Happy Thanksgiving!

Tmr's Thanksgiving Day, and we're leaving for Atlanta tonight. Not particularly excited over this trip (think 9-hour drive!), but very much looking forward to the spree. Shall blog about the trip after Sunday. Till then...

More of Alaska

An interesting fact about Alaska is, there's going to be only 4 hours of insolation per day in Fairbanks come January. On the contrary, daylight accounts for 21.5 hours during the peak of Summer, i.e. in July. That explains why Alaska is known as "The Land of the Midnight Sun"! If you'd watched "The Proposal", you'll see Sandra Bullocks going to bed in the "day", when the sun is still blazing high up in the sky. Not forgetting about the crazy weather too. The average temperature in Fairbanks now hovers at about -30 deg celsius (I think I've mentioned this before). We thought there's going to be a high possibility the temp is going to hit -40 d.c. or even lower, when we arrive a month later.

We're definitely going to make full use of that limited hours of daylight per day, but we're still not sure if our thick layers wil keep us warm enough to conquer the horrendous weather. Despite this, I'm soooo looking forward to go dogsledding & snowmobile-ridding, while the boys are dying to ski amidst the snow-capped mountains. Of course the Northern Light is our main objective, and lets hope we are lucky enough to catch it!

With this, I think I am sort of ready to leave STL for good, ready to overcome the difficulties of a working life...

Of Potlucks & BBQs

Tomorrow's mass cook-out most probably shall be our last in STL. Here is how we plan our team's pig-outs. It was pretty nostalgic looking back at the past spreadsheets, really. To think that the last potluck we had, which was also our first, was actually a year ago when KY & PS shifted next door to be our immediate neighbours. It seems like it was just a couple of months ago when we were all cosing it up around the tight space for a sumptuous home-cooked meal.

Fridge Magnets

Like Mum, I am collecting magnets as I travel. These magnets were collected as we toured around the Americas during the past 16 months. They each represent a state/city we had visited, except the three magnets on the extreme left, which were gifts from friends. I love how they accessorize our fridge! A picture of the colourful fridge, before I wrap these souvenirs away...

To be added to this collection soon: Atlanta, Smoky Mountains, Alaska & Seattle. These will be going directly into our luggages though.

Thanksgiving

Black Friday Sales is starting next Thursday evening!!! I wasn't even aware we're only 10 days away from the Thanksgiving weekend! Of course I'm extremely excited over this last burst in the outlet, but it also means it's high time I start preparing for the finals and presentation again...

Atlanta, North Georgia, is where we'll be heading to for this spree. It's about a 9-hour drive from home, and we'll be staying a night at a hotel just opposite the outlet. Perfect location, since all we need to do is to just walk a couple of mins to heaven! Thereafter we'll drive another 3 hrs or so to Great Smoky Mountains, and spend 2D2N somewhere in the mountains. The plan's to trek for 2 days, but seriously I doubt I'll have much energey left after shopping from midnight to dawn. The Black Friday Sales starts at 12 midnight on Friday monrning btw, but of cos we're anticipating some shops to start the madness earlier, at 10pm perhaps. =)

Wish me all the best in this last shopping spree! I hope I can cover all the shops needed to be covered, and sweep as many goodies as possible! Hohoho...

Food, Oh Glorious Food!

When I'm in a good mood, I'll try to whip up something we both love. Today, it was Portugese egg tarts (again), and Chicken Rendang!

With 1 pastry sheet left in the freezer, I have been procrastinating for the past month to make these tarts. Since school ended early on Mondays and I happened to be carving for sweet stuff, it's the best time to get my hands dirty again!
My 3rd & best attempt thus far, as these gems had the right sweetness and the egg custards were nicely browned on the top and soft on the insides. Unlike the last try, the insides were a little too dry and over-cooked. Heh...

He had a nice little surpise when he came home to piping hot portugese egg tarts fresh from the oven!

Chicken rendang with Myojo's Char Mee were what we had for dinner tonight. These were part of the food to be cleared as well. Finger-licking good home-made rendang! All thanks to a nice girl, who introduced me to this marvellous sauce during a potluck back home.

If you haven't tried Brahim's Kuah Rendang, you will never know how easy this dish really is. I got mine from NTUC, and it took me 5 mins to get everything into the pot, and another 30mins to simmer the dish before we tucked in. Good with beef stew meat too!

Another Gloomy Day

Starting from today, it's going to be another gloomy and rainy week ahead, after half a month of sun and cheery days. Sian... I haven't been spending time with my notes & book for more than a week; it's time to get back to them again. Very sian... Haven't really been doing any packing too; the mess is giving me a bad headache everytime I try to get started. 3 more weeks to an exam and a presentation, 5.5 more weeks to The Departure. Super duper sad and sian!!!!

Tired. Perplexed. Scared.

6.5 more weeks to the big goodbye.

To ensure that I've maximized these last weeks fully, I've started a new regime, to spend less time on bed. It's been a frenzy week of online shopping, and I'm constantly cracking my brain on what have I left out on my shopping list. Perpetually on the other end of my mind is how I should go about squeezing all our stuff into those boxes. Sigh... It's really such a chore! I know I've grumbled about this umpteen times, but since I can't stop adding more stuff into the boxes, I just have to complain about having an influx of new items to pack. Alright I'm not really sure what am I lamenting about. To summarise, I can't stop buying, but I hate having to keep packing more and more stuff into the boxes! GGggrrrr......

Should I get 5 pairs of shoes from the same make? I want to, but not really sure if I should. Currently our shoes occupy 3 boxes and I thought maybe it's time to tighten the purse strings. They're freaking cheap though! Life is sometimes an irony, isn't it?

Actually I don't know what I am blabbering about in this post. Perhaps I just need an outlet to vent my undecisiveness and my complacency.

*P.S. I hate how some people think I should treat them as good friends, when they are merely acquaintances to me. I hate it when these people ask provoking questions, invading my private life, thinking they have the right to access such info. I especially hate it when the same people try to impose their uncalled-for opinions/criticisms on what I do with my life/money!

*P.P.S.S I'm way behind my study schedule and I'm terrified!

*P.P.P.S.S.S I miss McDonald's ice tea...

**I'm finally going for an authentic Mexican meal later! yum yums...

Packing & Unpacking

Seriously, I'm utterly sick of packing. First packed my barangs 2.5 yrs back to move into our matrimonial house. 1 yr later, packed almost every damn thing in that house to shift here. Now here I am re-packing everything again + a lot more new stuff, to ship them back to that same house. Not forgetting each packing ritual comes with an unpacking task. I can't imagine I've been repeating this tedious chore almost once a year. Sigh.... I've only finished packing 3 full boxes, and have maybe 20+ more to go. Help!

Was packing my bags last night, and I can't believe I have more than 20 bags to ship back! Of course some belong to my sis & cousin, but the bulk of it, sadly are my possessions. I've decided to "spread my risk", in the event that the custom officer decided to check our boxes and think I am bringing these bags back for sales. So now I have to temporary say goodbye to some of these goodies...

While packing, I also realised that I have bought quite a number of clothes on impulse over these few months; tops especially. No wonder Hubby mentioned today that he really thinks I am sick; an addiction to shopping is an illness to him. With these, I am going back home as a pauper. So when you see me, don't assume all who come home from an overseas attachment will bring back with them a bag of gold. Sigh...

Daylight savings

We're now 14 hours behind SIN time, instead of 13.

Alaska!

Yay! We're really going to set foot on Alaska! No doubt i'm over the moon, despite the exorbitant cost. I reckoned we could scrimp and save after the trip, since this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I'm gonna feast on Alaskan crabs and I do hope we get to see the magnificent Aurora!

The best part of going home is not only the Alaska trip, but we're meeting my bff in Tokyo and will be heading to Hokkaido together! For once, I don't feel as sad as before about leaving the US.