Travel – KEEP CALM AND READ ON

March 3, 2014March 6, 2014

Bali Happy vacation!

Finally down to blogging about one of the BEST vacation ever 🙂

8 – 10 Feb

BH and I planned this trip about 6 months back. We wanted to use our expiring Krisflyer miles and also travel to somewhere relaxing. We decided on Bali! Since we had the miles, BH suggested that we should fly Business class. Yes, we still need to pay SG$180 per person ( for taxes and etc) but it’s a once in a lifetime experience! And so… we went for it.. and it was the BEST flight ever!

Business class passengers have access to the SilverKris Lounge. Basically, it’s a rest area with shower rooms, wi-fi and a generous Buffet spread !! I was extremely happy to eat chwee kuay and sip TWG while waiting for boarding time! 😀

of course, the flight was extra comfy.. we get to read magazines and have our baggage tagged as ‘PRIORITY’ – no long waits for luggage!!

Oh… and for SQ First/Business class flight from SIN to other destinations, you have the option to ‘Book the Cook’ You get a special gourmet meal! we had Lobster brunch!!!! so extravagant!

1 week before our flight, we also called the SQ ticketing office and told them we are celebrating our anniversary!!! we got a nice cake on the plane together with champagne!!! wah!! super impressed with the service!! seriously the BEST!! By the way, we were so full from the food so the SQ crew packed our cake for us to enjoy in Bali! 🙂 Love the thoughtful service!

The flight was just too short 🙁 We arrived in Bali in about 2h 30mins time!!

At Bali airport, we took a cab to Villa Uma Sapna

Beautiful villa!!! We had welcome drinks and fruits, chilled out a little..jumped into the pool, washed up and went sightseeing shortly!

We took a cab to Potato Head Beach Club – a nice place to sit down and chillax 🙂

The following day, BH arranged for a driver (US$50) from Bali Bliss Tour

The driver did have a planned itinerary. He wanted to bring us to watch some Bali dance and shop at Craft village, we are not interested so we declined politely. The driver was cool with it. In the end, he drove us to drink Luwak Coffee. BH and I love coffee, we felt that the regular Bali coffee was watered down – Luwak coffee is very strong and bold BUT EXPENSIVE!

Then he drove us to see Ubud rice fields – it was nice but not as huge as I thought it will be. We also walked around in Ubud downtown area. I bought 2 bottles of gourmet jam from KOU which tasted really good! haha… yes, of all things, jam was the only thing we bought in Bali

Lunch was buffet at a restaurant with the view of the Volcano ( not sure the name) This is the ONLY decent pic I have of this place because it started pouring during our meal and the volcano disappeared behind the clouds

Traffic is quite bad in Bali. The scooters are crazy! so scary to drive!!! By the time we arrived back in Seminyak, it was almost dinner time!

BH and I went to Breeze at The Samaya for dinner. Super romantic place!! The view was beautiful! Gosh… very nice!! I don’t wanna leave!!! Food was on the high cost side but we decided to indulge – so happy to spend such a wonderful evening with my dearest!

After dinner, I arranged for Spa Bali to pick us. I did a Body Scrub while BH did hot stone massage. It was only about US$15 for each service!!! Very affordable!!! I love it so much that I booked another session with them on the next day ( before we leave Bali)

On the last day, BH and I explored the Villa’s art gallery. Art pieces are very nice, wish we could bring them home! haha..

Then we had lunch at The Bistrot Food was alright. We dined here because I love the ambiance 🙂

After lunch, it’s Spa time!!!! This time BH and I did facial. Then I had manicure and hair treatment! Sooooo relaxing.. and much cheaper than SG!!! Big love!!!

We still had time (& money) after the Spa, we decided to go to Sardine just to chill out

Just for us to remember, we only changed SG$400 and did not use credit cards for our meals/spa. It was enough!!

Weird enough, we had to pay exit tax of 150,000 rupiah when we depart Bali – I thought it was included in the airfare?! In any case, we paid part of it by USD because we didn’t have enough rupiah already 🙁

Anyhow, 3 days 2 night at Bali was just tooo short!!!! Would love to go back again!!! 🙂 Thank you BH for such an amazing, pampering holiday!!!!

January 1, 2014December 31, 2013

Amanda’s 2013 year in review

It’s the time of the year again! Time for the end of year report card! Haha.. Well, this year I will be spending the start of the New Year away from BH – I hope that he won’t forget to write his review!!

Last night, after a fabulous night out with an old friend, I came home to my sis surfing Facebook ( not usual.. Haha) she was reviewing her year through her timeline. Out of curiosity, I went to review my timeline and the most memorable moment for me was….. When I purchased some 12 count, 3 ply toilet paper for $2.99! Haha.. How auntie! Facebook is not an accurate measure of my year, maybe my blog is better 🙂

Just like other years, there are many ups and downs. Let’s see…

Jan
-Our small group of closely knitted friends in Seattle lost a game khaki suddenly to heart attack. It was a huge shock to us. We were deeply saddened but learnt to treasure each other and be more health conscious. This unfortunate event deserve a better post but I just can’t find the right words or courage to write it.
-BH and I went for our first vacation of the year to Los Angeles. It was the first time we attend a Chinese concert ( MAY day) in the USA . It was a cool experience. The view at Griffith observatory is probably the BEST sight I have ever seen this year!

Feb
-BH and I went for painting class together. It was such a fun vday activity!!

Mar
-Moved into a new apartment which became the BIGGEST regret of the year. Sigh!

Apr/May
– BH and I went to Vegas for a short getaway. We won a mini jackpot of US$200 !!! The biggest win so far! If you are wondering, the $ was ‘returned’ to the casino shortly. Hahaha

Jun
-Arrival of Mr Hyde! Our joy and best purchase of the year!
– started volunteering at a children’s museum! BEST decision ever! Why did it take me so long to take up volunteering!!!

July/Aug
-My loving hubby decided that maybe we should look for a new place since I was upset and uncomfortable about the apartment. We were looking at buying a place but DID NOT because of our SG commitments. We saw a place we really liked – the kind that you will want to grow your family in, the kind that gives you the AHA moment the minute you step foot in but we got to let it go. It hurts a lot because you know what you want but you can’t pursue it further. It took awhile for the heartache to go away but we still believe that other good things will come our way. You just got to be patient… Right? 知足的快乐叫我忍受心痛
– BH and his team participated in a Hackaton and emerged the Seattle champion!

Sept
– BH and I celebrated our 5 years anniversary!! I am soooo happy that we r still in love and on the same page ( most of the time.. Haha) I just feel so happy that i don’t want our relationship to change. I still wish that BH will be able to put me ( family) above his work

Oct
-nothing worth mentioning

Nov
-we went to San Jose for Hackaton finals! Though BH and team did not win the grand prize, I m still proud of his achievements!

Dec
-We finally received news of something important to us. We did what we needed and hope for the best. We will only know the result next year. I am looking forward to this!
-I cashed out my first blogger paycheck on nuffnang. I earned $66 for 5 years!!! Obviously not blogging hard enough 🙁 Still waiting for the cheque to reach me…
-I came back to SG for Xmas and New year – leaving poor BH alone for the first time during this time of the year… Boooo… Will meet in a few weeks time! 🙂

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Overall, Its been a relatively happy this year. I really regretted the rental we are staying in now – wish that time will fly by so that the lease will end soon.

In 2014,
– I will continue to eat healthy, go to the gym ( really missing ZUMBA and cardio tai box now)
– Volunteer
– blog more ( post entries with more substance)!
– save more money for future home
– be happy, worry less

Hopefully, more good things will come our way 🙂 Happy New Year everybody!!

July 12, 2013July 12, 2013

Exploring Sequim,WA and Port Angeles

BH and I had been thinking about going on a trip to Port Angeles and Forks ever since the movie Twilight became popular. Well, it didn’t really materialised until this year 🙂

July 6

Our friends and us made a day trip to Sequim,WA and Port Angeles (nah.. Forks was just too far) It was a tiring trip! We started at 6.45am and only reached home at 1.20am, the next day! Glad we went ahead with the plan as it was very enjoyable!

We got on the ferry – Seattle > Bainbridge Island. View on ferry was very pretty! A nice day! See the new addition to Seattle skyline? The ferries wheel!

First destination was Olympic Game farm – This farm allows cars to drive through . However, you are allowed to feed some of the animals with wheat bread. To me, it was super interesting! I have never been to a game farm before! Feeding the animals enable me to see them super up-close!

The llama are the most aggressive! They actually chase after the car for food! haha.. we were screaming! so funny!

We only saw 1 zebra, which was quite greedy!! See… it’s biting the car window!!! shiver~~ Fear not!!! Most of these animals are trained!

The cutest animals are the bears!! they are super friendly! When they saw our car approaching the enclosure, they came right to the front and just sat there. It was as though waiting for us to take its picture! I mean I didn’t even know that the animals were trained to interact with humans until I read the website/facebook page closely. You know what?! the bears actually waved to us too!! Like really waved!!! gosh! I was thrilled – didn’t manage to catch it on my camera but you can see lots on youtube!!!!

Feeding the bears with bread is like playing an arcade game – haha.. they open their mouths and u got to aim it right! We had alot of fun doing that!

By the way, we bought wheat bread at supermarket and brought it there. You can buy bread from the ticket booth but it will be abit more expensive. The game farm keepers do check the bread before we drove in

There were many other animals at the non-game area but the drive through was the most interesting 🙂 It was a memorable experience! Hope that the animals are treated well…

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After the game farm, we head for lunch and drove to Olympic National park

We took a very short and easy trail ( not sure what’s the name) but the view was spectacular!

As usual, I got to complete the activity book to get the junior park ranger badge! 😀

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Somehow, time seems to pass really fast. Maybe we just spend alot of time driving. Thank you to BH and Justin for doing the driving!

Dinner was at Port Angeles(PA)! PA was mentioned several times in Twilight!

Below shows the movie theater ‘Lincoln’ which Bella and friends watched movie. ‘Bella Italia’ is the restaurant which Bella and Edward had their first date ( Edward didn’t eat) I am a ‘medium’ Twilight fan, so to me it’s a “wah!!! I’m actually here!” feeling! hehehe.. we wanted to dine at ‘Bella Italia’ but it was just packed! In the end, we ate “Next Door” literally!!

We headed back to Seattle after dinner. We were all exhausted! something I hate about roadtrips…it’s driving… and yes, but it’s the essence of a trip! gosh – who to drive? whose car to use? blah… Just felt that the driver enjoy the least and gets the most tired :/

Glad we had a safe trip and made it home 🙂

May 4, 2013May 5, 2013

Las Vegas 2013

Bing and I will make it a point to go to Vegas yearly ( I didn’t go last year) Well.. we usually go to Vegas because we have a good deal. We started planning for this trip late last year and was looking forward to it. It’s such a bummer that I was ill half the time 🙁 I was also worried about the disgusting silverfish problem we have at home.

It ought be be such an enjoyable trip.. since we managed to get everything ( flight, hotel, food, show) for FREE!!! I just did not have as much fun as I thought I would 🙁

28-30 April

Mirage is a so-so hotel. The rooms are very nice and looks updated. However, the walls are very thin. You can hear people talking/yelling along the corridor.

The weather was really good when we were there. Vegas is beautiful. It’s warm ( not hot) but I was cold most of the time 🙁

Our first complimentary meal worth $150 was at a rather posh restaurant, Steakhouse At Camelot – Excalibur

The food was not bad considering that it’s FREE! Would love some alcohol but I was not feeling well 🙁

Had my best steak ever. This cut, Filet Mignon is indeed the King of steaks.. so tender and flavorful! Totally forgot about taking pics of BH’s steak as it came later .. haha

After dinner.. I felt sooo bad that I went back to the hotel room to sleep. Of course, BH went to the casinos!

The next day.. I felt a little better… we went to Bellagio for brunch buffet! Food was good BUT buffet isn’t good for me because I don’t eat THAT much..

Walked around Vegas.. and spotted this really interesting chapel, Pop Up wedding Chapel at Cosmopolitan – Can consider this in future! Vows renewal maybe?

Walked to Aria and ate the most delightful cakes at Jean Philippe.. omg.. the best so far… I want more!!

Now… the highlight of the trip…..

Before we watched Terry Fator , which is amazing by the way.. we decided to play some slots… and….

I didn’t have a CLUE … don’t even know what I was playing for… I only had $6 left… and I suddenly won the progressive jackpot of $221 for solving the mystery!! wah!!! 😀 BH lost all our winnings at Blackjack later though 🙁

Talking about slot machines, I also saw a Corgi! How cute!

dinner was at Nine Fine Irishmen at NYNY Their Chicken pot pie is super HUGE and delicious!

The next morning… we had more food again… It was Delights @ MGM grand The food was really good! Love such breakfast. The $50 voucher was so worth it. we even had enough for us to takeaway sandwiches for our flight home 🙂

As you can see… this trip…we ate MORE than we should.. I was soooo full…. Wish I was feeling better then :/ Vegas.. till we meet again… Hope it’s soon!!

March 10, 2013March 8, 2013

Won’t go home without you Part 4

Last day in LA!

We had brunch at The Kitchen We actually had a hard time looking for this place – our GPS kept bring us round and round. At last, we found it!

Maybe we were early – it was very quiet for brunch at a supposedly high rated restaurant. I like restaurant with a rustic feeling, artsy deco – feels very unique.

I had the highly raved Pear Pancakes.. and it was superb indeed… yumyum!! I think IF I go back to LA – I am so going to dine here again 🙂

The day was sunny and nice ( as usual). After brunch, with no time to waste…. we headed to……. *make a guess?!!*

Griffin Observatory again! yes.. no surprise! hehe.. this place looks beautiful in the day too!

oh…. As BH was dealing with his camera.. I met a super cute doggie! It’s a Corgi-mix, Ally!!!

Tell me.. how adorable Ally is! hahaha.. and she’s a rescue!! wish I could bring her home!

Daytime at GO had a different charm. You can see the “Hollywood” sign pretty close here too!

We did walked around and check out the exhibits. It is certainly a nice place to hang out on a lazy sunday afternoon 🙂

With all these beautiful sights and pictures, we headed to the airport for our flight back to Seattle! Great vacation!!!

Where’s next?!

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013

Talking to the moon Part 2b

1 Feb

As mentioned in my previous post, BH and I headed to 1 of the BEST FREE ATTRACTION IN LA : Griffith Observatory (GO)

Just when I thought that the view at Yamashiro was fabulous.. The view at Griffith took my breath away. Initially, we wanted to go to GO during the day but decided that it was silly “who would look at stars in the day?” haha

anyways, off we went. I am so glad that BH is comfortable with driving ( ok, i am a super bad driver.. i won’t want/dare to drive in LA. Traffic is bad. Drivers are fierce!) I guess.. it’s really difficult to visit GO if you don’t have transport.

Parking is free and very limited. We arrived at about 8pm ( closes at 10pm) and waited 30-45mins for a spot. it was worth every second…

The moment we stepped out of the car… both of us “WOW!” It was sooooooooo beautiful! I think I can go to GO every single night (and I’m not someone who is interested in stars)…

Let the pics do the talking….

No… we are not even using a professional camera! The pics just turn out very pretty. Spectacular night! Oh yes… this is the kind of place people go for dates too… haha.. ALOT of PDA here.. if you get what I mean 😀

There were volunteers with huge telescopes outside GO – We saw Jupiter for the 1st time! We also learnt more about stars/planets from them!

By the time we finish admiring the views and taking lots of pics using different modes.. it was close to 10pm!!! The observatory have many interesting exhibits and they are very informative. We didn’t get to see all of them 🙁

so….. we decided that we should squeeze 1 more trip here (in the day) hehe… stay tuned for that entry. Super nice too!!!

March 1, 2013March 2, 2013

It’s a hot date! Part 2a

1 Feb

Weather in LA is pretty nice.. filled with sunshine.. warm.. windy.. and does not get you sticky.. haha.. but i find it very bright.. so sunglasses were my best friend

First stop.. brunch at Blu Jam Cafe – which supposedly have the best french toast.. okok.. i felt like french toast.. haha

oh.. our rental car is a 2012 Ford Focus with sunroof!!! I mean.. we chose the cheapest and most basic rental car.. and we got such a cool car! Love it!! It’s like the first time we had such a nice&new car 😀

Food took a while to come… while waiting..clumsy BH spilled milk on me by accident!! OMG!! As it was a short trip, it didn’t occur to me to bring another pair of jeans… eeks… I kept my cool and didn’t cry over spilled milk :X The weather was soooo hot.. so my jeans dried up in no time ( just hope that i didn’t stink.. oh well…)

The food was generally alright – typical American breakfast food .. the french toast is sooooooooo sinful… i really wish i didn’t order it..

After a filling brunch.. we headed to Santa Monica Beach

It was a beautiful day to be at the beach… haha.. looks just like the magazines…

we also went to Muscle beach.. nothing much there… not even a good looking YOUNG hunk.. hahah

For dinner… we went to Yamashiro.

This is a upscale Japanese restaurant with a fabulous view.

Honestly.. come here for the view… NOT the food… and…. the only form of parking is valet (US$15) Our airbnb was around the corner, so we walked there (up and down the hill!) – it was really scenic.. gorgeous view of LA. This is the kind of place u might want to bring a date to, just to impress her… or… it’s a romantic place to propose to your gf!

The sashimi was quite fresh. My Lychee martini was VERY WATERED DOWN… no kick at all. BH loves his Moscow Mule ( actually I liked it too) – it tasted very refreshing.. My fave sushi was Black Forbidden rice – it’s not made using white sushi rice BUT the black one, hence the name. I felt that it was really unique. hmmm… This meal was very costly… oh well… once in a while – thank you BH 🙂

I really wanted to try the dessert sushi! I have NEVER tried dessert sushi before. However, I was sooooo full from all the starters and sushi… so I tried my luck and requested for a 1/2 order of the dessert… and the chef obliged!!! yay!! Great service!

Dessert sushi taste great! ok.. maybe because I like mascarpone cheese.. haha… they used coconut glutinous rice for the sushi.. i felt that it was a nice fusion!

well… if u are wondering…. our night didn’t end here….. we headed to the BEST FREE ATTRACTION IN LA ( in my humble opinion) – it was sooo worth it…. click some ads and check back tml!!! so excited to blog about it! 😀

February 28, 2013March 1, 2013

California girl for the weekend Part 1

BH just moved our site to a new server and he had been bugging me to blog. haha.. so here I am!

we went to LA! well.. it’s not my first time but it was BH’s 1st. The main reason for going to LA is for MayDay concert! I am so not a concert person however it’s really rare for a Taiwanese Rock bank to come to US for performance.. and this is BH (and my sis) fave band.. Off we went!

31 Jan

We took early flight.. so that we won’t waste any time 🙂 some random sights….

First meal was at Craft. BH and I had been watching alot of Top Chef. Going to one of the chef/judges restaurants will be soooo cool! Craft is Tom Colicchio’s (1 of the judges) chain of restaurant. It was a nice surprise to know that this same restaurant was featured on Top Chef this season!!! hahaha…

hmmm.. i personally felt that the food was alright… I mean.. not fantastic… ok.. if u r expecting HUGE portions, go to another place. The portions here are good for 1 person, not meant for sharing.

Lucky for us, when we were in LA, it was “Dine LA” (Please don’t pronounce as Dine lar, the singlish way, which I did. The server looked weirdly at me.. hahaha)- you can get a 3 course menu for about US$28.

I had salad as my first course… and the vege were kinda yellowish… i feel disappointed that it’s not THAT fresh…

My 2nd course was quail with herbs… wanted to try quail as it had been cooked quite frequently on Top Chef. BH had Berkshire Pork with Polenta, Greens and Dates – he liked his alot and found it very flavorful

I guess.. my favourite was dessert. It was Olive Oil ice-cream! wow…I have never tasted such before! It is actually very good (&healthy I hope) hehe…

Next… we checked out Hollywood!

We got our tickets to Jimmy Kimmel Live a few weeks before hand. BH was super thrilled to watch him LIVE! However, we were stuck in traffic… and couldn’t mk it to the line early enough…. so we didn’t get the chance to go to the studio . The most upsetting thing was we were the next 3 from the cut-off line… oh well… FYI, the celebrity for the night was Jennifer Lawrence!

Dinner was at Chick-a-fil. There’s no chick-a-fil at WA state.. so we thought of trying it… food was mediocre

It was a super long and tiring day since we starting fairly early… headed back to our Airbnb guesthouse after dinner….

To be continued! 😀

December 31, 2012

Disneyworld – Day 5 & 7 Epcot + Downtown Disney

19 & 21 Nov

Going to Epcot is like traveling around the world! You get to visit Morocco, Japan, Paris, Germany, China etc. How Fun!

You know theme park food are mostly yucky… but we thought that the food at Epcot was not that bad. Our fave was Japanese food! haha..

The good thing about Epcot is.. we could get FREE printout of 1 picture each day when we show our Chase Disney debit card 🙂 That’s y we went to Epcot for 2 seperate days

hmmm… Epcot is a nice relaxing place…I just had no idea why we didn’t take much pics :/

ok.. moving on… We went to Downtown Disney on our last night..

It’s a huge place.. so do allocate time for this. Our intention was to go there for dinner… and we ended up at Planet Hollywood. It was super crowded and noisy – food was meh.. and once again.. I needed to have the cocktail served in disco lights cup 😀 There’s also a HUGE Disney store ! You can buy almost anything u saw inside the Disney theme parks here.. nah.. I didn’t buy anything , only 2 small gifts for our friend’s kids

Yup… I think this sums up our trip to Disney world! We left the magical place the next morning…flew out of Orlando.. transited at Washington DC where we got stuck for 2 hours due to plane maintenance…

Nevertheless… It was an awesome trip!!! Till we meet again!!!

December 10, 2012

USS – Day 4 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Feeling down today… so decided to blog.. looking at these happy pictures, put my worries away for awhile..

18 Nov

We did not rent a car.. we booked Mears Transport Shuttle to bring us from Disney to USS Orlando – US$19/person round trip. This shuttle is quite good – ez to book, no need credit card, pay by cash to the driver – no complains.. just that it’s a shuttle, so it will mk stops at different places to drop/pickup people

Most of the people who go to USS are headed to Harry Potter Land (HPL) . OMG! It’s soooo crowded… we also zoomed to HPL BUT can’t help and got distracted by Dr Seuss.. haha

HPL is way inside… so it’s a walk… Finally…

It’s really a world of it’s own! No.. I am no HP fan.. BUT it sure feels like I’m in Hogwarts.. many people were holding wands and wearing long robes!

I feel so spoiled by Disney… because there’s no photographers here to take pictures for us… blah… their photopass pictures cannot be seen online 🙁 Most of our pics were taken by not very pro tourists

Places were very nicely constructed.. just like real! However, we felt that their organization for taking the rides was messy! Of course, we took the superb simulator ride.. OMG..probably the best I had ever taken.. took it twice! the line was super long…. no… I didn’t dare to take Dragon’s Challenge. haha

The above pic is an example of a photo taken by a tourist.. haha.. he really took a picture of us ( and not with the castle) sigh….ok.. try again… our self taken shot…

Much better! A front facing camera is so important!

Things at HPL is soooooo expensive.. I left the place with NO souvenirs ( except the pumpkin juice bottle)

Butterbeer is NOT alcohol. It is root beer with marshmallows…it’s sweet BUT really nice… very sinful drink. Pumpkin juice on the other hand is kinda sour-sweet? acquired taste I would say..

Had lunch at 3 broomsticks (a cafe inside HPL).. food was ok…We didn’t take pictures of the food as there was nothing special… walk around in the other parts of USS

Took a few more silly rides.. ( does not include roller coaster.. I was just too scared…)

o…. we found this funny! hahaha…

Dinosaurs drinking coke! I think I know why dinosaurs are extinct..They drank too much coke! hahaha

Had dinner at Bubba Gump for the first time!

Food was decent.. BUt our server was super nice.. we ordered a drink which was served in a normal cup. I told her that I like the cup with dancing lights.. and she packed us 1 to bring home! 🙂

After a filling dinner… we headed back to our hotel… we changed hotel on this day too!!!

New resort: Art of Animation

I always wanted to stay in a Disney Theme hotel.. so glad that BH made my wish come true!!! I feel like a princess!! hahaha.. Disney moved our stuff from the 1st hotel to this one… MAGIC! Bags were already in our room when we open the door 🙂

Once door is opened.. it’s a huge WOW!!! The place is so new and clean.. There’s a ‘new’ smell too!! Super happy (to have a change esp when I saw a living cockroach in our room at the other resort) !!

Shall end this entry with a sign I saw at USS – Seuss landing….

Time to THINK UP now….