Us...

Conversation between Husband and Wife

Me:"Do you think Sam is talking to the other dogs when he barks at them?"
Zim: "Possibly.."
Me: "Hm, do you think the dogs in Singapore will understand Sam's american accent then?"
Zim: -_-

Well, I always dig the american accent in ABCs to begin with. So effectively, Sam is our ABCD - American Born Chinese Dog!

Frankfurt!

Zim and I decided to stop by Frankfurt on our way back to Singapore for two main reasons:

1. To break up the long and horrid plane ride on SQ26/25. It's officially the worst SQ planes of all the SQ flights I've been on. Apparently, while all the other SQ flights have been upgraded to the newer planes, this is the one rare flight that is still using the ancient Boeing 747-700. The screen is possibly smaller than my kindle screen and the chairs are oooold. So, by stopping over at Frankfurt, we managed to book the newer flight (YEAH~) for our Frankfurt-Singapore leg.

2. Shopping! There are only two destinations on my shopping list - Longchamp and Crumpler! So far so good! Crumpler was awesome!!!!! Apparently, the crumpler in Europe is different franschise from the crumpler in Asia and America, thus the collections are totally different from those in Singapore and NYC. AND I LOVE THEM ALLL!!!!!!! Nothing new for Longchamp, except that it's dirt cheap after tax refund. Ho Ho Ho... I'll update my loot when I get back to Singapore. Swinging by Crumpler one last time tomorrow for a few more grabs. =D

Other than that, Frankfurt isn't exactly the most exciting of places and it really sucks that the weather is wet and cold. It's been raining for the past two days that we were here, what luck. Maybe tomorrow will be a better last day.

New Year Resolutions...

I've only ONE resolution this year.

Always trust my own instincts.. It's possibly always right...

I learnt the lesson the pretty hard way in 2010. So I guess it shouldn't be too tough for me to achieve that in 2011.

Happy holidays!!

Merry X'mas!

Hee, Zim decided to give me my X'mas present before we head off to Vermont. Well, this was quite a pleasant surprise as I really wasn't expecting anything, especially after the few major spendings this month (beginning with MASA and followed by Vermont trip). Nonetheless, the gift was AWESOME. (Probably one of the rare few things that I actually really like!)

And yes, it comes in a pretty little blue box tied in a silky white ribbon that is every girl's dream!


It's a lovely charm bracelet with it's very first charm that resembles little Sammy!!! YAPPY!


Feeling really guilty for him spending so much money, I've decided that this would double up as our 2nd wedding anniversary present as well. (Time really flies! It's been almost two years!)

I've been pretty busy with school that I've not been able to buy him his present. Oops.. Shall brainstorm and sit on it for a while.. Hang in there Zimmy~

Done with School!

Yeah! Okay, at least for this semester..
Happy~

Snowboarding weekend!

Snowboarding weekend is finally coming up! Not only that, it's also gonna be the first white X'mas I'm gonna be having! Happy~ Anyway, in preparation for the snowboarding weekend and after much deliberation, I finally decided to invest in the snowboarding gears.

So, I swinged by Paragon Sports with a friend who is an expert at snowboarding to stock up on the gears. Hee, I'm really glad he was there to give some really precious advice. No surprises, the criteria of my purchases were as such:
1. The aesthetic - White is of course my new black. (Recall: white ibook, white ipod, white iphone..)
2. Price
3. Feasibility (Come on, I'm afterall still a girl, what were you expecting?!)

Here are the steals:

1 ) My snowboarding boots from Burton. Not only was it one of the cheapest available, I am completely in love with the colors!

2) My solomon helmet which surprisingly cost as much as the boots does.

3) The design of my board with my lovely Oakley googles. It's also my first pair of Oakley. Apparently, I don't have a nosebridge that is high enough to support most of the Oakley shades, so this is about as far as I can get to own an Oakley. Guess I'll make do.

4) The snowboard bag that I had to drag all the way from Union Square to Chinatown for lunch. Luckily there were wheels on it. It's a lifesaver!
All in all, my steals for the day.
This whole shit cost me quite a huge sum of money and thankfully, we had already bought our ski jackets and pants from our shopping trip in feb. Hence, the damage isn't as significant as it should be. (Okay, who am I kidding again...)

Nonetheless, I'm definitely making a pretty deep commitment here and will try my best to go snowboarding as frequent as I can before the season is over or before something is broken. (Knock on wood though) And, by any stroke of luck, I might be able to snowboard well enough by the end of my stay in NYC.
Can't wait!! And yap, this is also what I'm abandoning Sam for. Sorry Sammy boy!

It's Really NOT my day.

When bad and unlucky things do happen, they all happen at the same time. And yap, today is the day.

It started off with a confrontation with a neighbour I really dislike. (Yes, I'm biased...) I was dreaming for a dashing ang moh, preferably with a Daniel Wu resemblance, that would move in opposite us. And of course, that did not come true, nowhere close at all. In came this fugly balding middle aged guy. (Okay, I'm not against his appearance) I just didn't have any good vibes about him. We had an encounter before this and he was just purely unfriendly and stuck up. So, in a nutshell, I don't like him. I guess I must have been really extremely unlucky to meet him on my way back. (I was carrying this uber heavy box all the way back from times square and I was in a rather frustrated mood already.) He was complaining about a barking dog and how the dog had been driving him crazy for the past three days blah blah (no, it's not Sam, Sam isn't even at home most of the time, it's a dog we are dog sitting.). To his credit, his complaint was valid. Unfortunately, being a bitch I am, it's just his face and his tone that I was upset with. Plus, I was really tired from dragging the box, couldn't he had picked a better time? This was actually one of the rare few times that I was not apologetic for something that's partly my fault. It didn't help that the dog was barking when I was struggling to open the dog. Sigh, maybe the barking might make him move away? And maybe then a daniel wu look-a-like would move in instead? *Praying~*

On one hand, I was also pretty frustrated with the barking. I am dog person and while I don't mind the barking, it's getting on my nerves a little and I'm also a little stressed out that my other neighbours would complain as well. I had to change some of my plans for the rest of the week as I had to stay home to prevent the dog from barking incessantly. And I really appreciate that Zim's mom was around to help out a great deal.

And things just didn't get any better. I decided to carry my two uber big textbooks to school to sell today and after struggling with the stupid books on the long train journey and long walk, I arrived at the bookstore just 2 minutes before closing! RAWR~~~~~~~~ Super upset. So, I was left with the two horribly heavy books. Thank god for my classmate who was willing to let me leave them in her car. So annoyed.

The best part of all, to end my day, I dropped my underwear in the toilet bowl (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) just five minutes short of a new day.

WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL...

It's here!!!!

No, I don't mean my period.

It's the canvas I ordered! Well, long story short, I went for a Rachel Ray Show recording and the guest star was Ty Pennington (from Extreme Makeover Home Edition). Apparently, he was endorsing for Canvas on Demand and as the audience, we received a USD$150 gift voucher free. Well, being the skeptical Singaporean, I was pretty convinced that there were conditions applied to receiving the discount. Hence I procastinated for a while before finally choosing a photo to be made into a canvas. No surprises here, of course it's a photo of Sam!

It was a real pleasant surprise to learn that not only were there no strings attached, the company even gave us a larger size being the size we chose wasn't suitable for the photo we submitted. All we had to pay was the shipping cost, which came up to no more than USD$15! So, we waited.

This was the photo we submitted.

Here's the end product which I absolutely adore!!

I absolutely love it! But I can't quite say the same for Sam though.

Nonetheless, I'm sooo please with the end product. =D

New apple product to my collection?

Couldn't stop LOL-ing when I saw this product.

Maybe I should get this for Sam for X'mas.

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.

Meal of a lifetime..

We finally did it. We went to MASA and busted our wallets. My very first experience with a Michelin 3-star restaurant, and probably my last too, especially after the damage incurred. Whether if it's actually worth it, I'm not too sure, but the experience was definitely once in a life time and of course, the company was awesome.

There was no fixed menu in the restaurant and the chef would serve whatever he wants (probably dependent on the availability of the ingredients). It was a 8-course omakase dinner (that was somewhat similar to Sushi-O-Gari), except that this has officially overtaken the price significantly (it was more than 3 fold!).

Anyway, it was also the first time in my life trying a list of super expensive and exotic food.
1. Caviar
2. White Truffles
3. Black Truffles-Good stuff, seriously
4. Fugu (yes, it's pufferfish) and thankfully still alive to tell the tale
5. Wagyu beef (that was heavenly~)
6. Tuna belly (toro)

Slight disappointment that the foie gras didn't make it to the list (but again, we had our fill at Sushi-O-Gari). A couple of the courses were also garnished with gold flakes as well. How extravagant! A lot of the dishes were also topped with yuzu sauce and had a pretty good aftertaste (though I did get kinda sick of it after a while).

Honestly, despite the impressive list of food that we had, it didn't feel like it was worth the amount of money we paid. While the food was good and ridiculously fresh, it was nothing as orgasmic as what we had at Sushi-O-Gari. The service wasn't astronomical either (it didn't suck, nor was it drop dead good) despite only having a handful of guests to serve. Each sitting had about 16 guests and we were sitted on wooden tables that reminded me greatly of Ikea. (okay, I'm being mean. But again, my table was wobbling slightly.) There was quite an intimidating air when we entered the restaurant and we were told that the chef requested that we turned off our cell phones and to excuse ourselves when we need to answer the phone. (This is kinda dumb. I mean, our group was making quite alot of noise just by our basic conversations already, so what difference does answering a call make?) Another unfortunate part was that they didn't allow photographs and that was really a damper as we were all equipped to take pictures of food that we were probably gonna taste only once. Well, I guess they do need protect the privacy of their dishes.

While I don't regret my experience, I'm pretty sure we won't be doing it again and probably won't recommend to our friends as well, unless the joker has too much money to spare. Nonetheless, I'm glad we did it and we enjoyed it while it lasted. (Which was until the bill arrived..)

In bed with him..

So Zim's outta town again. (Silent "yeah"!) And when that happens, I am able to illegally allow the little boy to sleep on the bed with me all night long. And I looove it. Well, I think Sam loves it too, especially since he would sleep all night through without getting off.

However, everytime I try to lay him right beside me so that I could hug him to sleep, the silly little thing would wriggle out of my arms and crawl far far away. T_T Seems like he would rather sleep on the edge of the bed than right beside me!!!

Yet again, I would sometimes wake up to see that the little boy has crawled nearer back to me and is laying relatively me. And that really makes my day!

I know he loves me! My silly little boy..


- Greetings from KeY's iPhone!

Lotsa Love from Singapore..

Little Sam's gifts from Zim's mom and sister!!! A really pleasant surprise and I have to admit that it's really heartwarming to know that they treat Sam like family. (Afterall, he is like my child!) Zim's mom was really cute and even asked Sam to say good night to Por Por. Hee....

Thanks for the love!!!!!

Ugly New York..

Well, as much as I like NYC, it really isn't as glam a place as it's set out to be. At least not with the tons of ugly and rude New yorkers around here. For the 10 months since I've been here, I've been told off a dozen times for things that I didn't do on purpose. And it really sucks.

Incident 1:
I went to the supermarket near our apartment for the first time. After shopping, I placed the basket of items on the checkout counter and waited for the cashier to scan my items. Sounds right doesn't it? Apparently not. The cashier, with the rudest and worst attitude ever, told me off bluntly, saying that I should have taken the items out and place them individually on the checkout counter and stow the basket away (anywhere else except the checkout counter...) What the... Worst of all, just because of this practice, there were baskets and trolleys parked everywhere, making the checkout lanes a mess. Geesh, how dumb.

Incident 2:
I was walking Sam and crossing the cyclist track that has a sign "Yield to Pedestrian". At first glance, it seemed clear, thus I went ahead and crossed, not realizing that a cyclist had came out of nowhere (travelling in uber speed). Of course, he swayed and avoided me (thankfully) but without forgetting to shout at me rudely first, asking me to watch where I was going! WHat the...

Incident 3:
I bought a new tote bag that I loooove to ferry Sam around. Well, I wanted a bag with an opening so that Little Sam could pop his head out to see see look look. Anyway, since the day I bought it, I've taken the bus and subway umpteen times without any issues. Until this fateful day. I was about to board the bus and the driver pointed at me and waved a 'No' action. I was confused but tried to board the bus anyway. She shouted at me, rudely AGAIN, saying that the bag isn't enclosed and thus I wasn't allowed. (Sigh, you gotta be kidding me!) So, LL. I ended up walking about 5 avenues to get home instead.

Incident 4:
I was just walking along the pathway and texting to Zim. Apparently, the pathway was doubled as an entrance into the petrol kiosk and a cab was turning into it. I did see the cab but just walked anyway. Come on, it's a pathway for pedestrians, so, don't I have the right of way? He actually honked me and scolded me for crossing. What the...

Incident 5:
I was walking (again~) and there was an idiot who left his coffee cup on the floor while he was trying to light his cigarette. The pathway was pretty big and he just had to leave the cup in the middle of nowhere. I mean, if he was any brighter, he should have placed it near the wall. (But again, I would never had left my cup on the filthy NYC streets.) I did see it but just ended up walking a tad bit closer to his cup than he would liked and he shouted loudly (This one was really loud though I was no more 3 arms length from where he was standing.) asking me to WATCH OUT! Arrrrrgggh.. Well, I actually shouted back this time round, as his rudeness was totally uncalled for (but again, so were many others).

Incident 6:
A wheelbound passenger was trying to board the bus that I wanted to board. So I stood back and waited (it took a pretty long while..and I was freeezing in the cold). When the guy got up and the ramp had retreated, I simply hopped on the bus. The bus driver SCREAMED at me infront of everyone saying that I shouldn't have boarded when he wasn't ready, blah blah blah. I was pretty stunned. I mean, apparently, I was supposed to wait for him to get out of his seat and buckle the guy up before I was 'allowed' to board the bus. O-K-A-Y. I'm sorry I didn't know the protocol or SOP for 'Waiting for a wheelchair bound person to board', but the screaming was really uncalled for.

Sigh. This incidents were just off a few that I could remember (and yes, I don't forget easily...) and there were many more. I mean I don't think Singaporeans are any more polite, but at least they ain't rude. They don't go around snapping and shouting at people like that. Yes, there were moments that I got pissed off and what not, but still, most of the incidents could have been resolved by just answering nicely. Best of all, several of the incidents were with service providers. Dude, where's your service standards? Oh wait, I am in NYC, there's NO service standards.

Now KeY isn't gonna be the pushover no more. I'm going to start to act like a New Yorker and no way am I gonna get bullied again. Watch out people, I AM going to retaliate the next time you step on my toes...

Watch out, I mean it...

Sweet tooth!

Yummy desserts at Kyotofu!


- Greetings from KeY's iPhone!

Pesty little Sam

Another one of Sam's pesty acts!

The stupid dog...

Sam's barking at nothing again. And it really sucks that I'm home alone with him. It's really creepy when he stares momentarily into space and barks at it.

Is he seeing something I'm not... *shrugs*

Argggggghhh...

New School Term..

It's week 1 of the Fall term for me. A brand new start for everything. It's interesting how far I came along. From coming to the states, with the mindset of being a taitai for 3 years, to contemplating getting a masters in columbia (btw, 1 year masters in Columbia is equivalent to my whole 4 years degree in Mercy College) to ending up in taking a Vet tech course in a ulu college! Nonetheless, this is one of the rare few times in my life that I have the feeling that I might actually be doing the right thing.

Nonetheless, I just kept wanting to slap myself while I sat through the biology lecture and lab. Going into FASS wasn't a coincidence (nor a backdoor). It was more of "I'm SUPER sick of labs after 2 years in JC that I'm not going to step into one again!". Ironically, (and a pretty wicked twist of fate), I ended up have to take all 3 science modules again. Yes, that totally includes physics. =( Oh well, at least everything seems pretty manageable. So far so good. I'm just counting down to the day where I've to dissect a frog or a lizard. (Gulps~)

Time to head off for a Algebra class. WTH~ It's gonna last for 4.5 hours!

Dog attack.

Zim, Lil Sam and I were just enjoying a lovely Saturday brunch at an outdoor diner that we frequent when the little boy got attacked.

As per usual, Sam was just lazing under the table minding his own business while we engaged in our own conversation. Suddenly a lady behind me starting screaming. Almost immediately, I heard Sam yelping (Definitely the loudest I ever heard from him). When I turned around, I was shocked to see poor little Sam in the mouth of a much bigger dog (Probably a chow mix). The little boy was yelping and struggling to get out. I reacted as quickly as I could and pulled Sam out of the dog's mouth. Even after Sam was out of the dog's mouth, he continued yelping for a couple more minutes while recovering from the shock. By then, everyone at the diner was staring at us. While Sam was struggling to get out of the dog's mouth, all the owner did was to hold on to the leash and screamed. She did absolutely nothing to separate her dog and I had to pull Sam out of danger myself. Luckily, the bigger dog wasn't all that aggressive as I got away without any bites. The poor little boy had blood stains on his snout and body and he even peed on himself out of fear. (Totally heartbreaking.)

I guess I was never the confrontational kind of person and all Zim and I wanted was to make sure that Sam was fine. We ignored the lady and started examining Sam. At the point of time, several patrons and the waiter had stepped in to reprimand the lady for not controlling her dog. (And of course, being the ever 'reasonable' person, she insisted that it wasn't her fault and she didn't see our dog there.) They insisted that she left her contact details for us in case we needed to bring Sam to the vet, which of course she didn't. (We didn't bother insisting either) Best of all, she still wanted to have her brunch there. Fortunately, the waiter who was clearly annoyed, spoke up for us and chased her away. Frustrated, I just gave her a dirty look and asked her to leave. (Which she did of course).

After checking Sam out, we weren't able to find any puncture wounds on him. Thus, we concluded that the feisty little boy bit the bigger dog in self defense. (Way to go SAMMY BOY!) Interestingly, after Sam recovered from his initial shock, he immediately started growling and barking at the bigger dog. (Though his bark was pretty pathetic in comparison.) While this isn't the first time Sam got attacked (The first incident was pretty mild compared to this) nor the first dog fight I had witnessed, this is the first time that I have seen an attack that had happened without any triggers. It just felt as if the dog came in, saw Sam and attacked Sam. As far as I was aware, Sam didn't appear to have done anything that might have triggered the attack.

While I did not blame the big dog about the attack (since Sam came out unharmed), I really pitied the owner who was in such denial about her inability to control her dog or to admit her problems. I would think that it's pretty scary to be walking around with a ticking time bomb that is way beyond your control who is ready to jump on any dog any time. Maybe she would be better off having a smaller dog that she could at least attempt to pull back.

Well, at least Sam is fine and it seemed that the incident left no scars on him since he returned to his pesty ways soon after. But it was really heartbreaking seeing the little guy being attacked. What a World~

KeY's Life.

Pardon the MIA. So, Mom and bro came and left. While I was pretty excited having them over, the 15 days got pretty unbearable quickly. I guess I'm just too used to the freedom and routine I had before they came. I was actually excited prior to their arrival, annoyed when they were here and sad (which a huge pinch of relief) when they left. (What a ride.) It was in fact more of a bittersweet feeling when they left. On one hand, I was extremely thankful that I'm finally getting my usual schedule back (no more entertaining them and cracking my [already empty] brains for ideas of what to do and where to go) and of course, no more naggings. On the other, I'm missing the familiarity of the feeling of home and of course, Mom doing my housework for me. =P

That being said, I'm back to enjoying the little freedom (not so much of the housework though). It sure feels good to be back on my daily routine (Yes, that means revolving my life around Sam). Till Sept I guess.

The reading fever is ON~

I'm actually pretty pleased with my reading progress. (Well, it goes to show that I've put my kindle into good use, finally.) Recently, I managed to complete two books that I never knew I would even be interested in - "The Reader" and "Pride and Prejudice". Best of all, the books have enticed me to be interested in the movies as well (Time to check out NetFlick~). Plus, it's funny how I always thought "Pride and Prejudice" to be some tragic romance novel of forbidden love. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised that it was one with a really happy ending. What a misunderstanding. At least I'm sure the movie will be sob-free and heartwarming, though I'm pretty sure it's gonna be sob fest when I watch "The Reader". (Shall hug Little Sammy and dry my tears on his little coat. I'm sure he ain't gonna be too pleased with me for that though.)

Now that the fever is on, I'm really kinda in the mood for some adventurous reading. So, next on my list - "The Time Machine" and "War of the Worlds". Sounds pretty 'exciting'?

Okay, I admit, the main reason why I have chosen these books is simply because it's free from the kindle store! Yes, I'm a cheapskate. =P

Oh well, wish me luck.

Dilemma...

So I was listening to my beloved "天冷就回来" soundtrack, and started feeling a strong sense of regret about the possibility of missing the one musical that I've been waiting forever for - "雨季" which I have already bought tickets for (Remember my insane entry here)!

When Zim learnt that he won't be returning to Singapore for his workplan this august (The govt has decided to work using teleconferencing instead), I am kinda glad and have more or less resigned to the thought of giving the musical a pass and giving up my ticket to my mom. But after listening to the soundtrack, I've a sudden H-U-G-E urge to fly back to Singapore to catch it. Afterall, I've been waiting for this musical for the longest time ever! (Well, it was pretty much my first exposure to musicals, and my love for them has grown tremendously over the years..) Thus, how could I ever forgive myself if I miss this? Plus, there's no guarantee that there will be a second time and even if there is, it might not be Kit Chan and George Chan!

Arggggggh... should I or should I not endure the 24 hours (x2) flight to Singapore to catch this musical? Mom and Zim have given the green light, but i'm still not sure... Sigh, if only the musical came one year earlier! Such lousy timing. =(

How~

I must be really insane....


----------------------------------------

Afternote: Okay, I fucked up and booked the air tickets wayyyy too late. As a result, I'm unable to get a ride home, so I guess I'm done for. May my brother and his gf enjoy the musical on my behalf.

RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR~

Our NS Puppy!

Sam sam went for a grooming session during our stay in Orlando and came back looking/ feeling like a NS boy! His fur was trimmed so short that the texture felt as if I was stroking the crew cut head of a NS boy. (Zim was pretty nasty and added that it also felt like Sam was just out of prision.) Sadly, I have to admit that Sam's cuteness level had just declined following the haircut (I'm sorry Sam, it's mummy's fault!). In addition, without his fur, Sam looked emaciated! Oh well, at least I guess it also means that I could give him more treats without worrying that he will grow fatter as well. =P

Well, it goes to show that dogs do have bad hair days too.

Hard Rock Hotel Orlando..

We chose to stay in Hard Rock Hotel as it was one of the few pet friendly resorts available. But I had to say, I was really quite disappointed by the experience. I guess the reputation of the Hard Rock chain kinda raised my expectations and unfortunately, the experience fell short of the expectations.

There were several incidents that kinda cheezed me off. Here it goes...

1. The place was advertised as being pet friendly. Ironically, the only pet friendly thing about it was that it allowed pets in the rooms. Period. The room was pretty pet unfriendly in fact. Maybe I was expecting too much. The room was pretty much similar to hotel rooms around the world - fully carpetted with arm chairs in awkard position. Zim and I had a pretty stressful time chasing after Sam, making sure he didn't pee or poo wrongly (which he obviously did anyway). Besides that, there were nothing indicating that it was pet friendly. We had to make a call to the concierge to double check and then only then did they send us a pathetic bag of 'goodies' containing a door sign (to indicate that there is a bit), a bag of treats (that I threw away anyway), a plastic food and water bowl (which I didn't bother using) and a bottle of water. It was completely different from what I have expected from the Lowes Love Pet programme. I needed some advice from the concierge about other Pet sitting options (the hotel offered such services at a costly price) and the reply wasn't helpful at all. I was better off googling for information on my own. The only places that Sam was allowed in the hotel were our room, a courtyard (which was actually pretty good) and the lobby. He wasn't allowed near the pool area nor outdoor dining and Universal's citywalk, which was a complete disappointment. In the end, we decided to check Sam into boarding for a few days to spare us all the agony of having to chase after Sam.

2. After checking Sam into boarding, we kinda started chilling out at the pool a fair bit. The first day we were there, we were unable to order any drinks as we didn't have our IDs with us. So we went back to our room just to retrieve our IDs (our driver license - which we also used to buy alcohol at other places in Universal as well). The second day I headed to the pool on my own to chill (equipped with my ID and my room card) and attempted to order a cocktail. The stupid waiter stared at my driver's license forever and finally told me that he could not accept my driver's license as there was a policy that foreign driver's licenses are not accepted and I had to bring my passport with me. I was completely annoyed. Which idiot would risk bringing their passport to the pool side? What if it gets misplaced? And, why was I able to get a drink the day before and at other places in the area with my driver's license and not here. I stomped back to the hotel room and got Mr Lim to lodge a complaint via phone to the concierge. No surprise, no reply was given after they promised. We raised the issue to the staff upon checkout and was given a 'standard' reply that just simply put me off further.

3. We bought our 2 days pass from the concierge at Hard Rock Hotel. We happily did our visits to the two parks, putting Islands of Adventure on our second day. While we were there on the second day, we learnt from the greeter at the park that there was a special arrangement between the Universal Resorts and IOA - apparently, hotel guests get the special honor of visiting the Wizarding World of Harry potter even before it's opened to public. I was ecstatic, yet angry. I was quite unhappy that we weren't informed of this privilege earlier and had to end up extending our pass for another day (we spent USD30 extra for this). Upon questioning the concierge, the explanation given was that it's a special arrangement by the park and the hotels and thus could not be publicised (Apparently, it was meant to be for a special group of ticket holders and they decided to secretly include hotel guests who happened to find out). I was pretty pissed actually. While I came with the understanding that the harry potter section will not be opened till 18th, I couldn't understand why the person whom we brought the tickets from didn't bother informing us. Mr Lim seemed to be more forgiving and kinda understood where they were coming from but I refused to do so. I simply could not understand any benefit of withholding such information from us. On the contrary, I would have blown my top if I had returned only to find out about this later. Thankfully, we had some time to spare and the weather was great. Otherwise, I would have screwed the management upside down. I can understand if we had bought the tickets online and thus was not informed. But on this occasion, we bought the tickets right from the counter at the hotel and I really could not understand why the arse behind the counter couldn't even share this little piece of information. Did they not realise how appreciative and thankful we would be then?

4. The ice dispenser was crap. We chose not to take the key to the minibar as we would not consume anything anyway, but it kinda slipped our mind that we needed to chill the drinks we bought from walmart. As a result, I had to rely on the ice machine. The first day I went, the ice was out. I decided to let it go. I went to the machine again several occasions and there was ice. On the last day, there was no ice again. I was pretty pissed by this point of time after all the experiences above and decided to call the concierge to inform them. (There was a note on machine stating that we can call the concierge to inform them if it was out of ice.) I called them and was told that they would send someone to fix it. At the back of my mind, I was expecting that he would send someone to deliver some ice meanwhile. (well, this is after a 4-star hotel, am I expecting too much?) To my horror, the person ended the conversation by stating that there were other ice machines in other floors and I could get ice there. I guess I could have react more sarcastically and demanded for ice to be delivered, but at the moment, I was just stunned by how lousy the service was that I was dumbfounded. He actually had the audacity to ask me to go to another floor to get my own ice! (Btw, it was a pretty long walk to the elevator from our room.) What kind of service is this? Self service? Geesh, I'm pretty sure I didn't check into a 4-star hotel to serve myself.

5. The brilliant housekeeping just seemed to want to clean our room at 8.30am! WTF. We couldn't even really sleep in peace. The knock just come seemed to come everyday at this time~ Sigh.

Of course, there were some pretty good things about the hotel as well, but the cons just triumphed the pros and I couldn't even bothered to compliment them anymore. Maybe I was expecting a tad bit too much, but again, at the price we paid and the reputation of Hard Rock Hotel, I don't think so. Nonetheless, I'm extremely sure I won't be back in another hard rock hotel in future.

Hogwarts!

Zim and I made our way to Hogwarts, by FOOT!

It was a really pleasant surprise that we could get into the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" as the official opening isn't till June 18 and I was quite resigned to the need to visit the park again in future. But by a twist of fate, we found out that Universal Studio Resorts hotel guests were given a privilege to tour the area before it's even opened to the public! OMG OMG. The only thing was that we didn't find out about it until the second day of our 2 day pass and we ended up spending abit more to extend our tickets, but honestly, it was WORTH IT! It was sooooo good. Universal Studios definitely outdid itself again.

The Wizarding World was amazing! It was as if we walked into the movie set of Harry Potter! The first thing that impressed me to the max was that they converted my favourite dueling dragon ride to a harry potter related ride - the Dragon Challenge! It was previously constructed to be a duel between the fire and ice dragons and has now been redesigned to be a duel between the Chinese Fireball and the Hungarian Horntail. I looove it the creativity and am really impressed by how well the harry potter theme fitted with this ride. And of course, the ride just as good as I remembered it to be!

The ride that blew us away, was none other than the "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" stimulation/roller coaster ride. It was AWESOME. Though it doesn't have the thrills of the hard core roller coaster rides I adore, the stimulation and the mechanism behind the ride was just pure brilliance. 2 thumbs up for it! I guess we were really lucky. We waited in line for about an hour before being turned away due to some technical problems and were even told that the ride would probably remain close for the rest of the day. Lucky us, the ride reopened before we left the area! The ride was built into the Hogwarts castle and we got to have a nice little tour of the castle as we queued for the ride. The touches were just so impressive - Kudos to the creators of the park!

The Hogsmeade street leading to Hogwarts was also filled with fun shops - from the Wand shop, Ollivanders to the Owl post, to Zonkos (The shop opened by Fred & George!) and Honeydukes (for some wizard chocolates). And of course, we had our very own taste of the authentic butterbeer! We experienced the wand choosing process and some really quite acapella performance by Hogwarts students and really cute little toads.

The little touches of the whole place was just amazing. It was truly a real harry potter experience. Overall, I am really really in awe of the awesomeness of the wizardry world. =D Looooooove it~

Two happy muggles invading into the world of wizardry!

Conversation between Husband and Wife

We brought Sam out with us for a champagne brunch today. Sam was on a leash and everytime he saw a dog, he would happily walk up to him and attempt to say 'hi' to it. He has a tendency to kinda ignore the dog after a couple of sniffs, even after he had earned the interest of the other dog.

So, after Sam did that continuously to about 3 dogs, Zim finally turned to me and said:

Zim: "Sam is a facebook dog."
Me: "What?"
Zim: "He goes up to dogs, add them as friends and then ignore them."

LOL.

Yeah, meet Sam, the facebook dog.

The sick little puppy...

Sam is like a vacuum cleaner - he sucks up everything on the floor. Unfortunately, his stomach is an absolute lousy vacuum bag as it simply is unable to handle all the trash the stupid thing sucks. As a result, that little guy fell terribly ill.

Well, Sam had have diarrhea for the longest time (probably about 2 weeks) and we didn't think much of it, especially since we have been to two vets and his energy level was still insanely high. And suddenly, it all began with a whole night of vomiting. The little guy woke up 5 times (and of course, so did I). It started with undigested food, twice. It went on to yellow bile (the equivalent of our gastric juices), twice as well. And lastly, white foam.

This wasn't the first time Sam vomited, though probably the first with the most frequency. I was really worried, but decided to wait it out to see how he will react the next morning. Sadly, the little thing didn't get any better. He woke up acting so lethargic, refusing to eat his food and didn't even react when I waved his favourite snack at his face (He usually would get all excited and start jumping up and down). His energy level was seriously low and he just looked so depressed. I even force fed him some water using a syringe to prevent him from getting dehydrated. Finally, I started to call all the vets that we had previously visited about his diarrhea.

I made a couple of calls to the 'budget' vets that I found and they were simply unable to fit in any slots for me. (One offered to take a message and said that the vet would call me back later in the day. I was quite annoyed as by the time the vet called back, it would be wayyy too late to visit a vet as most would have closed by then.) Finally, I took the last resort and contacted the super duper expensive vet. (Mr Lim was in SF at the moment and wasn't of much help.)

Guess paying more does make a difference. The receptionist managed to fit in an afternoon slot for me and even pushed it up after I called to inform that Sam threw up again. The vet was great with Sam and after several tests (thankfully, he tested negative for all parasites and viruses) and x-ray, he concluded that Sam's stomach was badly inflamed due to something he ate (which till now, we are unsure what). As Sam was still a puppy and had probably lost one tenth of his weight due to the vomiting, it was recommended that we kept Sam hospitalized for a night. They brought Sam out to me before they admitted him (kinda to say bye and not let him think that I've abandoned him) and when I held him in my arms, he looked so sad and tired.

And that's when I kinda lost it. I quickly passed Sam to them and left. As I walked out, tears just started coming. It was so heartbreaking to see the little guy so sick. All I wanted was just for him to be back to his usual pesty self. It sure was a huge relief when we picked Sam up the next day. The little guy was back to his good old self and was clearly happy to see us (Well, it's definitely a mutual feeling!). He had a little 'war injury' - a shaven paw that was used to insert his IV drip which looked kinda cute on him.

Now for the heartache - the bill came up to a whooping USD900 and the insurance we bought has yet to kick it. (How brilliant.) Another big hole in Mr Lim's pocket. But seriously, seeing the little guy back on his paws and his mischief, this was money well spent. (I'm not sure if Zim agrees though, since he's the one paying.)

Anyway, on a good note, Sam has been doing well for the past week - stools are firmed and eating GREAT and of course, chewing even more. But we have learnt to be more cautious with feeding him and decided to stick to a healthy low residue diet and limited treats. All in all, it was an awful experience and I sure hope that little Sam will grow to be a healthier dog, so that it will be good for my heart and Zim's pocket!

Nonetheless, It's good to have him back again!

Scapbooking!

Lucky me found a friend here who happened to enjoy scrapbooking as much as me! (But I sure do think that she's wayyyy better at it than I am.) So together, we went for the scrapbooking convention in New Jersey. It was an eye opener and I had such a blast! There were just tons and tons of scrapbooking materials at dirt cheap prices.

And sure enough, I simply went insane shopping. Though the damage was rather significant and lugging the items back home in shoes that gave me blisters weren't exactly very fun, the convention really did re-ignite my passion for scrapbooking and I just can't wait to get started again.

So with my once again burning passion, I made Mr Lim order a storage system (my scrapbooking supplies were still in the Crown box and has yet to be unpacked) that caught my eye at the Container Store and a brand new set of dining table from Walmart (I need a place to scrapbook ma~).

The storage system fitted all my scrapbooking supplies wonderfully and I am soo pleased with the overall look!

The high dining table from Walmart cost only USD200 and was perfect for our little living room.

I guess I'm finally ready to scrapbook once again - but, maybe after I return from Orlando~ =P

Timid Sam

Well, Sam finally had a taste of his own medicine after terrorizing tons of dogs in the park. Sam has a reputation of being fearless and a truly big dog in a small package. And he finally met his match.

He was disturbing another dog (a bulldog) who had a ball in his mouth. As usual, Sam tried to snatch it away. The bulldog kinda lost it and snapped at Sam. At that moment, Sam gave out the most awful sounding yelp I ever heard from him and the yelping lasted for a good 10 seconds! I was a distance away, chatting with another dog owner and by the time I got to Sam, he was hiding under a bench and his tail was tucked between his hind legs (a strong indication that he was terrified).

The weird part was, even though the bulldog did snap at Sam, there were no injures on Sam at all! (To think of it, the dog had a ball in his mouth anyway.) But again, I wasn't paying attention to know what exactly happened though I was really quite surprised by Sam's reaction, given his existing reputation. After the dog left, Sam took a while to 'recover', before his tail went up. Soon enough, the little guy was back to his acts of mischief.

I brought the little guy back to the park several times after the incident and he was generally fine. But it so happened that the same dog was there as well today. Not to be mean, but it was hilarious watching Sam wandering around and jumping in shock the instance he saw the dog. Within seconds, he quickly hid under the bench again. (See la, bully other dogs, now got retribution!) The other dog was all friendly and nice towards Sam but Sam still kept his distance. By the time we left, Sam still appeared terrified of the dog, but at least he gave the dog a little goodbye kiss. (A peck on the snout.)

I was really surprised to see this side of Sam, but I guess it's all part and parcel of growing up. It just goes to show that the little boy does have his own timid side after all.

Vaccination!

Sam is finally done with all his shots! He is officially street legal! No more worrying that he will fall sick from sniffing on the ground and what not.

Plus, Sam is microchipped too!!! So, no worries that the little baby will be gone and never returned.

Now that we've gotten the green light from the Vet, he has an exciting month ahead - NYC Pet show, trip to Orlando, walks to central park, obedience classes (and hopefully, agility classes soon) and more~

Happy Sam = Happy KeY!

Visit to the Vet

The last visit to the vet with Sam was rather disturbing for me and Zim. (Well, nope, it had nothing to do with Sam. He's just there for another stool test due to his never ending diarrhea. Yes, it's back AGAIN!) This time, I got smart. I did tons of research and found a cheaper vet (it cost half as much!) that was located inside an animal shelter.

Here's what happened: We met a lady in the lift carrying a pet carrier box. Out of curiosity, I asked if she had a puppy in it. She mentioned that it was a kitten that she had just for a night. She added that the kitten had have seizures the whole night and she wasn't able to handle it. Well, when she said that, she looked really worried and frantic. In my mind, I was like, "oh dear, no wonder you rushed to the Vet so early in the morning."

It turned out to be a whole different story when we reached the reception. I was filling out the registration form while eavesdropping to her conversation with the receptionist. It appeared that the lady had NO intentions of bringing the sick kitten to the vet. She was here to drop off the kitten as she couldn't handle it. (OMFG.) She explained that she bought the kitten from a friend the night before and she was completely freaked out by the occurrence of the seizures and thus concluded that she did not want the kitten anymore. Not one time did she even mention about getting vet care for the kitten.

Zim and myself were pretty upset after hearing this. Shouldn't the priority for any owner of a sick animal be getting the right medical treatment for the animal asap? I really couldn't believe that all she wanted was to push the poor kitten away. Well, apparently, the vet did not accept drop off. The owner indicated that she would then return the kitten to her friend and would not pursue to get her money back either. Still no mention of Vet care!

Sigh, I can't believe that people like this even exist. I know vet care isn't exactly cheap in NYC, but if it means saving the life of a young kitten, it's definitely worth it. I guess it's not a bad thing that she chose to give up the kitten anyway. Hopefully, she would stay away from all animals in future.

Oops, I'm being to sound more and more like an animal activist! =P

Orange Sam!

Little Sam with his new harness. Hm, I think orange is his colour!



- Greetings from KeY's iPhone!

My voice.

I'm not really complaining. Really. I just needa voice it out.

Life in Nyc? Good or bad? I'm not sure. While I'm totally free from work stress, I'm a little overwhelmed by my aimless day to day routine. So I wake up when Sam does (which is REALLY early by my standards). I bring the little guy for walks to tire him out. I come back and pray that he will stay asleep till it's time for lunch or the next walk. I watch trashy shows and sneak to the toilet to avoid waking him up (this I never succeed, unfortunately). I countdown to the time Zim comes back when he's not out of town. I contemplate for hours whether I'm in a cooking mood. He comes back, we eat dinner, Sam sleeps, Zim works, I watch more trashy shows. Period.

I'm not sure what I've signed myself up for by being here, leaving behind a job I had (okay, this isn't a bad thing I suppose), family and friends I adore and activities I really enjoyed. Sadly, Fridays don't mean any thing to me anymore. (It used to mean the world to me.) Weekends are just days when Zim is either out of town, or days when he worked from home. Of course, not all is bad. There were days when I truly enjoyed myself and thank god that I'm here, yet there were also days when I just waste my days away watching trashy show, cleaning after the dog (I still love Sam despite this) and doing housework. It's especially horrid when Zim's out of town which actually is becoming increasingly frequent.

Ironically, Sam is the only thing that is keeping me sane. (well, he does drive me insane too.) His stupid acts and cute face bring lotsa smiles to my face. Bringing him for walks and to the dog park is something I always look forward to. Meeting other dogs and dog owners is probably my only socialization on weekdays. In addition, it's also a blessing that our social circle is expanding. There are more activities planned for us on weekends too.

Okay. I'm just whining. Yes, I am working to find some aim in my life. Keeping my fingers crossed that things will fall into place. For now, I'm just feeling really sianz. Guess I need a break from being a homemaker. LOL. Maybe the break in Orlando will do me some good.

Meantime, it's a just another boring friday night, a zimless saturday and hopefully, a better Sunday?

And the Auntiehood continues...

My very own shopping trolley!


- Greetings from KeY's iPhone!

Playtime!

Seems like Lil Sam found himself a friend!



- Greetings from KeY's iPhone!

Dog Parenthood...

Hm, having a dog really gives me a good experience of how it would feel to have a kid.

Lil Sam fell ill over the week. He had a series of really bad diarrhea that lasted over 3 days without any signs of recovery. Ironically, his energy level was still insanely high and his appetite remained the same. On one hand, Zim wasn't too concerned and suggested that we wait it out a bit more before deciding what to do since he was behaving as per normal. On the other hand, I was totally freaking out and googling about puppy diarrhea made it worst.

We finally decided to bring Sam to the vet. (I guess Zim kinda gave in after he saw me stressing out over it) It was really tough looking for a vet on a sunday, but I managed to find one that was a few subway stops away. The vet and her assistant were really nice and good with Sam. A quick diagnosis and a lab test revealed that Sam's stools had traces of bacteria, thus explaining the diarrhea streak. The little guy was put on a course of antibiotics, a strict diet and a ban on treats.

Sam's been a darling and didn't resist much when we fed him his medication using a syringe. Sam's doing great and his first poop of the day was hard and firm! (The first in a few days! T_T) I could feel a huge relief that the little guy is finally doing much better! It also seemed like Sam has forgotten the existence of treats and is enjoying his new strict diet. We kinda concluded that he was being fed too much treats previously and thus was really picky over his staple. Well, I guess Sam will be given less treats and more staple in time to come~

Sigh, now I understand the stresses parents feel when their child falls ill. It's really scary and worrying. Thank goodness Lil Sam is doing better! Hm, he better be, especially after we paid USD270 for the Vet visit!

On the down side, due to his illness, Sam's been kinda grounded and is not allowed to go to the dog parks or play with other dogs. As a result, his biting streak kinda returned and it sucks for me.

Oh well, praying that the little guy recovers ASAP!

Me Time..

I guiltily indulged in "me-time" today, the first since the arrival of the little thing. It begun with an invitation from Yee Lyn to watch the Martha Stewart show. (THANKS GAL! =D) Thus, after some research, I located the nearest puppy day care (which was conveniently only 3 streets away!), did a field visit and was satisfied. After some thought, I decided to deposit Sam for a full day care (from 7.30am to 7.30pm) to allow some time to run some errands. I dropped little Sam off, with a bag of food and a couple of toys (just in case). The little guy was so excited that he didn't even 'say' bye and happily wagged his tail when he was carried away from me into the room. T_T 死没良心的！

The Martha Stewart show was definitely an eye opener. It was recorded 'live' and everything just moved so quickly and within an hour, everything was over. I guess it was a good experience and I'm game to do it again! But of course, I would be wayyy more excited if it was the Oprah show. Oh well, I'll make do for now. Lunch and dessert were gooood too! (Separate post some time soon.)

And of course, 'me-time' = SHOPPING + errands. Within the few hours, I accomplished so much! (Well, it's really tough to do these things when you have to watch over a little pup.) I actually managed to do some shopping for summer clothes (REALLY PLEASED!), some grocery shopping, had yummy sushi for dinner and also squeezed in some quick household chores.

While it was refreshing to indulge in some timeout from the puppy, this 'me-time' also made me realize how attached to Sam I have become. Every dog I walked past reminded me so much of Sam. (Its like I am seeing Sam's face on the faces of the dogs.) I strolled along the streets thinking things like 'oh, this is a great place to walk Sam.' and 'Hm, I can bring Sam here for lunch.' The house seriously felt so empty without the little thing scampering around and it really feels weird walking around the house without the kpo dog following. Note: Sam has a habit of coming up to me or Zim when we leave his peripheral vision to see what we are doing, before returning to his post to continue his chewing/biting. I would always say "Yes little Sam, why you so kpo?" and of course, he would give a blank look and scamper off. (I actually love it when he does it.)

I couldn't be more happy and relieved to see the little thing when I picked him up. (I couldn't say the same for him - he gave me the usual blank look again. diaoz~) Well, unsurprisingly, Sam was a big hit with the people there (Aiya, he is a fraud la. He gives the innocent face all the time, but he is a terror in disguise!) and I guess he did have ton of fun as he was so tired (and was such an angel) when he came back. And yes, I'm definitely sending him back there again for more 'me-time' indulgence in future.

Thus, it proved to be a great day for me - a good show, good meals, good shopping and good quiet evening (with no biting!). And all these definitely make KeY a happy girl! Looking forward to more 'me-time'! =D

Vet school..

I've been giving this some thought. It has kinda always been my hidden ambition to be a vet. But as life unfolds and with some really lousy decision making (E.g. dropping physics in JC, choosing to go Arts Faculty), I just kept drifting further away. After having Sam in my life and interacting with animals, I realize that the ambition is still burning inside. Is it a sign that maybe it's time to pursue it?

To be honest, I don't really have the confidence in myself. There are some uncertainties that scare me; things like the possibility of tons and tons of memorization, the need to dissect a reptile (*gulps*) or even things like having to study/write essays all over again. But there is a nagging voice inside me, telling me that it's okay and that I can do it if it's really my passion.

While it's impossible for me to get into a Vet school now, my doors are still opened. I could pursue the longer route of entering a Pre-vet school and if I do well, I could proceed further. Alternatively, I could just enter a Veterinarian assistant program and be contented with being a animal nurse. My heart for now is on the first option. Yap, that means that I'm going to be stuck in school for a loooong time. (Let's not discuss finances as yet.) That also means that when Zim's posting ends, I might just have to stay behind. (At least I would have Sam's company!)

Sigh, guess I really need to put in more time to think about it. I don't even want to think about my parent's reaction to this. Geesh, I hate decision making. =(

My Favourite Picture of Sam!

Isn't he just a darling?

Far far away..

I was youtubing a performance clip - 梁文福精选组曲 X 新加坡青年华乐团 @ 新加坡e乐大赏2010 and was suddenly reminded of the musical (If there're seasons..). It felt like I was back in Singapore, back in NLB, reliving the musical once again. Gosh, that is by far my favourite musical. I wonder if there will be an opportunity to watch it again. (And yes, for now, I CANNOT wait till December Rains!)

For a moment, I forgot that I was far far away. It was only when I looked out of the window then I came to realize that I am actually still in NYC.

Nope, I'm not homesick. It's just that I find it really interesting how the internet can really bring home to you no matter where you are. And I'm looooving it~

Conversation between Husband and Wife..

Zim and I were watching TV and at the corner of the eye, we saw little Sam scampering towards his potty corner and started peeing. We both waited and when he was done, he jumped off and I offered him a treat.

Zim: "He dripped a drop of pee on the floor leh."
Me: (Getting up and ready to clean the drip) "Hm, maybe you should teach him how to shake off."
Zim: "......"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

So Daniel Wu got married.... T_T

Guess I am stuck with Zim and Sam for life....

Well, on second thoughts, that's not too bad afterall.

Dinner time!

You know the little guy is hungry when he gives you THE look while you are preparing dinner. So, as requested, dinner will be served!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Conversation between Husband and Wife..

Zim and I brought Sam to Puppy class and mid way during the class, little Sam decided that he wanted to poop. So out Zim went and when he returned...

Zim: "You know, if we divorced, can I have Sam?"
Me: "What?"
Zim: "When I brought Sam out to poop for just 5 minutes, there were at least 5 pretty girls who commented that Sam was cute. He is a chick magnet~"
Me: -_-" (thinking of Sam's pesty acts and how he succeeds in pissing Zim off) "SURE!"

Orlando 2010!

Yes, I am finally going back to Orlando once again!!!!! It has been 4 years and I am sooo thrilled! And thanks to little Sam, we will be staying in Hard Rock Hotel Universal!!!

While Zim isn't too pleased with the selection (Erm, we didn't have much choices as there were limited pet friendly hotels in Orlando and this just appeared to be the best deal!), I am sooo excited. It's like my first time staying in a Hard Rock hotel and we are going to be there for a whooping 7 nights! I'm still deciding where to go - Universal Studios, Seaworld, Disney World, dog beaches.

HAPPY!!! We are going to be there from June 1st to June 8th! ^_^

Our weekend in NYC..

It has been a while since we actually had a good weekend - one that Zim gets to stay in town on both days and one with great company!

So we started off with a good workout session - BASKETBALL! Though it wasn't as intense as I would like, it was good! I was freezing initially but as I started working out, it was gooood. Zim and I had planned to call it a day after the game as the rest of the gang was planning to go for ktv and we didn't think it was convenient to bring Sam along. But nonetheless, after little convincing, we were sold. Thus, off we went to Flushing and KTV, with poor little Sam in a travel bag.

Flushing reminds me of Taiwan (the whole atmosphere and food selection) and I looove it! It was so much better than the Chinatown in Canal St. Pity it's about an hour away. The songs at the KTV were surprisingly updated too! Sam did wonderful and was in the bag most of the 5 hours we were there. We did bring him out for poop-ing a couple of times too. (I wasn't very comfortable as the streets were filthy but luckily we managed to find a relatively deserted alley.) Last but not least, dinner was great too - we had steamboat!!

Sunday was another blast! It kicked off with Sam's puppy kindergarten class. We were almost late and were rushing our asses off. Thankfully we made it! He was such a bully in class, crawling over all the other puppies (and I think he found himself a girlfriend - a dashund!). It was also a joy to watch him being bullied by others too! The class was pretty informative and I'm glad Sam had tons of fun! (He was completely zonked out for the rest of the day after that!) Lunch was good as we baked in the sun outdoors. (I'll update on this later!) And of course, the sunday was completed by a good mahjong session and really yummy home cooked chinese food! LOVE IT!!!

Sigh, wished all the coming weekends would be just as good. ^_^

How to Train Your Dragon

I caught my first movie in NYC (and it's also my second time watching a movie alone!) after being here for 2 months. Well, there were plenty of shows that enticed me but I was reluctant to spend money to watch them. Not to mention that Zim barely has any spare time to indulge in a movie date.

When 'How to Train Your Dragon' came along, I decided that this was the movie I wanted to watch. I reasoned that once little Sam comes home, I would probably have no time for such indulgence (Ain't I right!). Plus, this is the kinda movie that would work great in 3-D and thus probably makes sense to watch it in the theatre. I chose to watch it the weekend before Sam came home and unfortunately Zim was out of town, but whatever.

The theatre was just a quick 10 minutes walk from home and I chose the IMAX version. The movie tickets cost a whooping USD19!!!!!! (OMG). Hm, and I'm amazed that people are actually willing to spend that much to watch a movie!

Overall, the movie was pretty decent. Entertaining and cute. (Though probably not worth the ticket price) The person sitting behind was wayyy annoying as he/she kept kicking on my chair. The thing is, there was plenty of leg space for me thus I had no idea why I kept getting kicked! So I retaliated by lending back more and giving a hard jerk back. I was tempted to turn back and scold the person but stopped in time after reminding myself that I am now in USA and I was alone. (You never know what's gonna happen!) Okay, fine, I was scared that I might get whacked or shot. LOL. So I never actually got a look at who the idiot was and I guess things were better off that way. Oh well, this just further reminded me why I am not a fan of the theatres - especially idiots around you.

Think I will be better off watching Movie on Demand at home for just less than USD5 per movie in future. And what else to enjoy it in the comforts of your own home..

Burnt and almost bitten!

I accidentally burnt my palm while removing the baking tray (I was baking honey baked wings for dinner) from the oven. AND it really hurts. Guess I should have just invested in two mittens. I was removing the tray with a cloth on my left hand while wearing a mitten on my right. Carelessly, I lifted my left hand too high and it came into contact with the metal grills of the oven. =(

It doesn't help that little Sam is on a biting streak again and has attacked my palm (almost exact same place as the burnt) twice.

T_T



- Greetings from KeY's iPhone!