Mid-Autumn Festival

Despite being in a western country, i still managed to get some mooncakes, albeit not the traditional kind that i can get from Marriot. Its not as tasty and smooth too.... and its 'skin' is crust-like, rather than the usual soft + tender variation.

But i shan't complain... they are afterall given to me by my very hospitable landlords.

Having them for breakfast provided sweet beginnings for the day... and warmth in my heart.......all these chinese traditions are making me homesick...

Culture Differences Part III - Sloppy Singaporeans...

Its a freaking warm Sunday today. So i decided to don my Singaporean attire (ie.t-shirt+berms+my ugly grey slippers) to grab a subway sandwich, and do some grocery shopping.

Aiya... Mistake. Everyone else on the streets were fully clothed with longs, and covered shoes.

Felt so naked...

If i were to dress like them in Singapore, i would probably feel like i'm an Eskimo or something.

Culture Differences Part II - Decency...

A thought struck me today.

Until now, i have not noticed any female dressed skimpishly here. No spag tops, no mini-skirts. All tops are with sleeves... and the lengths of their skirts are at least 3/4 of their thighs. Neither do i see bikini-clad women, even though i have yet to see a single rainy day here.

Maybe people can argue that its not fair. Singapore is so warm.... and over here in the Bay Area, its cool.... well, check out my Meteorological gadget below..

Its night time.. and its almost as warm as in Singapore. So is it really a temperature issue?...Looks like it isn't.

Well, look on the bright side, i envy my girl-friend. At least she is assured my eyes don't sway while i'm here.

ASEAN Food Festival in California..

Spent an afternoon at the ASEAN food festival held at Coyote Point Recreation Park today. It was some event which the NOC(NUS Overseas College) interns over here helped out with....and so i bought the coupons(ya, everything here needs money!!), and took part in the event.

The park is huge! And with a waterfront that faces SFO Airport... the view was wonderful! Its a romantic place to have a walk with your loved ones. Unfortunately, i walked down the waterfront with a whole bunch of male interns...haha....

There were lots of food for everyone, from Thai cuisine, to the Indonesian, Penang, and Vietnamese desserts. However, i would think that the versions of dishes whipped up here do lack abit on taste, and traditionality. Somehow, the Asian kind of ingredients are hard to find here. Hence, they use other ingredients to make up for it. For example, peanut sauce that accompanies the satay here, is actually just some ground peanut paste. Not the original spicy-peanuty sauce we have in Singapore. So...erm... i avoided that dish.

The rojak has a funny colour too... but i see everyone eating it, so i suppose it should be pretty good.

I settled for some Lontong dish in the end, that is accompanied with some indonesian spicy drumstick... abit miserable for $5. The chicken was decent... but i wouldnt say the same for the Lontong.

They had grilled chicken too! Somehow reminded me of Mum's delicious BBQ-Charsiew chicken wings... so i decided to give it a try. It was pretty good. But the accompanying sticky rice sucked. It was like dried rice....

The event ended with some games in the field...like Tug-O-War...the Singapore team lost though...

This is Prashant, who works with me in Excelics Semiconductors. An intern in the NOC program, he is due to be back in Singapore in 2 months time. Through him, i have got to know alot about how interns maximize their dollars and their 1 yr stay there.

GC's Birthday today..

Its GC's birthday today. I suppose the 2D1s are going to throw a nice dinner for him in Singapore... Sadly, i'm going to miss it. But nevertheless, there will be many more gatherings to come...

Anyway, GC, if you are reading this....Happy 25th Birthday....:)

95' Camry VS 06' Camry

Juz received my '95 Camry yesterday... Considered as an old car by Singapore's standards. Unlike Singapore's streets, filled with flashy new cars, Sunnyvale's streets are filled with used cars. Probably something to do with the taxes i believe.

But this car is powerful! 2.2L VS the rented 1.5L Chev Aveo... this one is quite a monster. Very fast pickup, and much smoother than the Aveo. Its much more spacious too.... and much longer than the Aveo....so long that i got my car scratched while parking today...HeartPain!...:(...

Oh.... and why '95 VS '06 Camry?... Simply because my Dad will be driving the new '06 Camry at the end of this month...and each time i drive this '95 Camry, it will only remind me of home...

1st Day at Excelics Semiconductor Inc.

1st day at work today... finally! After all that NS crap... i can finally get into Action! But 1st day was boring... with all that paperwork and HR stuff?... aiya... drives me crazy...

And this is the cubicle allocated to me. It comes with 2 PCs to increase efficiency in circuit simulations.... Cool!!

Gan Dang Singaporean...

Sunnyvale has surprised me in many ways. One of which is the huge number of Asians and Chinese here. Somehow, i do not really feel very much like i'm in foreign land.

But the Chinese here(mainly from Taiwan & China), when they find out that i'm from Singapore, are entirely surprised that i can speak mandarin! And they even say that i speak very well!!......haha.... For my close friends, i'm sure you know my standard of mandarin... haha...

They speak well of my mandarin so much, that i'm beginning to feel that i'm practicing mandarin more than English... and mind you, i'm in America! This is so absurd...

Chinese Food in Sunnyvale...

Dear Mum & Dad, i have found chinese food! Its this chinese supermarket in Cupertino Village, called Ranch99. Check it out!
They have got plenty of Chinese food here... i finally see pork... and i finally see whole fish!(and not fish fillets!) There is "bak hu" here too!... Even soya bean milk is available here... but of course, variety is not as wide here. There is only sweetened and unsweetened soya bean milk. Unlike Singapore, there is sweetened, reduced sugar, unsweetened, brown rice flavour, green tea flavour.

.. etcetc....

They even sell economical rice here, albeit abit expensive. So it will only be an occasional treat for me. This place is not very near though...its another city away.

Shopping Day Part 2...

Here comes the exciting shops.... This Levis Store.....sells... Levis Jeans... at USD$19.90!!!... OH MY GAAAWWWDD!!!... i had to literally pull my feet away from that shop.....::::::(

They even have Gap, Bebe outlets and even more.... i dun think i can finish this place in one day... have to come back another day... haha....
But i did finish the day with some good buys.... at least i got my track suit. The fleece sweater for USD$12, and the trackpants for USD$18. Not bad at all, considering the high cost of living here. But i bought an expensive jacket(USD$40) from Gap too... heart pain!...But i guess i need it to tide over the cold.... here is a pic of what i got. I'm sure people would think that im crazy to wear this attire in Singapore. But well, now that i'm in Sunnyvale, i have to "Do what the Romans do while you are in Rome"...

Shopping Day....Part 1

Its shopping day today! Found my way through the scary expressways to this place called "Great Mall" in Milpitas. Heard from Sam that its a good place to shop... anyway i'm free and winter is coming. Moreover, i just got a good lesson this morning. Might as well juz go check it out on my last day of freedom.

After making a couple of U-turns here and there, i finally reached Great Mall.

Woah... and this place is FILLED with Factory outlets. And dear Mum & Dad, if you look at the pics here, you really cannot find my size....:(

But of course, i am able to find some good bargains here. But still too ex for my shallow pocket. But man, this place is really filled with factory outlets. They even have a Corning Ware factory outlet! But who in the earth will carry all these wares back to Singapore??.... haha...

And for all those who goes gaga over Abercrombe and Fitch....

But really... after the conversion to SGD.... hmmm.... still not very worth it. Not forgetting their 8.25% GST here....

Tried running today...

Ever had the feeling of "Invincibility" during this prime age of 25? Well, i do have it sometimes... and i do get carried away during these times.

Got up early to run today... time: 0630hrs.... and it was 23 degrees celcius. Not too bad. It would juz be like running in the gym. Hah!... and i juz wore shorts and t-shirt, did my warm-ups in my room... and off i went.

Basket! I was freaking wrong! It was freezing out there! With the winds on my face.... and heavy breathing... the cold winds got into my lungs juz after 1 mile. While hot air gets into your lungs in Singapore...my lungs are freezing here! In no time, i was coughing.

Ok... thats it. I'm scared. I'm getting a fleece top and a pair of track pants to run in.

Beautiful San Francisco Part IV

These are some pics taken from the top of "Twin Creeks" near the Golden Bay Bridge... below are some of the scenary taken from the top. It was really freezing up there!!...

This is taken in Castro street in SFO. It is a well-known street filled with people that prefers "an Alternative Lifestyle" Notice the colourful flag along the streets...

This is an overview of SFO. Notice the main street in the centre? It is actually Castro. Also notice the matrix structure of the roads in the city. This structure applies to Sunnyvale too. My dad was right...:)

Beautiful San Francisco Part III

Next on the itinery, is the Golden Gate Bridge. And this pic is taken with my hosts, Sam & Family. They have been the kind souls, here in California to help me ease into the environment here. Wonderful is an understatement to describe their hospitality. Their heart-warming gestures, are simply beyond my vocabulary to describe. I can only say that i am extremely grateful for their time and effort, which i will not forget.


Why can there be picnics despite the hot and bright sun...? Don't be fooled...i took this pic with icy cold fingers!... It was a freaking cold afternoon!

Another perspective of the Golden Gate Bridge..

Alternative perspective, but with Sam, Amos & myself in the centre of the bridge!

Beautiful San Francisco Part II

Sorry for the multiple posts...Its a pity blogspot can only accept up to 3mb of photos per entry....i will try to summarize things...:)

I left my heart in San Francisco??....












Just a sidetrack... this is Sam's daughter, Alya,... with her toy Cow... she loves it so much... she always kisses it. Alya is so adorable... she keeps me entertained with her multiple facial expressions and moodswings throughout the trip. Somehow, i think she is a God-send to let me experience what my future holds for me. Especially when i would like to have 4 children....oh dear...



Its so common to have murals in SanFrancisco. If this occured in Singapore, it will be white washed and painted over by the government cleaners the next day!










This is Lombart Street... extremely steep, with left turns and right turns if you wanna go down. Somehow reminds me of our Lumbar spine... very analogous in nature, and they even sound similar. Check out the pics! (Left: Top-Down view of Lombart street, Right: Bottom-Up view of Lombart Street)

Beautiful San Francisco....(Part 1)

When Sam picked me from the SFO airport on Monday, he took the highway 101, the main expressway that runs thorough most cities in California. It is known as the straightest freeway.... and hence, also the fastest route to San Francisco. Unfortunately... its soooo boring.

This time, Sam & Family, Amos, and myself got to San Francisco via highway 280. Takes us probably 15mins more... but the route was extremely scenic. Its great being a passenger!

One thing that i noticed in SFO is their huge slopes!... I had initially thought of taking a train down to SFO, followed by skating around the town area(juz to beat the heavy traffic). Looks like that is largely unlikely now!...sian...












This tram, apparently is simply for tourists...doesnt really bring us anywhere at all....








This is Union Square. Reminds me of our taka square.


As you can see... its damn crowded. Apparently, there is some Korean cultural fair going on, and these people are watching the Korean drum & dance.










Hey ladies... familiar??... This outlet looks sooo cool.... soooo posh!











Interesting "Painting" on the side of this Hotel..."JDOG"=Jumping Dog..... You will never find this on any Singaporean Hotel...

Hefty Taxes in Sunnyvale...

Its crazy!... I just realized that i will be taxed 40% over here in Sunnyvale. There is Federal Taxes and State Taxes.... which are the main components. Followed by Social Security Contribution and Medicare(equivalent to CPF & Medisave)... which i will not even get back, because i am leaving US in a year's time. And because im single.... i have got no deductions... no shit! No wonder Singapore has overtaken the United States in terms of the ease in setting up a business. While Singaporeans have to file for taxes at the end of the year, Americans pay for their taxes every month upon receiving their paycheck....awww... its really getting a little painful here....hit me right where it hurts most!....

How i miss Singapore!!

Weather Differences.... Dry + Cold...

The weather here is really dry.... suffering from a slight problem of chapped lips. Even my face is not spared! My usually oily face... still feels dry during mid afternoon. Its barely Autumn yet.... seems like i will need a moisturizer, and plenty of lip balm in winter...

Culture Differences (Part 1)...

I had an easy time adapting to left-hand driving here because the drivers really stick to the rules... and they drive really slow! They are more understanding, and give way more readily. I was also honked very rarely, despite my poor driving skills....surprise surprise...They are more patient, despite having the need to spend more time on the road....hmm...

But trying out the expressways for the 1st time today was crazy! The cars are going damn fast! Most of them are driving at least 20 to 30mph over the legal limit of 55mph!(ie Metric equivalent of 90kmph)....Spent most of my time exiting and entering the expressways... cause i keep exiting at the wrong exits... haha...kiasu Singaporean...

Day 5... R & R...

After a few days of running around...i finally get an afternoon of exploration time...

Though the public transport in Sunnyvale dun really get anyone anywhere... people do still use it. But its not cheap! Its average price range is about USD$1.50 and above. So be thankful with what we have in Singapore! Coming here has made me appreciate the transport system we often complain about in Singapore. Just like us, they use bendy buses too!

And its all low-rise buildings here!...There are no all-in-one shopping malls. Everyshop is a specialist in some product. Be it furniture, pizzas, etc. They do not have a shop that sells pizzas and sandwiches at the same time! This is one of the reasons why one can't do without a car in California...

While we have many of such Macs outlets here, we have got only one in Singapore... which is in Kallang...

Another familiar brand name in Singapore?

I chanced upon this place called Baylands Grove at the end of Lawrence Expressway. Its like a park of some sort... and its extremely beautiful! Don't be mistaken by the pics... it looks damn hot.... but its really very cold. I came back from the trail with nostrils full of mucus from the cold, and my eyes were tearing due to the dry winds.... i should have brought my jacket along! I had forgotten that this hike is not in Singapore!!