The Longest Yard Sale...aftermath

Okay, I hate to admit this, but the longest yard sale... sucked. big. time. For us who drove a whooping 12 hours just to get there, it was so BAD. -_- Unlike what I had envisioned (probably something like Brooklyn Flea X 10 times in scale), it was just endless garage sales (literally trash) at people's backyards/garage/lawn along Highway 127. Occasionally, there were areas with tents pitched with multiple sellers, which were a tiny bit more interesting. Despite that, the items sold were really crappy. Someone's trash certainly isn't my treasure. Pretty much nothing caught my eye. 

This was taken at the first stop where I was really excited. (well, reality hadn't slapped me yet)

We were kinda lucky that the first stop was a tented area, thus the stores had a little more quality.

Got the boys to pose for a photo before we started 'shopping'.

Since we were constantly on the road, food trucks were the sources of our lunches. Well, on a slightly better note, the food was pretty decent.

The weather in the mid west was pretty crappy too, kinda similar to Singapore. Random thunderstorms, followed by shitty hot, humid weather. We were pretty attracted to the crates below. However, upon closer examination, we realised that the crates were soaked in the rain and the conditions of the crates were baffling. (I wouldn't bring any home. Yucks~)

The wood works were pretty nice actually, unfortunately, not quite my style..

After a day of driving (and NOTHING bought), I was so annoyed with what the yard sale offered that I proposed a change in our course. So, after a few phone calls, we completely changed our itinerary and headed for a different destination (will reveal more on the next post). Mr Lim felt so sorry for me that he didn't object to the change in plans. Besides, both of us are rather easy going and impromptu, so the drastic change in plans wasn't too fatal. =P

Anyway, on a slightly happily note, on the final day of the road trip, we stopped by one of the tents one last time and found some trash treasure - A 1970s coca cola crate that is in pristine condition and two blue mason jars! Mr Lim also found a cigar box that he wanted to use to store his boardgames items.

More details on what happened on the next blog entry. till then, don't feel too sorry for me yet.. *winks*

What I did over the weekend...

Finally used one of the remaining three day passes I had for Disney World. 

Did some rock and roll.

Met a bear called Winnie.

Found out that my husband is a stormtrooper. =O

Tried stealing a bottle of diet coke. Failed.

Visited a place called Hogwarts. Thinking of sending Sam there for school.

Enjoyed some butter beer. 

Adopted a pet rat. Nope, it's not scrabbers.

Walked an insanely strong dog.

Met some superheroes. 

Got soaked to the bones.

Set foot at South Beach.

Visited the home turf of my favorite NBA Team.

And lastly, bought a hell lot of junk.

Sigh, what a great weekend.

Our weekend date..

On a spur of a moment, I signed us up for a day trip (13th February) of Winter Horseback Riding and Wine Tasting Event with Outdoor bound. I really enjoyed horseback riding while I was in Cairns and thought to try it out again. 

We arrived at Echo Lake Stable Hay Rides which is a 45-minute ride from the city.

Winter had been really mild and I wasn't really expecting any snow on the ground but lucky, well kinda, us, it snowed that very day!! While it felt really romantic, I was freezing my arse off in the cold. Thankfully we were smart enough to put on our ski gears!

 A quick picture while we were waiting for our horses to be assigned to us.

 Mr Lim on his horse. Geesh, he looked like a weirdo all covered up!

 Me and my horse, Ty.

 A little glimpse of the trail. The whole trail lasted for 2 hours and was really fun and at times, scary. Certain parts of the trail included really steep slopes that got me quite worried that my horse would slip and we were would roll down the slope. Fortunately, that did not happen! Unlike my experience at Cairns which was a little monotonous and controlled (we had to wear some really ugly helmet too), this was more hands on. We were able to control the speed of the horses and navigate the direction more freely. And that was how I walked my horse into a tree. Rather, Ty went so close to a tree that I ended up bumping my knee on the trunk real hard. -_- Despite that, I managed to get Ty to gallop a little and I loved it. Mr Lim was a little uncomfortable with the galloping though. =P

 At the end of the ride, we were both freezing and shaking. But it was really really fun.

And we met a couple of really great animals too! The stable cat who was amazingly friendly!

 The herding dog - Tex, who was so affectionate and just adorable.

 After the horseback riding, we headed to a winery 30 minutes away for lunch and wine tasting.

The lunch was surprisingly good but we totally over ordered. We ended up having to pack the pizza for dinner! The live music at the cafe was great too, though not exactly the best ambience for chatting. =/

Unfortunately, we were a little bored at the winery as we were stuck there for 3 long hours. We finished our wine tasting and lunch within an hour and a half and spent the rest of the time stoning in front of the fireplace. The big clinque in other group took forever to get ready and the guide just wasn't able to get the group to leave even after several attempts. We waited an extra 20 minutes (after the supposed meeting time) just for everyone to gather and leave. The ride back was pretty annoying as some of them did get a little tipsy after drinking as well. I guess the day trip was a little long and we would be happy to get back into the city earlier, compared to just doing nothing at the winery.

While I really enjoyed the horseback riding, I wasn't too thrilled about the waiting and time wasting. Now that we know where the stables is, we probably wouldn't join the tour again but instead head there on our own!

Nonetheless, it was a pretty nice way to spend a saturday! Just the two of us!

Pit stop @ Tokyo - Quick visit to MeiJi Jingu Shrine!

On our recent trip back to Singapore, we decided to pull a pit stop and stayed a couple of days at Tokyo. Boy oh boy~ I am IN LOVE with Japan. 

Anyway, on my request, we made a quick visit to MeiJi Jingu Shrine in Harajuku, to give some blessings. Zim (being christian and really NOT superstitious) was really sweet to agree to bring me there. It was a little out of the way but thankfully, the weather was awesome. Lucky us, the shrine wasn't overly crowded and we enjoyed a nice stroll around the area. 

A happy us!

 For 500 yen, I bought an ema (small wooden plaque) to write my prayers.

Somehow, I thought writing in Mandarin would increase the blessings on my prayers. Afterall, the chinese characters do resemble Kanji. Well, I made it pretty far but got annoyed with my ugly handwriting and struggles of finding the right word (or rather, words that I could remember how to write) that I decided to write my fourth prayer in english. -_-

Of course, the number 1 on my prayer list was for the little monster to have a good long life! (PLEASE!)

After being done with my ema and hanging it up on the wooden planks by a large tree at the courtyard, we decided to stock up on omamori (charms/amulets). Hee, I got one for everyone in my family (and a few lucky friends) while Zim got one for his mom. And yap, we got a en-musubi for Zim and I for a happy marriage too! (It was pretty costly actually! But if it works, it's definitely worth the bucks!)

The most important omamori was for the little monster! Not surprisingly, there were none specifically for pets. I settled for one (meant for children) that states :兒童健全御守. 

Since it wasn't edible, Sam wasn't very thrilled about it. Hee, still, I left it hanging at his little corner. Hopefully, the prayers would be answered!

Well, after wiki-ing a little more about the omamori, it appears that it is valid for one year and should be burnt after one year (since it kinda absorbs 'bad luck', burning it will destroy the 'bad luck' too!) and should be replaced with a new piece. 

Hm, sounds like a good excuse for me to head back to Japan again! =P

List of things to do when I get back...

1. Visit a dentist. Despite the daily brushing, I'm sure there are some decaying food scraps anchored somewhere in my mouth that I just can't get rid off. But nope, I'm pretty sure my breath doesn't stink.. Slight dilemma here though, (A bimbotic one as well) should I return to Hougang just to see the cute dentist, or should I just find one in the vicinity? *Frets*

2. Get a facial. I really miss my facial place - Skin Revival. While there's a pretty decent facial place in Flushing, I really miss my facialist whom I could just talk non-stop with. (I'm not that sure if she misses me though, probably not..)

3. Get a hair cut. Hair cut is just ridiculously expensive in NYC and after being to two different salons, nothing beats NEXT Hair Salon! And in comparison to the prices here, it's wayy cheaper too. Maybe I'll get a color and a perm (if I don't chicken out again) as well.

4. Visit my OB-GYN. Well, the last time I went, I had some cysts removed. Hopefully this visit would be better and more pleasant. And, time to stock up on my painkillers again. Yes, the cramps are still here. It was better initially but it's gradually getting worst. Sigh~ let's see how it goes. Hopefully, my insurance would cover the cost. =P

5. Visit my optician - Chew's Optics (I've been going there since I was in primary school!) I guess I am officially sick of my nerdy glasses. Time to get something that will make me look smarter and to grab more contact lens.

6. Stock up on my comics! This time round, I'm bringing some back here with me! Rawrrr...

7. Visit Universal Studios Singapore. Any takers?

8. Indulge in the oyster spread at Marriott Hotel's buffet dinner. (My record is still 15 in one seating. This I've to beat!) Oh, I better get my cholestrol checked before doing that. -_-

9. Wala and paulander sessions! I'm ready to get dead drunk! Where are my drinking khakis??

10. Eat Ya-Kun, eat Ya-kun, eat Ya-Kun.

Back to Reality...

Back from Hong Kong... Oh well, not feeling much about it actually... There were ups and downs on the trip... Bad aspects of the trip (Maybe not that bad): I totally overspent and felt kinda lonely and bored during several periods on the trip, but of course, there were some Good aspects: I made new friends! (Got a BFF - best friend forever) and I managed to explore much of Hong Kong that I never had the chance to do so previously...

Interestingly, I experienced many first times on this trip even though it was probably my eighth or tenth time visiting..
1. Wandering on my own for the first time in Hong Kong,
2. Taking the Mini BUS,
3. Trekking on Dragon's back trail and sitting on the edge of the cliff..
4.Trekking from Sha Tin to some wulu place (I walked 10.68km!!! *Beaming with pride* and I even thought that I was going to die),
5. 'Plucking' (or rather, cutting) strawberries from a farm
6. First clubbing experience at Lan Kwai Fang.. (damn expensive but it was an eye opener =P )
7. Walking two really cute dogs (My cousin's) and feeling as if they were mine.. They are such darlings and that definitely reinforced my dream of wanting to rear dogs in future.. and it's getting me more excited in fact...

Definitely, these accomplishments pretty much outweighed the downs on the trip.. so overall, guess I'm rather satisfied with this experience..However, a little part of me feels rather sad as I return back to reality and back to my life in Singapore. Reason? Sadly, most of the friendships that I've build over the trip and the year in Honors class would end up being the 'annual' kind - We'll probably meet up with each other once a year.. Too bad I guess, but it's definitely better than nothing~ =P

Life goes on anyway... with friends or no friends.. I don't need a dozen of friends.. I just need a few good sturdy ones.. and they know who they are!

I believe that's enough...

Will try to upload my hong kong pictures...someday..(if it ever comes)