The Seattle Times

Snowboarding Day 2

Feb 6th, 2010

If you have been following our blog, you wld have read that we went Snowboarding last mth. As we bought the 3 days pass, we still had 2 more days to go ( actually, the cost wld break even if you go for 2 lessons) So on the bright and sunny morning, we decided to go on our Day 2 lesson

I woke up with a bad headache – I have no idea why. I kinda thought that we shld cancel the trip as I wasn’t feeling my best. However, the weather was so good! the sky’s so blue – it’s a great day for snowboarding! Ate panadol and hope that the headache wil go away.. BUT it didn’t

After breakfast at Sharis, we went to Snoqualmie Summit. The Q to sign in and collect our boards was horribly LONG. It was only 1/2 h more to our lesson. I was worried that we might just miss it ( there’s only 1 lesson for the day for Day 2) … So we rushed our way thru’ and managed to get our stuff, wear them and we were 15mins late!!!

Fortunately, there’s another lady who’s just like us.. so we kinda have a pte lesson. Just 3 of us + the super cool instructor, Jason! wah.. he’s cute can ( erm.. not tt i like the piercing on his tongue) HE KNOWS HOW TO TEACH! ( but my headache was so bad tt i was counting down to the end of the lesson)

BH and I actually improved and learnt alot from him So we were super proud of our achievements -

1) We can control our snowboards better

2) We can stop without falling

3) We can board the chairlift with our snowboard

BUT we still can’t alight from the chairlift w/o falling.. hahaha.. I literally slide down the chairlift! practise makes perfect!

Some pics of us in action!

I think this is our new past time I cld have enjoyed and done much better w/o the headache

Last pic for us to rem the day

Hope to go 1 last time before the season ends? haha..

Posted in: Entertainment, Marriage, Sports.

Review: Sharis

Feb 6th, 2010

by amanda.

1 comment

Like pies? You’ll love this place

BH &I first heard abt this place from Denny. We drove by this resturant a no. of times but due to the colours & font of the logo, we thought it’s an Indian resturant! haha… so funny right!

anyway, before our Snowboarding trip, we made our way to Sharis for a heavy breakfast. This place is kinda like a IHOP/Denny. They serve regular American breakfast, you’ll get your pancakes, bacons, sauages.. ( similar promo as IHOP – free flow pancakes) BUT there’s more to it… haha… you can also satisfy your craving for something sweet by ordering PIES!!

wah.. they sure do have lots of pies!! haha.. once you step into the resturant, you’ll b greeted with a whole case of pies!! haha.. I went pie crazy – not sure what to choose!! in the end, I had Peach Pie – tastes great! The crust is superb!! Pls don’t tell me how mcuh calories that is! wahaha… oh..for the mth of Feb, there’s a pie promo going on.. $7.99 for a whole pie of your choice! Well, I really wanted to buy a pie home BUT I didn’t we were kinda rushing for time as our snowboard lesson was at 1pm

Above all, I must comment that the coffee taste sooooooo good here!! geez… even better than the coffee in IHOP or Denny’s. We feel that the coffee here isn’t blend and doesn’t have the ’sour’ taste! nice!!

However, I think i’ll still stick to IHOP for breakfast – their pancakes are better!! As for Sharis, I’ll visit you for tea!!!

Posted in: Food.

deals chasers

Feb 4th, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

One of the crazy things, BH and I do is …. chasing deals

Well, I am looking for a Kitchenaid Stand mixer if you all had read from my previous entry . Unfortunately, I haven’t found a suitable one. The price is always too high :(

Last night, upon reading from the forum tt there’s a great deal at Lowe’s , we drove there this morning. Lowe’s opens at 6am. We woke up at 6am and drove there … we were their first customer ! So was there super duper deal? NO!!

Both us were ended up coming home tired and disapted… it’s a sad day *again* and my headache is back

A few weeks ago, we also did the same thing for a PS3 console at Target. In the end, the console was sold out.

Really really hope tt a better deal comes up soon .. don’t wanna be disapted again and again

Posted in: News.

Review: Helena’s Cleaners

Feb 3rd, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

I think it’s just the thing with cold weather – you need to wear down jackets, woollen jackets. Wearing the jackets is nt a prob.. the prob comes when u need to wash it!! The extremely troublesome part is when the washing instruction says ‘DRYCLEAN’ only. Usually, I am turned off by such washing instructions as bringing the clothes to the dryclean is a pain!!

However, recently, BH and I ( out of desperation) decided that we shld just bring our jackets for dryclean. After reading yelp, we decided to try out Helena’s Cleaners. There’s FREE pick-up and delivery BUT we brought our clothes to the drycleaner and requested for them to deliver to us.

So we brought 3 jackets for drycleaning. 1 white down jacket ( mine), 2 woollen ( 1 BH, 1 Mine) Got a call from Will saying tt our jackets are ready on monday morning and he will deliver it in noon. However, he called in noon and said my white jacket is still dirty so it will be ready on tuesday. On tuesday, Helena (herself) called and told me tt the jacket is still dirty and it will be ready on wednesday ( today) Finally, Will delivered my jacket and the result? I’m soooooooo pleased with it!

To tell u the truth, i thought my white jacket is a gone case - it’s so dirty coz it’s like a causal jacket BUT Helena’s Cleaners did such a great job and it looks as good as new!!! Thank you v much!! I am very touched by the effort she took to clean away the stains!!

Total damage for dry cleaning 3 jackets: US$36! (used a 25% coupon which cld be found online. Both of us thought tt it’s really cheap compared to other places)

Yes!! we will definitely visit you again… maybe this weekend? haha… coz we wanna wash our comforter (there’s a 40% promo going on.. why not? )!! ;p

Posted in: News.

feel so loved!

Feb 3rd, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

I received this ..heh.. too belated to be X’mas card but just in time for Vday!

Loved it… belief it or nt.. I love all your handwritting man .. Thank you Diana, Caryn, Liting, Shuian! *huggies!*

Just for record, I read each msg 3 times and said “so sweet!” 3*4times!!

Posted in: News.

Misconceptions of marriage

Feb 2nd, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

waiting for the drycleaners to deliver my clothes.. they are late . hate to wait, seriously regretted rejecting BH’s offer of us picking the jackets up from the shop. Let me blog an entry while waiting. Boo.. they are not coming today, coz they realise tt my white down jacket is still dirty

I have always wanted to put this into words .. so here goes -

If you are like me, u will have many of your own ideals of a ‘perfect’ marriage.. i entered into this marriage with many many expectations.. to only realise that the ideals I have are pure misconceptions. Does it sound weird? but it’s true!

Myth 1: Once you get married, you can have lots of sex

YOU WISH!! Geez.. believe it or nt but BH and I rarely get intimate – ok.. not tt you are interested but the frequency is TWICE in a mth! pathetic? haha.. we had been married for a yr + and we haven’t done it for 100 times!!

eh.. I am not complaining. Being a guy, he’s a very willing party BUT I feel so insecure each time even when we use protection. So, I’m not enjoying.. just obliging.. In anyway, I wld rather not live in fear and anxiety before my period comes! I have so many plans for us and myself… 1 mistake will kill us!!! Hence, I resulted to “NO SEX! Can we just cuddle?” haha.. we don’t need sex to feel connected – now i wish i was in Avatar

“why don’t use birth control?” > I am afraid of weight gain

Myth 2: Going to bed together

This is sooooooo not true can.. BH had been really bz at work… so we sleep at different times. I will sleep early and he’ll crawl into bed ( and wake me up) in the wee hours in the morning… bad… disrupting my sleep and sometimes, I’ll wake up with a bad headache

Myth 3: Wear sexy lingerie

nah.. i hardly don’t wear sexy lingerie.. I mean.. y do I wanna put myself in danger man

Myth 4: Easier to create romantic surprises

Rubbish! I will kinda know if BH gets me something.. he will be sooooo sneaky abt it… and the worst is.. he hides the gift and I will accidentally ‘discover’ so… it’s not very fun.. In fact, you will get complacent and nt get any gifts for each other anymore… kinda sad.. but true

Myth 5: He throws the trash

I do this sh*t job too… coz after cooking, I will clean up the kitchen and the bin will stink ( and he’s not home).. so I got to do this disgusting job .. ( actually, not v gross la.. the building is new.. the trash room here is clean for now)

Myth 6: He/She will change after marriage

BH still works late and put works first. Don’t expect your partner to change. Accept whatever flaws/ bad habits BUT you can train him to do things your way haha.. BH is well-trained like.. he knows how I wld put things ( after all the scoldings ) and does the ‘correct’ way. heh…

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haha.. will add on when I think of more

So far, we like married life.. that’s because we are both here in Seattle and we don’t have to care abt a thing in SG ( eg: whose relatives’ bday, which family dinner.. blah blah… you get the idea) -tt’s also one of the MAIN reason y we don’t wanna go home…

Sings – “It’s just me and you always…and forever..”

Posted in: Marriage.

Confessions of a Spree Organiser

Jan 29th, 2010

by amanda.

2 comments

Ever wondered how’s is it like to be a Spree Organiser? Let me tell you!

*No offence. I’m sharing my experience – not directing to anyone *

1) Organising sprees

sounds easy right? but in actual fact, it’s not! You got to make sure you got the exchange rate right + there’s enough attractive items for participants to spree on. Nobody wants to participate in a spree when the discount is not HUGE enough right?

Then, you will receive many many emails. Due to the time diff, I can only reply mails during SG night/early morning. So sometimes when the spree gets really ‘heated up’ > Eg: Kate Spade Sample Sale. I stayed up till really early in US time. Tiring!

There are some customers who come to you with a list of items and you got to quote them the prices. Even if I were to give them the formula, they will still want you to quote them.. okok.. fine.. I quote them the price of all the items ( all 10+ items mind you!) and guess how many they bought?? NONE! This is call toying with my feelings…

2) Difficult customers

They force you to a corner and expects you to give them a HUGE HUGE discount – the price is ridiculously low. Being so nice and understanding, some times, I just give in.. other times, I gave up. The inner voice in my heart tells me ” Can they just go to other organisers?? I don’t need their business!! ”

3) Feedbacks

For the past 1 year plus, hundreds of parcels had been merticulously mailed out. Take it for 1 day last week, I mailed out 11 parcels, all parcels are already in the hands of the participants.. guess how many pple got back to me??? out of 11, only 3 feedbacks/ ‘Thank you’ emails!!! sobz… I think I deserve a little teeny bit of credit right?

These feedback serves as a avenue for others to know about my blogshop and my services.. it’s highly important and valuable to me..

4) Friends

Can you belief that you can actually mk friends by organising sprees? I am so grateful for the wonderful ‘customers’ who came back to me again and again + recommending me to others. Above all, they are super duper understanding and kind These customers mk my day!

5) Funds transfer

Funds are not transferred within 24 hrs and the items they want goes OOS. It’s not my fault! Fastest fingers first! Actually, I am usually very trusting and flexible – If you are really really keen, I’ll go ahead to make the purchase for you. BUT they are customers who took advantage of my kindness and never got back to me

They are also some really funny customers who transferred the funds and didn’t notify me.. then I got to do a guessing game!

I am so brutally honest, when I say I refund when the postage cost is lesser, I really do it within 24 hours Pls don’t email me and ask me “ I really want to participate in your spree but are you reliable?” heh.. I find these emails hilarious! Would a thief tell you that he is a thief?

6) Shipping

I hate it when customers ask me ” Is normal mail safe?” This is such a taboo subject!! If I say safe, what if something happens??? You get the ‘murphy’s law’ ? So if you feel insecure, opt for registered mail pls!!

Belief it or not.. BUT i worry about my parcels everyday! it’s ridiculous right?? So I really hope that all customers will drop me a courtesy email to let me know if you got your parcels, else I cld quickly call the postal service to file for investigations asap!

I’m so afraid to receive emails from impatient and panicky customers!! ” It’s 10 days!! I haven’t receive!!” Pls be patient.. take note if there’s holidays in US side or SG side or not… count using the US calendar after the date I send and exclude the Saturday and Sunday. It will take 7-10 FULL working days to reach you. Don’t panic!! It will make me panic too ( though I’m not responsible for loss after I send out) !

7) Packing

Packing is the most NOT fun job to do. You got to look for a suitable box/envelope. If you can’t find a suitable box, you got to make one coz NOBODY would wanna pay for a box – boxes are so ex here!!!

After you find a suitable shipping box, you need to ensure that the measurements are correct for shipping!! Alot of regulations to follow for shipping. All the items are packed using a generous amt of bubble wrap and draft paper So it will be secured in its journey to SG.

After packing items in the box, securing it with lots of tape, I will take photos ( left right centre) of the parcels *just for in case*

8 ) Quality of the items

I checked all items thoroughly that the pple in the outlets and boutiques are horrified of me!! even the website CSO are also sick of my complains!! geeez… I am a perfectionist, so I check and ensure everything is perfect under natural light! Yes, I hold the bag/wallet under light to check then take photos in all angles to ensure satisfaction by the customers then I’ll mail out.

Hard work right?

9) Credit limit vs Temptation

At times I spree-ed or help others to buy so much that I feel so sore I didn’t get anything for myself… no credit limit in the card..

Else when the temptation arises, you see the beautiful bags right in front of you….you can’t help but you have to buy as well…it’s bad!

10) Prices of items

“Why is your price cheaper than other pple?” Iyoh, it’s a 1-woman job! No third party cost. My hubby doesn’t really help me – the very most he do is to drive me to outlet/post office. haha.. I keep price low so that every one can afford these pretty bags/wallets

Pls don’t email me and tell me that ” You price very high. “ Then pls go to the other seller k? You upset me

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heh.. tt’s all…

Last but not least….

Read USASHOPPINGSPREE reviews

Visit USASHOPPINGSPREE

Posted in: Work, shopping!.

Second try: Pineapple Tarts

Jan 27th, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

This time I had BH to help me with the baking It’s the 1st time BH and I baked together! oh well, it wld be nice if we had the stand mixer. Still waiting for a good deal to make the purchase.

The pictures below are numbered. heh.. do read the descriptions after the pic if u are keen to know how we baked these tarts.

1) I prepared the pineapple jam before hand. I used 2 cans of crushed pineapple. Why didn’t I use fresh ones? Well, it’s not cheap here and I do not know how to prepare a fresh pineapple! Preparing pineapple jam takes a while coz you need to ensure that the water from the pineapple had evaporated - you need to be patient

2) I prepared the dough. We did not managed to take pics of how I made the dough but I knead it by hand – which is so much easier than using my lousy hand mixer. This time I placed the dough in the fridge for abt 1hr before rolling out and shaping the tarts. As you can see, we do not have the pineapple tart mould so we used a bottle cap – which works fine too!

3) BH turned out to be a better tart moulder than me. So he took over the task! You got to dust the work area and rolling pin with flour

4) I was rolling the pineapple jam into small balls, painting dough with egg wash

5) In the oven! looks so good already

6) Tadah!!! pretty??

7) we felt tt it’s a wash to throw the dough away ( kneading was hard work!) so we used the remaining dough and made them into choco chips cookies

8 ) we cooled the tarts, packed them into small boxes. This might sound crazy but we are gonna ship them to SG so that our family can have a taste of them

That’s all.. hope u enjoyed reading this! haha

Posted in: Food, Marriage.

Got these free!

Jan 27th, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

Signed up for Artscow promo and got a free mousepad I think i look kinda fat in the photo but it has a subtle sweetness to it.. don’t ya think? heh

“Forget (each other’s name) not” is engraved on our wedding bands – so brilliant of us to think of that phrase rght?? wahahaha…

We had 2 addresses ( coz we moved and paid for mail redirecting) so HE created one for me and I created one for him. mine haven’t arrived yet..So whose is nicer? ;p

me loves freebies!!! :p

Posted in: Marriage, News.

The 3rd party

Jan 24th, 2010

by amanda.

No comments yet

*sob sob*

Maybe this is the result of 7 years inch?

Ever since BH and I started dating, I am against him buying any form of game consoles or handheld games.. I do not like guys who sits in front of the TV or computer playing games. I think it’s a complete waste of time and it mks one ‘lazy’, ‘violent’, or simply OBSESSED!! You wanna relax? Go out of the house! (ahem .. this is also the reason why students didn’t do their homework or forget their books!)

I was sooooo upset when BH went right into the game industry after graduation – and when he works late or forgets my birthday (for 1 yr, which I will rem for life), I blamed it on those idiotic inanimate machines/games.. geez… how childish right??? But I can’t help it!! hmph! Fortunately, he’s out of that industry now

Before we got married, I still reminded BH that ” no game consoles is gonna step foot into the house” and he was like ” ok………..” I bet he murmured something else under his breath!!

I guess… BH just had his wildest dreams fulfilled when he finally got hold of his 1st REAL game console for the 1st time. He was truly happy and excited BUT he acted like he’s not..I think the feeling is even better than his wedding day.. grrrr

As for me, I felt as though BH brought his mistress home and I gave him HELL for the weekend.

Oh well, at least we have a DVD player for now and I gt to watch youtube on TV and BH is more motivated to come home early after work. The reason is not me, it’s PS3.. it’s sad but true . I feel lousy.

This is the start of when he says ” gimme 5mins ” > it wld mean 15mins

I think I can go home now, knowing that he has ‘better’ company

Posted in: Entertainment, Marriage, News.