Cheap Buy

I bought a pair of Levi's skinnies from Macy's at only US$30!!! Wanted to buy 2 pairs, but couldn't find a light blue one. Still, I'm delighted with my purchase. I paid around S$140 for my old pair of skinnies more than a year ago, which would have gotten me 3 pairs here. That's how much prices are being marked up in SIN, and how cheap shopping in the States is.

Pictures

I realised I haven't posted pictures on my blog for quite some time. Facebook has been pretty addictive, even during the exams period. Thus most of my most updated pictures are always flashed on Facebook first. By the time I'm done with flashing them there, I always ended up too lazy to flash them here again. With tons of time on my hands now, I've decided to do some justice to my blog by adding some colours to it again. So, taa-daa...

It has been snowing for the past 2 nights, so this has been the sight that greeted me for 2 consecutive mornings. Pretty right, though the snow was not as thick as what it was in Colorado?






One of the maintenance guys ploughing the snow along the pavement. See the red arrow behind the black car? It was where I slipped and fell while rushing to get into the car on the day of my second (and toughest) paper last week. I was too stressed out with the day's paper to notice that there was a layer of ice (not snow) on the road. Before I knew it I slipped and fell, and was on my bump with a twisted left wrist that saved me from kissing the ground. Ever since that day, I thread very carefully whenever I get out of the apartment in such weather condition.

1st pic: Summer in mid July, when we first moved into the apartment. 2nd pic: End summer, on the 7th of Septmeber. 3rd pic: End fall, taken yesterday.


I happily asked TWC out for lunch for a mini celebration to the end of my torture last week. We headed to one of TWC's favourite joint for lunch.

The French pastry shop. Very yummy cakes and puffs. I told Hubby my next bday cake has to be from here. Heh... The quiche I had the other day was somewhat too rich for me though.






Pretty xmassy cookies brighten up my day!












The usual colourful array of cakes and tarts. Yummy!











We went to the most happening club in STL last Friday; The Home Nightclub. This and the next picture were taken in the lift, before the party starts. Thus the sober faces, except Shaun Soh. I think he was high after the pre-drink session we had in our apartment.
It was our 2nd visit to the club, and the wildest and most fun night out clubbing till date. However just as when we were all high and having lots of fun, drama broke and we had to leave early, but ended up reaching home about 5am instead. I'll leave the story to some other day.




High...













and more high...
These are mostly my chinese school mates by the way.










I just realised why I stopped uploading pictures on my blog. It is because Blogger screw up the layout of my blog every single time I load the pictures. I end up spending twice the time rearranging my pics and paragraphs. It was working perfectly fine initially till about 2 months ago when I encountered such problem for the first time. How irritating! As such, browse for more pics on my Facebook instead.

My Hubby's Ego is Killing Me!

I do not mean to wash my dirty linen in public, but I just can't stomach it anymore and need an outlet to vent my displeasure!

According to Wikipedia, the definition of "holiday" is "A specific trip or journey for the purposes of recreation / tourism." Now, my own interpretation of it is "Pure torture with a possibility of breaking my back."

To digress, it has been a long long time since Hubby and I squabbled. In fact I don't remember any major brawling sessions ever since we tied the knot.

Holidays are joyous occasions, and I have always been eagerly planning for the itinerary and looking forward to the day of departure. However, I am so not interested to leave for San Francisco now. Hubby and I had been squabbling on and off for the past 3 long weeks whenever the topic of our SFO trip surfaces.

Tell me, who would love to go on a holiday when she and her hubby needs to lug 2 luggages, a backpack (that's a 48 litre size which is wider and longer than my body!) and a 14KG HUGE BOX?! The worst part is to lug it up the MTR (public train) from the SFO airport to some place, then down the MTR to hitch a bus, up and down the SECOND public transport and WALK some distance to the hotel. Play this scenario twice cos we need to get from the hotel to the airport, then fly back to SIN 3 days later. Tell me, who in the right mind will want to torture herself like that during a holiday? I wanted to take the taxi, but becos it costs USD$120, Hubby does not allow. I said we claim J, he also does not want. "I'll pay for the f**king taxi fare then!" He just insisted that he wants me to lug the god-damn heavy luggages up and down the vehicles while he lug the box. If I break my bones, I am so going to kill him.

I just do not understand why must he go through all these hassle, pain and quarreling sessions all just because of a friend. Of cos i do not blame the friend for asking us bring back the huge 14kg box. It is because Hubby forgotten that we're stopping over at SFO for a holiday before we head back to SIN. Thus he promised his friend, J, that we will lug this heavy and huge box that contains a twin baby pram, from STL to SIN. When the box arrived at our doorstep, did it dawn on him that we're going for a holiday enroute SIN, so he shouldn't have agreed to lug it back in the first place.

I first suggested asking J if we can ship the box back instead. Initially Hubby was quite receptive to the idea, but gave a straight no, after checking that the shipping cost will set J back by around usd$150. He said with that cost, J will end up only saving S$60, when his purpose of wanting us to lug back the box for him was to save S$300. Hey hello, S$60 not money ar? My stand is if J is a true friend indeed, he will not make us lug a 14kg box that is bigger than a large size check-in luggage, if he knows about the major inconvenience it is causing us. Most importantly, if he has the money to upgrade to a big car that cost more than S$100k, he cant possibly not afford to part with a couple of hundreds to save us from all the hassle and save my bones from breaking right? Most most importantly, to stop the constant squabbles Hubby and I are having. The last straw was when I proposed to take the taxi. Hubby is insistent that it is not going to cause us as much torment as I thought it will be, since he will be the one lugging the huge box. But hey c'mon, if his hand are tied to the box, doesn't it mean i have to lug the 2 luggages?! How the hell am I going to get these up and down the public transport?! How will this heavy twin pram that belongs to his precious friend not cause me any torment?! Perhaps even at the expense of my bones, may i repeat!

During times like these, I wonder why do my Hubby always go all out for his friends at his own expense, and sometimes at mine. If we were to swap roles, I believe J will suggest the pram to be shipped back instead. I just can't fathom why can't he disregard his ego for just once, and come out with a new and better arrangement with J. If J does not even bat an eyelid at splurging on a brand new nice car during a recession, I'm sure he will not mind sending the box back at a mere US$150!

Free as a Bird!

Yes, I'm finally done with the Fall mini B term. A-month long holiday ahead, with lots of shoppings, dinners and travellings to look forward too! It began with a korean lunch buffet with The Wive's Club (TWC) today, followed by a little shopping and then drinks and buffalo wings at Pink Galleon. It's a little bar just 5 mins drive from WH, that serves 20 or 25cents wings with coupons. I'm looking forward to more shopping with TWC before they head back to SIN, our xmas dinner this Fri, some clubbings n more buffet dinners to come! Oh and not forgetting our long trip! I'm definitely looking forward to the D.C. - Philadelphia - New York trip over xmas n new yr, but not the San Francisco one exactly. Probably becos i think i will be shacked out after the long trip n yet i have to crawl to S.F. 2 days later, lugging heavy n bulky stuffs...

With so much time to burn now, I am going to:
1) upload all the post-dated pics of cos!
2) make yam kueh
3) watch Gossip Girls
4) read the books i have always wanted to read
Lastly,
5) Yak n yak with all loved ones n my frens in SIN!!! (i've a FREE SIN line now, incase u dunno! MSN me to get e tel no. it's TOTALLY FREE! but dun call us in the middle of the nite pls.)

However I must emphasize, these can only be achieved when I'm done with my shopping, which is my first priorty! Heh... Shopping is dirt cheap here (i noe i sound like a broken record again), so I will not be doing myself any justice if I miss out on any sales. Sweet.

Annoyed

I am NOT looking forward to the San Francisco trip!!!

First time in my life, I am NOT a single bit excited about a holiday. More of perturb in fact. By booking the swanky Interncontinental Hotel for our stay will NOT make me falter an inch!

Counting Down...

9 more days to a month worth of freedom! I can't wait to spend my afternoons sipping tea and shopping. Let me get over this quick!

OMG I simply have no mood to study! All I did the entire day was wrapping up my project and copying assignments. 4 more days to the first paper and yet here I am, undetachable from my lappie. I have absolutely no idea why I am not feeling the stress yet. What is wrong with me??!!

Greetings from Keystone, Colorado!

Sitting by the window in Starbucks, cosily tucked away from the snowfall and strong wind, is where I am now typing this entry away. Three entries ago, I mentioned that I had to forgo the trip to Colorado due to the exams. Yet, here I am enjoying every single bit of the short break. Nothing can be more theraputic than watching the white flakes fall and the kids playing in the thick snow. I see many ski enthusiasts lugging their ski equipment walking along this cafe-lined street too. With snow-covered cottage-like buildings and trees as the backdrop, this is just the perfect place to be in.

Hubby and the guys are off skiing again. Having cooped myself up in the room with books yesterday, I thought I should lug my notes out and enjoy the beautiful scenery while I work my ass away instead. It would be such a waste to just stay in the room amidst the picturesque mountains, though our intimate loft apartment was pretty awesome too. To side track a little, the apartment comes with a fireplace. It was just splendid to have everyone hanging around at night, warming up together with music blasting in the background. With 2 lappies, 3 ipods, and a set of speakers with subwoofer, who says we can't have good music to last through our stay.

Though the exams are barely a week away and I am saddled with 2 projects and 3 assignments due within the next few days (I haven't got started with my assignments btw!), I am extremely glad I made a last minute decision to visit Keystone. I am prepared to get mediocre grades, or even just a pass. As long as I can graduate, nothing matters more than this awesome trip; at least at this very moment.

The company was remarkable too. Somehow I felt we'd all grown alot closer during this trip. Cramping together for 17 long hours on the road in the rented wagon, seeing each other in our PJs and messy hair in the mornings, and cooking instant noodles and pre-packed meals as a family. We're definitely long beyond colleagues-colleagues relationship. I'm glad I have good companions here, as they made it more worth while for me to sacrifice my revision time.

I would very much love to visit this splendid place again. Maybe one day the grey-haired Hubby and I could sit in the same spot as I am now, watching the crowd whizzes by with their ski equipment while sipping our hot chocolate (like what I am doing now) amidst the snow. Cosing up with each other and relishing our happy days together in the States; how sweet and loving!

P.S. This trip has made me even more unwilling to go back to Singapore, home of the harsh reality. I wish that the remaining 13 months will crawl much much slower.

"Auntie!"

When your peers around you ask "You want my kids address u as Jiejie or Auntie ar?", u know u're no longer young. They don't automatically address you as Jiejie anymore. They stared at u like as if u look like some alien, probably wondering why is this Jiejie so old/ why is this Auntie younger than Mummy. God knows what are they thinking, but it's really not a good sign when you get greeted by stares from those small pairs of eyes, followed by silence after u said your Hi. When these kids greeted you back with a cheery "Hello Auntie!", without batting an eyelid, you know for sure you look old enough to be one. Of cos I am flattered by the bountiful enthusiasm that comes with the greetings, but I rather they chose to stare at me with that confused look and wait for their parent's instructions on how to address me, really. At least they assure me that I am still not old enough to be promoted to be an Auntie, yet. I am not condemning those who greeted me "Auntie" with much zest and without any prompts, but I just don't wish to be one till I have my own kids. What else can they address me then? Maybe some geniuses with lots of time of hand can think of a nice term for these poor kids to address us, the childless married & YOUNG women.

Snow

Check this out. There is a chance of it snowing on Saturday early morning! Though I've seen snow a couple of times before, I have yet to experience snow fall. It must be a pretty sight! A pity it will be in the middle of the night though, when we are all sound alseep. Maybe I'll try to study through the night, hopefully I can catch a glimpse of the light snowfall! Heh...

Colorado Minus Me

I gave up my Colorado ski trip for the darn finals. My papers are all held a week before the official exam week, which is the week after the Thanksgiving break. Thus, I am going to spend the long weekend mugging alone at home while the gang enjoy themselves in Keystone. Awww...... how I wish I can be there too. The snow, the mountains, the resort, the fun...... Darn exams!

I'm hoping there will be no or minimum penalty imposed to pull my name out at such a short notice. At least I can save some bucks to go on a shopping spree in Osage, the least I could do to cheer myself up while Hubby and everyone else pamper themselves on a 4-day holiday. Sacrificing a day to go on a shopping spree at the factory outlet during the mega sales period is excusable, but not sacrificing 4 days of revision time on a skiing holiday, right. I just got to convince myself. So now, I am going to join the families/ couples to Osage, while the Singles Club and Hubby head to Colorado. I just hope the revision will keep me busy from missing Hubby and the fun during the long weekend. Sigh...

Police Shot Outside WashU

I now wonder if it is ever safe to step out of the apartment.

A Policeman was shot a couple of days ago, just a few streets away from campus. In fact, the crime scene is only 5 mins away from where I have my lessons, and the area where many of my classmates live. One of my friends actually heard 2 of the 3 gun shots in her apartment, and is now avoiding Delmar as much as she can.

Picture courtesy of KSDK.


Read these articles for more info:

Article 1

Article 2

The Nitty-Gritties

Last week, Hubby had a haircut. Not a normal one, cos I was his hairdresser for the first time! Not that I am an aspiring hairdresser nor did I ever imagine myself managing one's hair, but Hubby was adamant that no way could he get a decent hair cut from any of the salons here. It beats me why he is so insistent that I can definitely do a better job that the professionals here. It does not really cost alot more to get a decent trim, so I guess it may be because he is probably just in for the fun! Haha...
The set-up at our balcony, and Hubby getting ready for the fun. Hubby bought the pair of scissors from Amazon and can't wait for me to execute the experiment. LOL!













Me shivering while chopping his bangs off. Hahaa... Shivering partly because I was scared and nervous, and because of the chilly weather on a Sunday morning. I accidently snipped a tiny bit of his ear and had quite abit of blood gushing out half-way through the ordeal. Heh... I was too engrossed in ensuring the cut was leveled, so forgot all about his ears. *Opps*

The before/after photos. From left-right: when we first came, just before the hair cut and after the cut. So nice right?! Maybe I should consider a switch of career if I can't get a decent job in SIN a year later given the current financial turmoil. =P

Last month, we visited quite a number of wineries over 2 weekends. The trips were in time for me to unwind just after the rigorous preparations for the exams.
3 weeks ago, we went to 3 wineries, Sugar Creek, Montelle and Stone Hill. The entire journey took us about 2 hours, by car of course.

At Montelle. It was the most crowded winery amongst the 3, probably because it is sort of perched on a litle hilltop and has the freshest air with a nice view of the Autumn trees below. Pleasant wines we had there and I just love the breathtaking scenery.



The 2 regulars of the 12525G club, and the "owner" of the club. Haha... These are the 2 guys who drop by our apartment very often, at least once a week, mostly to down a bottle of hard liquor together, and sometimes for dinner. I guess Hubby is very glad that he has them here in STL, since they spend aplenty of time together drinking, smoking (YES! they got my Hubby back to e bad habit! Damn.) and talking cock.

Queuing to taste the wines at Stone Hill. All the wineries provide free wine-tasting for their popular wines, before we decide what wines to get if we wanted to purchase any. I love Stone Hill's wine the most, cos they have this sweet red wine that's just simply... sweet! We bought 2 bottles and I was pretty relunctant to open them initially, till I realised Dierberg's (the supermart just outside WH) sells them too, and at a lower price! Duh... Just a 2-min drive to get the lip-smacking wine, instead of a 2-hr drive to the winery.

Couldn't resist taking a picture with the colourful Halloween Deco near the Stone Hill Entrance.









After Stone Hill, we drove to Hermann, for a taste of their Oktoberfest celebrations. Hermann's a very small town (probably the size of AMK; I guess) with a German Brewery cum pub. Here we see some folks dancing infront of a live band.



The next weekend, some Boeing folks were kind enough to bring us to 2 more wineries.

Chaumette is our first stop. Each of us brought home a Chaumette wine glass as a souvenir, all thanks to the wife of a Boeing guy, who knows the owner of the winery.






Chilling, as usual, in the good weather with our gift.












Start of a 10-minute trail to the next winery.











The horrendous up-slope trail. I never like trails, but since everyone chose to walk instead of taking the car, I had no choice but to follow suit. Lucky Melvin's parents were here, and I had company trailing behind the rest of the crew. Heh...



The Charleville vineyard. Another place with very nice landscape and an extremely relaxing nook. I was too engrossed in basking in the tranquil terrain that I totally forgot to take pictures of the surroundings.




Us, including the pioneer batch and Melvin's parents, who are here for a long visit. Picture courtesy of Kinyoong. Too bad the group is too big, and we covered the beautiful backdrop behind.




That's all for now. Had a splendid Korean dinner with the SG team just now, as Hubby's boss is here for a visit. Korean BBQ, Hotpot, Bibimbap and the works. Really yummy, but a tad too expensive. We're blessed to have a sumptuous free meal! I got to go shower and read some notes bfore I call it a day.

P.S. Due to daylight saving, we are now 14 hours behind SIN time, instead of 13.

Bbrrr......

I am feeling so cold! My finger tips are perpetually cold the entire day, and much colder when the night falls. We're only exactly a month into Fall and here I am complaining about the chilly weather.

It is 9.30pm now, and half-way through my assignment I got to go grab a sweater and turn on the heater. One glanced at my favourite website, it's only 14 degree celsius! It should not succumb me to the heater, but I was just way too cold to not have it turned on. With the central heater now on, I guess I may need to get additional heaters to keep myself warmer during the colder weather. I am so useless...

We're expecting colder weather in the days ahead. Seems like from tomorrow onwards, the temperature will remain at 14 deg celsius at its peak and drop to 1 deg celsius on some nights. Bbrrr......

Btw, the days are becoming shorter now too. When we first came 3 months ago, night falls only at 9pm. It was alot more fun when we had longer days, cos we always had activities for the evenings then. Now when I come out from class at 6pm, the sky has already started to dim and it will be completely dark by 6.45pm. I was told that when winter comes, the sky will be completely dark by 4pm. How boring!

Pictures and Shopping, the only things that interest me

I'm sorry for not posting the outdated pictures as promised. My lappie has been hit by a virus, and my Paint program is now missing after I re-formatted the lappie and re-installed the Windows application. I have absolutely no idea where did it go to, and how to resize my pictures without Paint. Till Hubby is able to pull himself away from online poker, can I get help to locate Paint or some other programs to resize the pictures to upload onto my blog. I know, I am such a computer idiot. An alternative is to view some of the pictures on my Facebook, where I've posted them.

The short break from shool was fantastic. The initial plan to club was abolished as we were dead beat from the visits to the wineries and the 1.5 hour drive back from Hermann. I practically slept, surfed and cooked my long weekends away, other than the trip. Oh and I did a little shopping, where I spent a bomb. I shopped for a short 1 hr at Marshall's, the place for cheap frills just outside our place, and blew almost $200. I got ourselves a winter jacket each. At $80 for a DKNY long jacket for myself and a $70 Calvin Klein for hubby, it's such a steal! Especially when both are down-filled, ideal for the imminent harsh weather. Late Sunday noon I was dragged to a mall lined with factory outlets by a friend. Lucky for Hubby, I spent no more than $65 as I was strapped for time and barely had the time to dig for good buys. Within 2 hours, I got myself a scarf, 2 long-sleeve tops from GAP, a tee from Banana Republic and a pretty dress at 1/4 the original price from American Eagle. Do the math, and you'll realised each item cost only around $13 on average. Cheap buys again.

In between classes today, I shopped again; at a mall 15 minutes drive away from school. I had a couple of hours of break before the last class and since it's the beginning of a new term, I reckoned it will not hurt to still be in a holiday mood. Finally managed to find a pair of high black boots that can fit my skinny calfs! I was jubilant to discover that inside the top of the boots there is an elastic strap, where I can tightened the shaft to fit the boots nicely around my legs. I had an agonizing time looking for the perfect tight black boots, since most of the women here have bigger calfs. I look more like a fishmonger than anything else whenever I tried on one of these black hotties, till I saw the perfect one! Heh... so must grab even though it cost me $80 for a brand I've never heard of. However I am hoping that Hubby hasn't been keeping track of my buys, 'cause I know he's going to scream upon knowing that I have gotten myself the 3rd pair of boots within 3 months. Heh... Got myself a fragrance too. Sensuous by Estee Lauder is going to be my all-time favourite scent now. It's absolutely feminine and sexy, with a warm woody hue. Very very sensuous indeed. I just couldn't lay my hands off my new baby.

All in all, I blew around $400 in 3 mini shopping sprees. I was just too deprived of shopping; forcing myself to mug at home for the past few weeks was pure torture. So, never dereave a woman of her shopping needs, else the damage will be much greater.


P.S. I've decided to pass on the coach bag I mentioned 2 posts ago. It wasn't what I had expected from the website when I saw it at the store. That actually means I saved $450 from not buying the bag, which means I saved a good $50 after buying so many stuffs! Right.

Freedom!

Yay! The first finals are over! I finally get to have a short break, 3 days to be exact, before a new term starts. Plans for the weekends: brunch and shopping with the wives' club tmr noon followed by clubbing @ night to celebrate Shaun's birthday, Oktoberfest in Hermann on Saturday and maybe more shopping on Sunday. I am soooo going to make full use of my precious weekends, free of assignments and revisions.

By the way, the results for the second paper is out. I'm quite pleased with the grade, cause I got an A! Heh... But then again it's the easiest paper of all and it's purely mathematical. I am alot more worried about the rest of the 4 papers, and I wish for nothing but a B for those. FYI, B is the passing grade for all subjects, in order to be able to graduate from the course. So in fact, it's not exactly a big deal to get an A.

Remembered my promise to upload the loooooooooooong overdue pictures, mostly taken over the past month? Well, I am definitely going to post them up, but perhaps tmr. I have been having only 4-5 hrs of sleep per night for the past 2 weeks, so I need to recuperate from the utter exhaustion first. Drinking red wine out at the balcony at 6.5 degrees celsius is making me awfully drowsy too. Will be back soon after a good night's rest!

Help me decide!

The Magenta? I love this to bits. The colour is so bright and looks yummy for school and outings, but it's not appropriate for work. A waste if I can only use it for only casual purposes?










Or the Espresso? It's the ultimate safe colour, suitable for all occassions, but I'm quite sick of blacks and browns. Oh how how how?

Randoms

It's been more than 2 months since school started. Not only have my spoken English improved, I think my Mandarin too has improved leaps and bounds. I learnt aplenty from my Chinese classmates and picked up an interesting meaning of a traditional Chinese word yesterday. I just had to mention it here just in case it slipped my mind one day, given my bad memory. I never knew there was a "modern" meaning to the word "同志", till I mentioned this word yesterday and had a friend looking at me in awe. The westernized Chinese now used this word to descirbe homosexual guys. I tried to understand how in a way can "同志" be linked to gays, since it sounded so gungho and manly, but none of the Chinese students knew how this new meaning evolved over the years in China. I thought it's a pretty entertaining piece of info to share. So now we know not to use this word unwisely since it has a new and offensive meaning.

On a side note, Hubby and I will be back in Singapore for a short 4 days from 7th to 11th January! I can't wait, though it's going to only be a very short and rush stay! There is no way we can go back during CNY as skipping a week's of class is a BIG no no for me, especially when I can barely cope now even when I have a 100% attendance this Fall (and partly because the Director is against the idea of my intentional absence). We can't extend our stay any longer too, just in case any of u are curious to know. This is because we'd booked our flights and hotels to Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York from 24th December to 1st January. So the earliest we can leave STL for SIN is on the 3rd. We are intending to stay over at San Francisco for 2 nights before heading to SIN since we need to transit there anyway. So by the time we reach SIN it will be on the 7th. We definitely need to leave by the 11th as my Spring classes are starting on the 12th. In short, it means we're going to have an extremely hectic travel schedule for 3 weeks and I have absolutely no idea how am I going to survive through the 1st week of class, considering how jet lag I will be after the trip back from home. Neverthelss, I am still very much looking forward to go back to meeting up with all my dear friends!

To digress, the finals for the term is starting next week and will last for almost a fortnight. This explains the long absence from my blog. Not that I have started my revisions for the exams way ahead of time, but because I had to clear tons of assignments before I can start my revisions. I have dozens of pictures to share from clubbings, birthday celebrations, outings, etc, but give me some time to upload them into my lappie and I sure will post them up after my papers. So, till then!

P.S. We're now in the 2nd week of Fall and weather's been rather chilly, especially in the mornings and nights. Temperature ranges from around 10-12 deg on my way to school, to around 17-20 deg in the noon. Leaves has started to turn orange and I can't wait to see the pretty Fall in full bloom!

First Wedding Anniversary

Time really flies! Hubby and I have been married for a year now. It seems like it was only a couple of months ago when we were busy planning for our big day, and it felt like it was just yesterday when we were walking down the aisle. Alright, I was exaggerating, but you get my point. It's scary how fast time dashes by without us realising that there are so many things still undone. For example, I have yet to get Hubby a significant gift as a momento for our very first wedding anniversary.

I was browsing the net sourcing for ideas on what to get for him awhile ago.

Just as when I was in the Tiffany & Co. website considering if I should get this beautiful key ring for Hubby, he came into the room with my present.







He got me this very dainty ring from the place where I was thinking of getting his pressie! Great minds think alike! Haa... Not only did we both think of the same place to get our gifts, both items we chose had the same amount of diamonds on it, though my gift is alot cheaper than his. We are such a match-made-in-heaven, aren't we? *Wink*


I feel so guilty for not getting a pressie early enough to exchange for the lovely ring he got for me. Anyhow, I guess the pile of assignments shall be a reason valid enough to explain for the late gift. In fact, I am not anywhere near late since we are only a couple of mins into our anniversary day and I planned to get the key ring later this noon. =P

I have been craving for fresh oysters and foie gras. I've explicitly spelt out my cravings yesterday, and I hope do Hubby is sensitive enough to bring me to the right place to dine this evening. Tsk tsk... First wedding anniversary definitely have to be a speical night, isn't it?


Updates on 17Sept: No fresh oysters and neither did we have foie gras. ;( Hubby said it's because there is quite a huge population of animal rights activists, so I can only crave for them and salivate in my dreams. No key ring for Hubby too since he insisted he doesn't need anything. Initially I thought i can save me some money, especially when I a non-income earner now. However his bday is coming up in a couple of days. Maybe I should get him something bigger as a bday cum 1st yr anniversary gift. Any ideas? I'm clueless.

Burnt Out

I am DEADBEAT. Having to cook when I reach home at 6.30pm after school is really a chore. Especially when the hubby is sooooooo hooked on Texas Holdem that he doesn't lay his fingers to help a tiny weeny bit anymore. I am so pissed with him that I have decided to either let him cook his own dinner and packed lunch, or to have packed dinner from the Teo Chew eatery from Mondays to Wednesdays, when my classes end late.

By the way, the weather has been pretty bizarre, by my own standards. It's only the end of Summer now and the temperature has been hovering around 18 deg when I leave home for school in the recent mornings, and around 15 deg when I head home in the evenings. If it is already so cold now, I am thinking do I need to wear my thick jackets when Fall arrives. I am so afraid of the cold.

Lastly, as usual, school has been crazy. Stochastic is my worst subject and I have been struggling with it since the day school started; actually since NUS days. I am sooooooooooooo behind class that I have been mugging almost every single day. I guessed I am putting in 10 times more the effort than I did during my undergrad days. This is definitely much much much more tougher than what I had thought it will be. Sigh......

Chicago Trip

Chicago is the biggest city in Illinios, our neighbouring state. It is also the 3rd most populous city in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles. September 1st is Labor Day, and since we had a long weekend, our group decided to spend 2 nights in Chicago. The drive up took us 5 hours; a good chance "to train for our 14-hour road trip to Mt. Rushmore", proclaimed hubby. I guess I will try to get myself an air tic up, rather than let my legs suffer in the cramped coupe for that many hours. A 5-hours drive is already more tedious than I had thought it would be.

This is how far we had travelled. Almost across an entire state to get us to Chicago. Map's a credit of photographyschools.com.

The only pitstop on the way up. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, an old country-styled restaurant. A very nice cosy little place.







One of the first sights of Chicago. An old dirty tunnel which do not look welcoming at all. We entered Chicago from the part where the more impoverished communities lived. It looked pretty much like a riot had recently broke out along the streets.



Along Lakeshore. The ensemble of the clear blue sky, the pristine water and the neat rows of yachts is such a pleasant sight. Totally different from the sights that greeted us initially.





A pretty much dingy subway station near our hotel. The place where we put up at was quite close to the shabby streets, that explains the presence of an almost dilapidated station.






Chicago's skyline. Finally we get to see clusters of high-rise buildings...















...and throngs of people. I had not seen so many people along the streets for the past 2 months. It ignited some excitment in me, having seen crowd the first time since we arrived in STL. I felt like a hermit being let out. Haa...




Parking in the city is extremely exorbitant. Thus we took the subway and walked miles and miles on the first day. Lucky my legs were spared on the second day as we managed to find a parking place that cost us only $11 for 12 hours.










Dinner was at Morton's. The real Morton's Steakhouse in Chicago! Last birthday, Hubby planned to bring me to the Morton's in Singapore, but I can't remember why there was a change in plan in the end. We were delighted to have a chance to sink our teeth into the acclaimed steak at the origianl Morton's.

Superb steak. The taste was AWESOME. The only flaw was it was a tard too raw. Hubby and I shared one, while Shaun and Zhiwei shared the other portion. While both orders were medium rare, the chef grilled the entire thick cut of steak before slicing it up into 2 portions to be served. Thus the centre of the beef was too raw. It would be the most perfect steak if it was sliced first before grilling. The others had thinner cuts, and thus their steaks tasted much better than superb.

After dinner, we took a looooooonng stroll to Navy Pier to catch the fireworks. Thereafter, it was yet another much looooooonger stroll to the subway station to take a train home.












Chicago at night.












On the second day, we had Tim Sum at one of the restaurants, recommended by The Wives' Club, in Chinatown. For this huge spread, we paid only $10 each. Almost the same price for a meal in McDonald's. Pretty decent chinese food, except the bland congee and thick-skinned crystal dumplings and Char Siew Baos.

I went gaga over this huge Hershey's store. It's a chocolate-lover's heaven.
















The genuine chocolate-making machine in the store! I say genuine because I saw "kisses" rolling down the spiral duct of it.













Late noon, we each paid $15 to go up the Hancock Observatory for a 360 degree view of Chicago. One of the touristy must-dos.








Nice view of Chicago from the 94th storey.











Dinner was at Carmine's. Nice food, better wine. It had been a while since we do alfresco dining.









Night fell after dinner.

















It took us some time before we managed to find a modest place for some drinks. Modest but still a far cry from our happening clubs in Singapore. It was good enough to remain in there for only 2 hours.



We left with the intention of adjoining to the most happening club, but with a drunk member in our group, we decided to give Level a miss.







I'll be posting the entire album on Chicago in my Picasa real soon, I promised.