup, another lighthouse. Another pretty place by the sea...:)
The boardwalk is more like a beach cum amusement park. Beautiful beach, with fine sand, and beautiful babes. The amusement park is a little outdated though. Reminds me of the olden day amusement parks we have back at home, albeit more colourful.
The evening and night was spent at Gilroy Premium Outlets where my darling did some shopping. I have to remember that Girls and Shopping can hardly be separated. With 143 outlets there, we shopped till 9pm....not because it was too late, but because the shops were closing!.... Aww... another late night...
1) Mystery Spot @ Santa Cruz
2) Lighthouse Beach @ Santa Cruz
3) Boardwalk @ Santa Cruz
4) Shopping @ Gilroy Premium Outlets
The Mystery Spot (http://www.mysteryspot.com/) is an attraction because mysterious things occur in this area. Things defy gravity, and people appear shorter than they seem to be.
Being on a flat platform, with my darling in the "Mysterious Area", she seems so much shorter than me....
Swopping places, she has suddenly grown half a head taller!
In conclusion, i think its a hoax... probably some illusion... but i will willingly let it go, than to crack my head over it....its a vacation!
Next, we headed down to Santa Cruz's Lighthouse State Beach... yup, another lighthouse. Another pretty place by the sea...:)
The boardwalk is more like a beach cum amusement park. Beautiful beach, with fine sand, and beautiful babes. The amusement park is a little outdated though. Reminds me of the olden day amusement parks we have back at home, albeit more colourful.
The evening and night was spent at Gilroy Premium Outlets where my darling did some shopping. I have to remember that Girls and Shopping can hardly be separated. With 143 outlets there, we shopped till 9pm....not because it was too late, but because the shops were closing!.... Aww... another late night...
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Spring Vacation....Day 1
The last 4 weeks was pretty busy. In additional to the extra workload recently, considerable time was spent planning for our vacation.
Day1:
1) Carmel-By-the-Sea
2) Point Pinos Lighthouse @ Monterey
3) Monterey Bay Aquarium
4) 17 Mile Drive @ Monterey
5) Dinner @ Shadowbrook, Capitola
6) Getting Lost....
Carmel is a nice little sea town with awesome views of the pacific ocean. Equally awesome is the prices of their seaside houses....~USD15 million for many of them.
Unfortunately, the sky was gloomy.... but nevertheless, the view was still very much breathtaking.
Point Pinos Lighthouse in Monterey....
The jellyfish exhibit @ Monterey Bay Aquarium was particularly pretty...never knew that jellyfish could be so beautiful.
17 mile drive is another attraction of the place. But i think my darling was more facinated with the squirrels. She really made the squirrels beg for the nuts!
Proceeded down to Capitola for dinner at Shadowbrook restaurant (http://www.shadowbrook-capitola.com/), selling one of the best prime ribs i have ever eaten!! Extremely romantic place too! We actually had to take a "Hill-avator" down to the restaurant. Both of us were extremely impressed and would definitely recommend our friends there for anniversary dinners!
The day ended with getting lost on Highway 1....really scary driving on that highway at night with heavy fog and sharp turns. Visibility was terrible, and i was getting nervous. Thankfully i could make an SOS call to Sam, and he guided me back home.....*whew*...
Day1:
1) Carmel-By-the-Sea
2) Point Pinos Lighthouse @ Monterey
3) Monterey Bay Aquarium
4) 17 Mile Drive @ Monterey
5) Dinner @ Shadowbrook, Capitola
6) Getting Lost....
Carmel is a nice little sea town with awesome views of the pacific ocean. Equally awesome is the prices of their seaside houses....~USD15 million for many of them.
Unfortunately, the sky was gloomy.... but nevertheless, the view was still very much breathtaking.
Point Pinos Lighthouse in Monterey....
The jellyfish exhibit @ Monterey Bay Aquarium was particularly pretty...never knew that jellyfish could be so beautiful.
17 mile drive is another attraction of the place. But i think my darling was more facinated with the squirrels. She really made the squirrels beg for the nuts!
Proceeded down to Capitola for dinner at Shadowbrook restaurant (http://www.shadowbrook-capitola.com/), selling one of the best prime ribs i have ever eaten!! Extremely romantic place too! We actually had to take a "Hill-avator" down to the restaurant. Both of us were extremely impressed and would definitely recommend our friends there for anniversary dinners!
The day ended with getting lost on Highway 1....really scary driving on that highway at night with heavy fog and sharp turns. Visibility was terrible, and i was getting nervous. Thankfully i could make an SOS call to Sam, and he guided me back home.....*whew*...
Spring is here...
Surviving through the winter was quite an experience, especially after being a native in Singapore for the last 25 yrs. But well,.... it wasn't so bad...afterall, how hot can California be? Im just thankful they did not send me to Iceland to set up some communication base-station or something. Flowers are not blooming very much yet... but its definitely much greener, and brighter as compared to autumn.
Im sorry if anyone wants to know how Winter looks like over here. I juz got as gloomy as the winter period to be in the mood for any picture taking. Just imagine the street and trees without leaves, in addition to a freaking gloomy sky!
While im glad that Spring is here.... im especially elated that my parents and gf is here for a visit....way cool~~~~~!!!
Im sorry if anyone wants to know how Winter looks like over here. I juz got as gloomy as the winter period to be in the mood for any picture taking. Just imagine the street and trees without leaves, in addition to a freaking gloomy sky!
While im glad that Spring is here.... im especially elated that my parents and gf is here for a visit....way cool~~~~~!!!
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