Posts

Posted on

downtown adventure

yesterday was one of the few days that I decided to venture downtown for some shopping… oh well… it started pouring heavily when I wanna get out of the house. I was super upset 🙁 I mean.. I was all dressed up.. and needed to go to the post office anyway…

SO… I took my umbrella and just head out. First stop – post office. Great! Rainy day = no crowd! Mailed the parcel and begin trip downtown.

Here’s the thing, I was at the midpoint. I was thinking of taking the bus downtown BUT it’s crazy to wait for the bus in the rain ( mind you – bus stop is not sheltered. It’s just a pole/sign indicating that the bus stops here) Walking to the monorail = walking to downtown.

I choose the later.

I was carrying a bag which I regretted buying in a PAPER BAG (bad bad choice = proves 1000X why I return it). Guess what??? The paper bag BROKE!!! The bag dropped onto the wet floor!! I was like !!<!((&$$##$%^&*((*&^  – no choice but to squeeze the bag inside my bag ( bag in bag) geeez… by the time I get to downtown.. went to the store… the SA asked me how I was.. I was soooooooooo upset and angry… BUT I decided to be nice and replied as calm as I could ” Not good.. I braved the rain to come here ” geeez…

After doing my ‘work’ in the store, I headed to RED MANGO for my lunch = yogurt! I love RED MANGO. Sat down spent time with myself.. admiring my new “precious” haha… just that I was having a bad ulcer and it’s so bad tt I can’t eat solid stuff… I cld only eat yogurt and porridge 🙁

It was still raining after my lunch.. took the umbrella and head to Macy’s .. wah.. Estee Lauder was having a promotion and the freebies were soooooo irresistable! The line at the counter was LONG… the SA told me that there’s 4 sets of freebies left. “It’s my lucky day!” I thought to myself and waited in line

While waiting.. I noticed a visually handicapped lady with a service dog looking very lost in the middle of the mall… she stood there for a couple of minutes and it was as though she’s invisible – nobody came to help her. Since, I had nothing better to do – I got out of the line and approached her. She was looking for a handbag, so I guided her to the handbag section and got a SA to come to her. I seriously do not know why the SA  exclaimed “OMG!” when I told her the lady needs help. Oh well… I went back to the line… counted the no. of pple and realised that I might nt get the freebie… BUT……

A lady left the line as she was too tired of waiting!!! yay!!! I bought a serum and got the FREEBIES – the LAST freebie. heh.. it pays to be kind! 😀

Headed home after shopping – checked the mailbox and… I GOT ANOTHER FREEBIE ! It’s a BOTTLE OF DISHWASHING LIQUID .. haha… nice! I nv really need to buy household stuff in US – almost everything comes FREE or almost FREE .. happy!

At home, checked my email… and GUESS WHAT?!!! heh… the photo album I made for our Hawaii trip had some production error ( it’s the company’s issue) – so they gave me a 75% discount + free shipping to reorder the same album!!! WOW!!! I paid only $1.36 for the album

Rested awhile and cooked dinner + BH’s lunch. What a day! I feel like i’m writing a composition ‘ The day I helped a person in need’ hahaha

Posted on

Hawaii – Day 4 (Final day!)

We booked a Morning Wildlife Cruise which starts at 7.30am! once again, it’s a super early start as the drive to the pier was 1hr!!! So we reached the place, hop on to the cruise. It was our 1st time snorkeling! I have NEVER snorkeled before! Prior to booking this tour, we asked the person if it was alright for newbies and they assured us that it’s alright as long as we know how to swim… so we trusted them

So..the snorkelling gear is not easy to get used to! boo! both of us had difficulties getting used to the gears 🙁 So we end up holding our breath and swimming to see the creatures! ok.. the water was super deep as well.. quite scary for pple who are snorkeling for the first time. My advice.. DO NOT JOIN THIS TOUR IF YOU ARE NEW TO SNORKELING – rent/buy snorkel gears and go snorkel at shark cove instead!!

Shark Cove (North Shore area):

Back to snorkeling – we were very fortunate to have very friendly crew to ‘look after’ us.. haha.. so we managed to see these creatures! It was sooooo amazing to see sea turtles, surgeonfish right before your eyes! My only regret is I can’t snorkel properly! There’s always next time.. and it’s not too late to learn!!

(Pictures taken by film waterproof camera so not very clear)

We were supposed to see dolphins but no luck 🙁

Right after the snorkeling trip, we headed to North Shore. Stopped by this sign to take a picture 🙂

then had shaved ice at Matsumoto

and fed a thirsty sea turtle .. haha

Do you know that LOST is filmed in North Shore?

Looks familiar?

We ended the day with a walk along Waikiki beach and saw the beautiful sunset…

As though it wasn’t romantic enuough… we had dinner at Hula Grill. It was beach front dinning, facing the beach! The view is spectacular and ambience is super romantic in my opinion.

Food was great, in fact BETTER ( and 1/2 the price of Alan Wong’s)!! My fave is the Pineapple Creme Brulee!! iyoh.. so sinful!!! :X On top of that, there was live music and singing. wah… it was so romantic… seriously, i think this is the MOST romantic trip BH had planned!!! 😀 If you are listening to my mixpod, 1 of the songs we heard was ‘Just the way you are’ in the slower version. I didn’t like the song initially BUT maybe it’s the slower version + the ambience, BH and I felt that the song is super nice now! (Btw, BH came home and practise the song on guitar! hahaha)

well… so that’s all about our short getaway in Hawaii – just like in LOST ” We need to go back, Kate..” 

Another beautiful picture of Honolulu from the skies

Posted on

Hawaii – Day 3 (On a diet, stay at home!)

Just when I thought Loco Moco was the most poisonous food I had eaten… Leonard’s Bakery is just as bad .. and the worst thing is… I LOVE Leonard’s Bakery 🙁 Ok.. so the bakery have hotdog bread/buns like what we see in SG bakery. To us, this is super rare! We don’t see this kinda buns in often here.. so we bought. We had nv tasted such delicious buns for 2 yrs (the time which are are away from SG)!

Besides the buns, they also have Hawaii Doughnuts = Malasadas. Super nice! When we bought them, it was still warm…yums! and now u know y there’s such a LONG Q! They are good really!

Right after the sinful breakfast, we drove to Pearl Habour

Entrance is FREE! and you get to tk a boat to see the USS Arizona memorial at the other side of the habour. It was interesting to see a piece of history right before you. I think I would have Ace my History in O-levels if I managed to visit this place then!

 That’s us with the remains of the anchor from USS Arizona

After a fast trip to Pearl Habour, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Centre (PCC), which was a long drive away. I had a quick nap in the car as BH drove… sheesh… I feel so bad but I was super tired from rushing to place to place + waking up extra early and sleeping late every night. Luckily, BH can tahan but I know he was tired too! I mean.. that’s y i hate roadtrips.. I rather us join a tour so that both of us can enjoy – let other pple do the work… oh well..

If it’s your FIRST time to Hawaii, do visit the PCC – you will learn more about the different polynesian natives and their cultures. It’s interesting! However, the pt of the PCC is the Lu’au which is a Hawaiian dinner. Lu’au is not only about food but also dance and live music. I am not a pork person BUT there was this particular Hawaiian Pork dish which mks my mouth waters, think it’s Kalau Pig (bottom left picture). It’s yums!

We were also given a Lei  – wreath of flowers draped around the neck upon arriving at the dinning hall. It’s quite cool! haha.. i felt like a VIP

AFter dinner, there was a musical entitled HA at the cultural centre. The lu’au and the musical were the main attractions of the centre. However, the songs were mostly Hawaiian ( though there’s some english narration) – which we didn’t understand. I mean.. the only 2 Hawaii words I knew was ‘Aloha’ and ‘Mahalo’ so it didn’t have much meaning to us. On top of that, we were both exhausted and the drive back to Honolulu was long. So we watched 1/2 the musical and left during their interval. However, both us felt the the production and the effects of the musical was impactful! The musical was good! If only we had more time….

Overall, the dining experience was nice BUT I won’t go back there again. It’s very touristy and things were very expensive!

Posted on

Hawaii – Day 2 (My wildest dreams came true)

6eptember ( US timing) we woke up bright and early and made our way to the airport.  Today we are heading to Hilo ( The Big Island)

As we left Honolulu, we not only saw the beautiful clear waters BUT also the Diamond Head Monument which we climbed.

Once we reached Hilo, we went for breakfast at Ken’s – it’s a Hawaiian kind of Denny’s/ IHOP

I love the coffee which I later found out that it’s Kona coffee ( Kona is in Big Island)  Nice! Bought 2 packets of coffee powder home. We had Macadamia nut pancakes and the poisonous Loco Moco .I love LOCO MOCO > super nice!! BUT super high in calories.. I only had 2 mouthfuls and I feel so guilty until NOW 🙁

AFter breakfast, we visited Akaka Falls

then drove to the Volcanoes National Park

Us in front of Pacific Ocean

Arc behind me made by the water/lava? I was holding onto my cap, fearing that it will fly away.. haha

You really see the smoke from the volcano

AND

haha.. so just as I was fooling ard and taking photos…BH and I stopped in front of Mauna Loa, world’s largest active volcano

BH set up the tripod so that we could take a picture together… then suddenly… he knelt down.. took out a box…. and……

AG: ” ehh.. u kuku ah!”
BH: ” Would you marry me again? I wish our love would be like this active volcano, always burning..”
AG: *staring at the ring and OMG in my heart* “YES YES!”

soooooooo cheesy…probably the most cheesy yet original proposal line I heard! BUT I was super happy!!! 😀 He was so sincere .. the very thought that he don’t need to do this again but he did brings a tear to my eyes! For once ( in many blue moons), I felt that I marry the right man and reconfirmed that BH is super duper nice to me!

To think that I was saying how I don’t want to rem how BH proposed to me? haha.. now I wanna rem how he re-propose to me 🙂 awww… it felt like my wildest dream just came true !!! can’t believe that BH can be this romantic!

The precious ( ring size was wrong but he didn’t have time to resize it.. how can I not forgive him.. wahaha)

Right after the romantic proposal, we needed to leave so that we could catch our flight back to Honolulu. By right, we should b able to see lava flowing from the volcano BUT it wasn’t dark enough, so we can’t see anything. Both of us were quite disapted.. So we told ourselves that we will  go back again 🙂

On the plane back to Honolulu, we saw orange lava-like glow frm the skies.. haha.. not sure if it’s lava BUT we convinced ourselves that it’s lava. haha

What a lovely day! hehe.. active volcano!! keep burning!

Posted on

Hawaii – Day 1 ( 5 Sept)

It was purely a spontaneous decision to go to Hawaii this yr – I mean our only holiday was supposed to be the Singapore-Korea trip next mth. However, there was a great deal on Hawaii flights and it coincides with our wedding anniversary + US labour day long weekend.. so we seized the opportunity and booked the tix!

Alright… so.. just when we thought everything was perfect and well-planned.. my period was coming along with us as well.. haha.. too bad for BH and me too!

*sick description ahead*

The whole plane ride from SEA > HNL was soooooooo uncomfortable.. maybe it was due to the pressurized cabin .. the moment I touched down on HNL.. I was bleeding profusely > the MOST I had ever seen since puberty. No joke!

Honolulu

While BH waited for our lugguage, I was leaking like a tap… rusty tap! 🙁 very moody and sianz… I was so angry with myself for being such a WET blanket ( literally)

We collected our rental car and drove straight to the vacation condo ( we rented direct from the owner > we will NEVER do this again because we need to clear the trash and clean up the place before we leave???!!! It’s a holiday and no housework is supposed to be done! cost wise is only abt $100 less than Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel)

At this pt.. I was very irritated as I had already stained my pants!!! grrr… so naturally I went to wash up and changed to another pair of pants. We left for lunch. Guess what? It’s only 15 mins and I stained my new pair of pants! 🙁 No choice, we needed to modify our plan for the day

I felt so sorry for BH as he needed to ‘waste’ time because of me.. BUT BH was awfully nice.. he was like “nvm.. we can go walk along the beach..”

Went back to the condo and did my laundry.. luckily, there was a dryer downstairs – so BH brought my clothes to the dryer

A pic of us waiting for my pants to dry – sianz.. forcing a smile. Not a good start to the getaway

forcing a smile

————–

Right after the ‘red sea’ episode – the coast was miracously clear!! With no time to waste, we went for Diamond Head Monument as planned

We were kinda rushing for time so we hike up real fast. This is when I felt that my gym sessions helped me a whole lot 🙂

Finally, after abt 45 mins of fast walking and climbing, we reached!

The view of Honolulu was spectacular

Would love to spend more time here BUT we are running short of time 🙁 So we made our way down reluctantly…

Honolulu was indeed love at 1st sight!

————-

Got back to the condo.. refreshed ourselves, got changed and headed to the much raved Alan Wong’s for dinner

We made reservation at 6pm and we reached on time!

Love the menu with our names printed – it was a HUGE ‘WOW’! even the staff signed on the menu! how cool! we requested to have window seat.. which was so awesome coz we saw a double rainbow! 😀 a good omen !

To us, the food was alright. We waited a long while for each dish to be served!! hmm… We don’t understand what’s so good abt this place except the personalised menu ( which they gift wrapped it so that we can bring home) 

BH ordered a 7 course sampler while we shared like 3 appetizers ( pictures only show some food). Don’t look at the small portion – It was a fulling dinner! ok.. the only saving grace of that night’s dinner was the coconut ice-cream dessert

Total damage: US$160 ( the price for fine dining!! Not worth it imo, I will choose Dahlia’s Lounge anytime)

———

At the end of the day, BH was like ” it’s not a bad day afterall right? ” Indeed.. the day asn’t perfect BUT at least it ended well 🙂

Posted on

2nd 6eptember!

I have NEVER felt so fortunate to have BH in my life until now ( not even on my wedding day :X) and I wonder what took me sooooooo long !!??

You see , when BH and I started dating, we were very poor, I mean we are not from rich families.. so even when BH started working he was still as poor as a church mouse I was too embarrassed to have BH as my bf because he is not as ‘sucessful’ as others around his age. Oh well, many a times, I feel so sick and tired of being with such a person. However, my grandparents, my parents and my friends assured me tt he’s a good guy… I mean, what can go wrong when majority of the pple around me thinks that he’s good??? so I stayed and let time tell…. sure enough… BH proved me wrong 🙂

Looking at how much BH had achieved over the years and how we had developed mks me feel so proud of him and our r/s.. Unfortunately, we are still not rich! haha.. but we love our life now, just 2 of us – I still hope nothing will change

2 years back, I told BH “I love you .. not for what you are now BUT for who you will be in future “ Until today, I stand by this belief

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary! ( and many more to come …) 😀

Posted on

saving money

BH and I had been doing massive saving up so that we could save me from ‘HELL’ fast.. In order to speed things up, I have decided to do couponing. When I first started couponing, BH was super embarrassed – He just don’t understand how saving afew dollars each time would help us. In fact, BH usually just shun away from the cashier when he knew I’m using coupons 🙁

However, after couponing for many months now, I think he saw how the amt saved could contribute to our household – like how many dollars could add up so that he can buy a new t-shirt blah blah… haha… so each time when we go grocery shop, he’ll help me to look around for coupons/peelies on the product and also mail-in rebates then we’ll mk sure that every item we buy have a coupon to go with it. My policy: No coupons, No buy

Just to share, these are the things I bought for merely ‘cents’ this week!

From Walgreens:
1) Nyquil on clearance $1.59
-Used $1.50 MQ
Total cost: $0.09 + tax

This is a surprise find! I was feeling abit under the weather and needed some cold medicine.. and I found this! 😀

From Walmart:
2) Barilla pasta $1
-Used $0.75 MQ
Total cost: $0.25 + tax

3) Best life margarine $1.50
– Used $1 MQ
Total cost: $0.50 + tax

Posted on

My precious….

BH asked me what I want for our wedding anniversary gift.. so I told him, I only want Chanel Classic Flap Cavier or to reset my ring!!! Decided that the later was MORE possible

I wanna change this –

 

*This pic is so unflattering of the ring.. haha.. *

BH was like…u sure u want to change? got sentimental value.. erm.. I don’t really wanna rem or talk about how he ‘propose’ to me… eeks!

So I wanna reset my ring!




I am seriously glad that I had the time to do some research. Wished I was like this when was preparing for my wedding… really regret 🙁

Anyway, I like the last 2 designs… ( I saw something similar in Love & co. a few yrs back.. ) keeping my fingers crossed… because…. we are saving up for the better good… really..

But it’s really ok… to mk ur wife VERY VERY happy once in a while… wahaha

Posted on

Crazy fun!

BH just made this ‘Neoprint’ app on his phone and he’s testing it out by taking lots of pics..haha.. here’s an example:

Oh yes..it’s nothing new BUT he’s having a whole lot of fun creating the words + images.. Just this morning, he was like smiling to himself like a maniac.. 

Me: what’s so funny? you kuku ah!

BH: can’t wait to put the lion image around your head! haha

Then I know.. what is passion… nv getting tired of doing the same kind of things… I admire BH for his passion in programming… sometimes.. I wish I can be like him… I don’t think any teacher will feel excited about marking compos or recorrections every single day :X

——-

And I finally bought my straw hat after 1 year…

Super happy! Isn’t it cute? Haha.. it’s like US$7 at AE – I was still hesitating if I shld get it… BUT BH was like ‘just buy .. so cheap!’ Happy happy!

A more auntie/uncle side of us – managed to score 2 FREE bottles of Listerine Zero at Walgreens … iyoh.. super happy… heh.. will print more coupons to get more… cross my fingers that the Walgreens near my place have this type of listerine …

That’s all for now!