Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Honeymoon - Oahu

This is an entry to document our honeymoon itinerary in Oahu:

Day 1 - Nov 21, 2007

- Flew out of Houston @ 9.35am (Central Time)
- Touched down in Honolulu @ 2.05pm (Hawaiian Time)
- Rushed to collect our rental car and managed to make it to the last USS Arizona Memorial (Pearl Harbor) tour for the day which started at 3pm
- Checked into Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort
- Walked along the happening Waikiki Beach
- Checked out the high-end stores along Waikiki and the countless number of ABC stores
- Had a simple (= not fantastic) Korean food at the International foodcourt
- Turned in @ about 11 pm


Day 2 - Nov 22, 2007

- Woke at 5am to go shark cage diving @ Haleiwa
- Checked out the powerful waves @ Waimea Bay Beach
- Went to Lanikai Beach for our first real swim in the ocean (did not really do any swimming for shark cage diving)
- Met up with Elaine @ Big City Diner at 1pm (Tim has friends all over the world -even in Hawaii!)
- Went to the Chinatown and habor for a walk
- Parted with Elaine and headed to the Diamond Head Crater @ about 4pm
- Hiked up and down the Diamond Head Trail which took approximately one and a half hour altogether.
- Went back to the hotel and slept for about two hours
- Woke up at about 1030pm.
- Drove to pick Elaine up and went to Like Like Restaurant for dinner/supper/breakfast (although it should technically be considered supper, but since we skipped dinner, it could be called dinner too. Then again, since we ate toasts, omelette, and hash brown, it could be considered breakfast too.)
- Drove to Waikele Outlet mall for Black Friday shopping
- Got caught in the traffic and had difficulty finding a parking space
- Finally started shopping at 145am
- Bought a pair of boots from Nine West for just US$37 and two tops from Polo Ralph for a total of US$56.
- Bought Tim a leather jacket and two pairs of underwear from Calvin Klein as Xmas prezzie for US149 (hmm...why is my own purchase cheaper than his prezzie?!!)
- Finished shopping at about 4am
- Slept at 5am - the exact time we woke up 24 hours ago!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Random Updates

Thanks to Mark who asked why I haven't updated the blog for so long. So here's a long one for you....

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I was in Dallas for three days of training earlier this week. Not only were the trainings absolutely boring, the meals were extremely sucky. In the Houston office, we usually get really good and wide selection of food. But in Dallas, they only have one type of entree for lunch. First day, we were served fried chicken and side salad; second day, cream pasta with chicken; and third day, enchiladas and mexican rice. Some people were so disgusted with the food that they rather eat subway.

Ok, the food weren't really that bad. In fact, they tasted pretty good. But the lack of selection just made it seem a lot worst. I mean, I don't even like cream pasta, not to mention the chessy enchiladas. So even if the food was fantastic, there was only so much I could take.

Because we had lousy lunches, my colleagues and I splurged on dinner. Rib eye, red wine and sinful dessert. We spent at least US$60 a person a meal. Then again, it is not about the money. It is the company that is important (fine, the fact that the meals are paid for by the firm helps.). We had really interesting conversations and got to know one another better.

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For those who watch Grey's Anatomy, you will know that the doctors in the show have complicated relationships with one another. Good friends become lovers even though the guy is married; ex-lovers remain intimate even though they sorta officially broke off...... The story has become so thrashy that I began to wonder if Americans are like dat in real life. So I asked my colleague if the drama depicts reality. He said yes. In fact, he is in a complicated relationship himself. Hmmm.........I didn't probe further though.

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Our class ended very early on the last day. I tried calling the airline to change my flight to an earlier one but all the flights were fully booked. So I hitched a ride with my colleague who drove to training.

OMG, I'm truly amazed by the way she drives! She could be holding to her cellphone on one hand and playing with her hair with the other. Or she could be using her neck to hold on to the phone, while rummaging through her bag for her purse with both hands and then trying to unzip her purse after that. Yes, no hand on the wheel! She was driving at 90 miles/hour (equivalent to about 140km/h! How dangerous is that! Even if we were to hit just a stone, we could possibly be thrown off course at that speed. Granted, I would still say she is a beta driver (in terms of skills) than I ever gonna be. :P

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One more day to the weekend! It would be a busy weekend. Neo and Zing are moving apartment this Sat and so we would be helping out. Celia and Wen chao geng and leave for Seattle the same day. So it will be more work for the rest of us. Even though they are just shifting within the apartment complex, I seriously hope Neo and Zing are all packed and ready to move. If not, instead of moving boxes, we would have to move pieces of stuff one by one which would take forever. But I doubt they are packed at all because they are both out of town this week and will only be back tomorrow night.

Tim's friend is here in Houston so we would be bringing her around after she attends Lakewood church on Sunday. I love it when people from Singapore come visiting.

We gonna watch Rent on Sunday evening too!

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Next week, all three couples will not be in town. It's the thanksgiving long weekend. Wen and Celia will be in Seattle; Neo and Zing in Cancun, Mexico; Tim and I in HAWAII!!

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I haven't been trying out new recipes. Each time I ask Tim what he wanna eat, he would say anything and then ask what I feel like cooking. I will draw a blank and end up not cooking.

So here's a note to myself of all the new dishes I wanna make just so I don't have to ask Tim and end up getting frustrated:

1. Thai Toast
2. Curry puff
3. Jap Chae
4. Mango Glutinous Rice
5. Bread
6. Pandan leave chicken
7. Stir Fried Chrystal Noodles

But with the upcoming trips, I don't think I will have the time to try making any of these any time soon.