Our Foot Steps on This Path

July 4th

2009-07-08T22:46:00.006-05:00

The dilemma. I have never willingly attended any of the "Merdeka" celebrations back home. Save for one dreadful year when I had to march around town along with my fellow BB members. The things I did for the sake of having a good participation in the compulsory co-curricular activities. Yet here I am, attending a July 4th celebration for the second time. Well, to be fair, it's a kinda relaxing and

Long Vacation in USA - Part 6 - Yosemite

2009-06-30T22:22:00.008-05:00

Oh my, it's been more than 1 months and I'm still not done with this long vacation. Well, let's continue.It's our last day along the pacific coast highway and we managed to squeeze two sights before we rest for our adventure in Yosemite. After 7 days on the road, we're kind of tired and tend to wake up later in the morning. Still we managed to make it to the 17mile drive in Monterrey by mid

Long Vacation in USA - Part 5 - Pacific Coast Highway

2009-06-22T19:09:00.001-05:00

The Pacific Coast Highway, the epitome of the American love for open road, cars and road trip. I was told there are several significant roads in the States. It was like a rite of passage for road trip lovers to do the PCH (west coast south to north) and Route 66 (east to west along the middle of USA).This is really a very very nice road trip. The mist covered winding roads, offering spectacular

Long Vacation in USA - Part 4 - Mickey Land

2009-06-14T17:10:00.001-05:00

I should not be the one writing this post for I have no love for that old rat. Nevertheless, I have no choice just as I had no choice but to include Disneyland in my itinerary. The first place that crosses Rain's mind when planning her trip to US is Disneyland. It seemed that the idea of a hairy & sweaty dude beneath that Mickey/Minnie/Donald/Daisy/Pluto/Goofy costume is not a deterrent.The

Long Vacation in USA - Part 3 - Grand Canyon

2009-06-01T23:34:00.001-05:00

Drum rolls please ...The next destination is none other than the biggest, the grandest, the one and only ...Grand Canyon in Arizona. This bad boy is shaped through million years of pure unadulterated hydraulic power! Generated by the relatively teeny-weeny Colorado River. You can literally see the age of the earth from the layers of the cliffs.Exciting introduction, if only the drive from Vegas

Long Vacation in USA - Part 2 - Las Vegas

2009-05-26T19:51:00.000-05:00

Date - 30th April 2009Rain - check.Tonnes of Rain's facial/hair/skin products - check.Tickets - check.Camera - check.Squeezed everything into a huge backpack, duffel, daypack and camera bag and we're all set for our longest and most packed vacation so far!The overview of our itinerary for 18/19 days (depending on where you assume the vacation ends):1. 1st stop - sin city, Las Vegas in Nevada2.

Long Vacation in USA - Part 1 - Houston

2009-05-24T14:06:00.006-05:00

Rain arrived in Houston on 25th April 2009, in the midst of Spring. I guess she brought the actual rain with her as well, coz it was raining cats and dogs for a couple of days after that. Lucky for us though, we managed to catch the beautiful display of wildflowers in some meadows around Houston.There's not much attractions in Houston, that might be the reason why a beautiful wildflower sighting

Be Back Soon!

2009-05-07T00:58:00.003-05:00

It's been quite some time since this blog is last updated.There are many reasons for that. But right now, I'm on a long vacation along the west coast of US. Just reached an elusive hostel along the coast beside a lighthouse that's supposed to be working. Imagine, looking for a lighthouse in the middle of the night yet all you see is darkness...Anyway, more on that later.Here's something to share

Rocking in Gulf of Mexico

2009-03-15T02:48:00.002-05:00

The long absence, the delayed posts about my travels, and grumpy nature for the past month or so. All these could be traced back to my current situation. Rocking in the Gulf of Mexico, 18hours (unsure of distance coz there's no signboards and too lazy to check out :P) off the coast. Working my ass off, in preparation for this "cruise".The slow rocking of the vessel by the gentle sleep has some

Kittie encounter

2009-02-24T06:53:00.003-06:00

It was a normal working day for me. I get myself prepared for work and when I was ready, I went to get my car which is parked downstairs of my apartment unit.As usual, I took the same route to work. I didn't sense anything amiss until I heard some funny sound.. Meow...meow... I thought it was coming from the radio... probably some background music.. (who would use kittens meowing as background

My '08 Winter Holiday! (Day 1)

2009-02-16T23:44:00.000-06:00

It's about time I write something about the first winter holiday I ever had. Story of tropical small town boy meet snowy ski village.My first encounter with snow is kind of special. As it is just the day before I went for a trip to Breckenridge, a ski village in Colorado. It was an eventful holiday. The holiday started with, a delayed flight and a lost luggage. Due to that, our arrival to the

Pissed Off!

2009-02-09T20:14:00.002-06:00

Was buried with work throughout the entire Chinese New Year. The biggest celebration for the Chinese just went by without me noticing it. Although it's not my first time away from home during CNY, it's my first in a foreign land without any sign of CNY celebration at all!All my previous experience of CNY away from home were during my Uni years where I had to stay back because I need to compensate

Oh no!

2009-01-18T15:28:00.003-06:00

I just got back my pre-assignment medical checkup results. The report ain't a pretty sight. My lifestyle here in US is taking a toll on my health. Especially during the colder autumn and winter season.My results came back with two highlights, poor performance on a step test (where they check my heart rate during a simple exercise session) and high cholesterol levels. :(I have to admit, my

San Antonio (Day 2): Remember the Alamo?

2009-01-14T22:34:00.000-06:00

Day 2 in San Antonio started at the Market Square where we were supposed to have breakfast. Extremely huge crowds in the more popular restaurants and running out of time, we end up strolling along the market square with growling tummies.The Market Square is said to be a mexican market place. Personally, I find it too touristy and nothing in it actually reminds me of a market. It's more like a

San Antonio (Day 1): Seaworld Fun!

2009-01-11T18:02:00.006-06:00

It was 27th Nov 2008 when I went for this short weekend trip to San Antonio. After that I've been preparing and going for a couple of longer vacations which explains this long overdue post. Anyways, the highlight of our trip to San Antonio is the Seaworld park. The highlight of Seaworld? It's Shamu the killer whale.There are quite a few activities in Seaworld, San Antonio. Even though they say

New Year, New Resolve, New Challenge

2009-01-06T22:26:00.004-06:00

First off, Happy New Year Everybody!Just like that and we're through with 2008.My new years have always been mundane as I'm not a strong believer of new year resolutions. The most exciting new year for me was being stuck in a traffic jam after being bugged to see fireworks on 31st Dec 2007/1st Jan 2008.My crossing over to year 2009 was spent sleeping and resting in El Paso, Texas. Why I was in El

Snow in Houston!

2008-12-22T23:35:00.000-06:00

It's kinda like a miracle of sort. For those uninitiated, weather in Houston is freaky. It could be a shivering 4deg C one day and a toasty 24degC the next. However, it almost never snowed in Houston. But there it was, on 10th of December. The day before I went for my first winter vacation, the day before I went to see natural snow and have fun in powder for the first time. I had a wonderful

Oops..it's gone!

2008-12-20T08:29:00.006-06:00

I have a date with my coursemate, Esther today. I planned to get some dresses for the coming wedding dinner marathon. 3 wedding dinners in one week. Esther recommended me to go to her friend's boutique in PJ uptown. So, I went to pick her up and off we go to PJ uptown..While I was parking my car at PJ uptown, I accidentally hit the road curb. Esther noticed that my car plate was a bit loose.. She

Dallas Blast!

2008-12-17T21:56:00.007-06:00

Welcome, welcome all ye folks. Young and old, welcome y'all! Fair tricks, exhibitions, races, lottery, games and rides are awaitin'!That's what to be expected from the "Award Winning" (don't ask me what kind of awards these fairs get) Texas State Fair.This was my weekend getaway for the month of October. Yeah, that's 2 months ago and I finally have the time to do something about it.One thing I've

Lazy Bones, Recession & Wedding Bells.

2008-12-05T22:57:00.004-06:00

It's been quite some time since I last updated this blog. I actually have quite some material to write about... mainly to share some pics on my trips to Dallas and San Antonio. I even went to the tallest building in Downtown Houston for a view of the Houston skyline and to the newest park in Downtown Houston. Alas all these pics are sitting in my PC waiting to be edited and re-sized. I really

Boys never grow up.

2008-11-18T01:45:00.002-06:00

It's 2a.m. on an work week and I can't sleep! With nothing better to do and running out of sheep to count, I logged on and scour the web for new addition to my toys. This is when I came to realize that guys never really grow up. Most guys anyway.Physically we might grow... be it vertical or lateral growth. Mentally or at least the part which controls our sense of joy and excitement (please do not

Penang Makan Trip Part 1

2008-11-10T07:02:00.012-06:00

Out of boredom, a few of us planned to go to Penang for the weekend for a Makan Trip.. Penang which is famous for its unlimited array of delicacies had always been my first choice stop for Makan Trip..On the way, we stopped by Ipoh for dim sum... MK suggest that we go to Ming Court since I have brought some of them to Foh San before this. Since I have never been to Ming Court before, I agreed..

Lonely Weekend with Japanese Movies

2008-11-09T22:00:00.000-06:00

Few weeks ago, I recommended some Brit films and thoroughly enjoyed sharing the movies I liked with you all. This long lonely weekend, I spent quite sometime watching some Japanese movies instead (with English subs of course!). This reminded me of another set of movies that I'd like to recommend. I'm not sure how old these movies are. Some might have been around for ages already. Nevertheless, I

Halloween Themed Family Day!

2008-11-05T19:53:00.005-06:00

Halloween, it is such a hyped up festivity here in US. Considering that it's a festival similar to 14th July of the Chinese Calendar!In the Chinese equivalent of the Halloween, we would be sitting at home trying our best not to go out at night/go swimming/hiking/practically anything that exposes one to the ethereal beings. However, it seems that Americans are impervious to this threat and it's

Music That Speaks

2008-11-01T20:15:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure what's happening to the music scene these days. What happened to music that you can actually listen to each and every word and understand what's the singer is singing. The trend nowadays seemed to lean towards incessant, speedy, incomprehensible mutterings. What is wrong with singing something that people can actually understand? Or are their lyric writing skills so bad that they

Big Sam!

2008-10-23T23:08:00.007-05:00

It was a really healthy weekend for me. For the first time during my stay in US, I went for a hike. A hike of about 7 to 8 miles! Darn proud only. :PThe season is autumn, though it did not make a difference to the view here in Houston. It looks almost the same year round. The slightly cooler weather however, made the hike more enjoyable.The place is Huntsville State Park.The crowd, a whole bunch

Crazy Saturday

2008-10-21T08:03:00.007-05:00

A few weeks back, we were supposed to go for lunch at Ulu Yam for the infamous Loh Mee. Ulu Yam is famous for its Loh Mee and also a destination for outdoor wedding photoshooting. There are a few waterfalls nearby which we planned to visit after the lunch..While we were enjoying the lunch, it started to rain... After a bad experience in Kuala Woh, we dared not visit waterfalls during heavy rains

I Have to Admit ...

2008-10-20T21:51:00.002-05:00

There's something that I have to admit. This strikes me as a rather surprising revelation.We were traveling to Dallas for a weekend (will cover this later on), when the theme song from the movie "Notting Hill" (When you say nothing at all by Ronan Keating) lodged somewhere within the hundreds of songs in that MP3 CD was played. It brought back memories of this film as well as of the time when I

Hawker Food!

2008-10-15T22:37:00.005-05:00

Oh the joy! The rumbling of stomach, the dripping saliva at the mere mention of Malaysian Hawker Food! I guess any of you, Malaysians who are stranded in a foreign country (especially those not within South-East Asia) would agree with me on this. Such was my feelings when I got to know that there's a Hawker Food Fair organized by the MSAH (Malaysian Singaporean Association of Houston).The event

New Title

2008-10-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

Barely over one month and I would have to rename this blog.I guess you would have noticed the addition of an author to this blog. Well, it's none other than my CH or better known as Rain (from the nick used).Seeing the fun I'm having filling up my free time sharing my vacations and some memories with everybody, Rain would like to have an occasional post. However, as her life is filled with

Hari Raya at Sg Lembing

2008-10-06T07:42:00.038-05:00

Hi... as a new member of this blog, I would like to contribute some posts in this blog to make it more attractive...This is my first attempt to write a proper blog. Therefore, do bear with me if you find this boring..Well, as the title suggests, this post is about my trip to Sg Lembing, Pahang on the first day of Hari Raya.We started off from KL at 12.00 am. There were 10 of us comprising of my

New Orleans: The Big Easy.....it’s not that easy actually

2008-10-05T00:10:00.002-05:00

Well, as mentioned earlier, I will now tell the story of my unfortunate vacation to New Orleans. I have just arrived in Texas after my LA trip when my colleague, after being alone here for 3 weeks, asked about our plans for the long Labour Day weekend. San Antonio was the first choice, but we were told that to spend a long weekend there is really too much. In the end, The Big Easy was selected as

A Bunch of Naughty, Notorious, Noisy yet Intelligent Brats

2008-10-01T18:18:00.002-05:00

I happen to stumble upon the blog of a long time friend today. Although the blog was not updated for a long time, there's this entry which brought back a lot of memories.I wish to add some details to the period from Standard 4 to 6 in her blog from my point of view. I was her classmate during that period, and continued to be until we finished our high school. However, unlike her I had been

I popped 'em open and they cracked me up!

2008-09-27T20:29:00.002-05:00

Ok, before you judge me, please let me clarify.I am not an alcoholic ... really. I only drink on occasions ... it's true!And these 4 bottles are actually consumed over a period of 2-3 weeks.Why I want to blog about them? Well, these made me smile ... and I do not mean the kind of smiles you get when u are drunk.This is it. See .. it's a very refined drink.Handcrafted ... sounds like some wood

After-Effects of a Hurricane

2008-09-24T21:38:00.001-05:00

An insight to my life before, during and after sheltering at home from Hurricane. Oh this got to be an interesting post. What can one do while sheltering at home and how do one conquer fear during the storm? The peak of the storm actually lasted only for around 5 hours. However the effects on me can be noticed from 5 hours before the storm all the way till today. About 5 hours before the storm -

Growing mushrooms...

2008-09-17T12:18:00.003-05:00

It's been 6 days, longest unplanned holiday that I've ever had! Last Friday, in preparation of Hurricane Ike and Monday - Wednesday due to power outage in my office.Everyday, I would check my email to look out for the newest information from the administration whether power is back in the office. On the first day of closure, Monday that is, I was really happy to know that I get a day of rest. On

Los Angeles: The City of Angels. (Part 2)

2008-09-16T17:30:00.001-05:00

Day 3 in L.A. and the weather was really nice and chilly in the morning. Today, I'm lucky. My host, MW, decided to show me around and be my travel partner for the day. This also means the comfort of a car! yay!Downside to driving is, I have to spent the night before copying all the directions to the places I plan to go. Consequences for being too cheap to buy a GPS.Santa Monica beach and pier is

Los Angeles: The City of Angels. (Part 1)

2008-09-15T11:34:00.001-05:00

Los Angeles, it's Spanish for City of Angels. It's a wonderful place to be in, the architecture, the pleasant weather, the colourful people, the street graffiti and of course the famous beaches. A whole world of difference compared to where I am in Texas. This trip to L.A is also my first experience of travelling alone... somewhat.The planning of this trip began when I got to know that my

Braving the storm...

2008-09-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

I'm speechless. How can this possibly be? I'm gonna say that I'm officially being stalked by hurricanes. Okay, okay, I should actually start telling this story from 2+ weeks ago.August-26: Three "geniuses" decided together to spend the long Labour day weekend in New Orleans. Being Malaysians, the 3 "geniuses" is oblivious to the hurricane Gustav brewing just outside of the gulf.August-28: "

Something old, something new...

2008-09-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

I know it's kind of disorientating, reading something that happened 3 years ago followed by something recent. But, I guess that's how I work. So, please bear with me.Sipping my cup of freshly brewed White Coffee all the way from Ipoh reminds me of the wonderful lifestyle of the Vietnamese. Well, that's not the only trigger. A bragging session ("chui sui") some time ago over a bowl of pho, brought

Welcome Home or Farewell?

2008-09-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

A month ago, I was back in the land of shredded chicken broad noodles (kai si hor fun), penang laksa, nasi lemak and roti canai for a short home trip. A moment very much look forward to for someone like me. Someone who has a multitude of love affairs with food.A few colleagues got together for a small homecoming dinner at this nice restaurant in Pavillion KL. As usual, the mastermind of all

The Grand Opening!!!

2008-09-04T22:49:00.000-05:00