Buffalo, New York!

Hello all!

Countdown: 5 days to home! =) I hope I can bring everything home. Hahaha.

Anyway, did a little trip down to Buffalo, New York to pay Juliana a visit. She'll be at the University for a year. The ticket there only costed me $10 as I used my airline miles to redeem it.

Transitted in Chicago and finally reached late that night. Thank God for good flying weather. Oh, there was a super funny flight attendant on board. "Please turn off all cellphones, Gameboys, DSs, Ipods, Blackberrys, Blueberries, Cherries, Tomatoes. Yeah, you get the idea." LOL.

Did nothing that night. Ate the Pu Pu Platter.

The next day, had cereal for breakfast and explored Juliana's apartment. Brought back memories of RIH. Oh, see that food cabinet? All my leftovers are now there. Why waste right? Hahaha.

Cooked lunch for Juliana and her friends. Healthy eh? Haha.

Shared a cab to the airport after lunch to retrieve our rental car. I have a phobia of driving rental cars and only a handful of people know the reason behind it. But even though there were 3 others in our group who could drive, none of them could drive US style so alas. Brought them around to buy groceries and household stuff. Buffalo is kinda like Idaho Falls. Lots of hypermarts but not many tall buildings. Oh, and having a car is sorta a must.

Finally, after a year here, I get to have IHOP! Oh, and introducing my new friends. Ryan in between Juliana and I followed by Joen and Celine in the next picture.

Breakfast for Dinner? Anytime man. Bring it on. I think IHOP can beat Swensens anytime. Totally craving for The Cheesecake Factory now. Grrrrrr. I don't want to leave yet.

The following day. Again, visited an oriental supermarket in the morning called Ni Hoowa Supermarket to get the Asian must haves.

Followed by a visit down to Anchor Bar where Buffalo Chicken Wings were originally made!

The pastas were crazy. Portions were super huge. But the wings were definitely worth it! Juicy and fresh! And with my ever favourite Bleu Cheese dressing.

And of course, with a trip down to Buffalo, how could one miss out of the famous Niagara Falls? It's just a 30 minute out from the city.

Just in time for the glorius sunset on the Falls. That's Canada on the opposite. I heard the Falls are prettier on that end. More pictures can be found on my Facebook.

Us freezing but still have to do the touristy thing of taking as many pictures as possible.

Ryan and Joen wanted to do make snow angels.

Some random stranger in sneakers came and took pictures for us. =)

Back to Juliana's apartment for some homestyle cooking. Absolutely delicious. Tried to use the dishwasher but failed miserably. Poured too much detergent in and soap came dripping out not long after.

Woke up at 330am the next morning (that's like 130am Wyoming time!) to drive the rental car back to the airport and for the very long flight back to the Hole. Another very funny flight attendant. I overheard her talking to another passenger. "We're only supposed to have 46 passengers on this flight. I hope they all come soon. I have friends waiting to have lunch with me in Jackson Hole!" In the end, the flight got delayed due to mechanical issues. LOL.

Hohoho. Can't wait. The official movie script has been leaked on the internet. See if you can find a copy if not I have it. =D

New TVB! The Season of Fate!

Ok, I shall go find something useless to do and kill time. Yawn. Byeeeeeee!

Snowboarding

Hello all!

13 days to home. =D Loads of stuff to do before that. Packing being the biggest.

So last Saturday, the 3 of us decided to try snowboarding. Super duper cool.

We waited 2 hours for Adam to come teach us. Tried a few attempts and failed miserably.

Our 1st run down Teewinot. We kinda fell our way down the mountain instead of snowboarding. LOL.

But look at our 2nd run! We finally got the hang of it.

3rd run. We fell while getting off the lift.

Let's gooooooo!

Coming down the mountain. I definitely prefer snowboarding over ski-ing. Much easier and makes one look cooler too. Hahaha.

Ok, so when we fell off the lift, I sprained an ankle and had to go to the hospital for it. Took Xrays and the doctor put an air brace on it. It'll stay on for at least 4 weeks to keep the top muscles from putting pressure on the joint and to keep the joint straight. Bummer. And I really wanted to go snowboarding next week again. =( Had to leave work early too.

Made reservations for dinner at The Peak last night.

The appetizers.

The main courses and side dishes.

And our new friend, Pia from Germany!

OK, gonna cook some lunch and pack stuff for Juliana. Oh, did I forget to mention, I'm going to Buffalo, New York this Friday!

Happy 2010!

Happy 2010 everybody! =) May this new year be smooth sailing for one and all!

Christmas Cards from Home!

Hello all!

So, Christmas is finally over. Worked that night but celebrated it after that at the Town Square Tavern. Played pool, drank a Shirley Temple. Wanted to try the pizza at Cafe Ponza but it was closed. =( No presents this year except for the chocolates from the Secret Santa at work.

But I did receive two cards from Beilin and Cherie! Love you both! =) I'll be home in 3 weeks!

New TVB show- A Watchdog's Tale.

Ok, toodles! See you guys in 2010!

Merry Christmas 2009!

Yan Wan wishes everybody a very Merry Christmas!

New Look + NYC!

Hello all!

Like the new simple look? Hahaha. After all these months of neglecting my blog, I thought it was time for a revamp. It looks so much neater now.

And my goodness, I have only a month left before I head home! With the festive season on its way, the resort is going into full swing and these 31 days will fly by in a flash. Not to mention, I'm going to fly down to visit Juliana in Buffalo, NY from 8- 11 Jan 2010. Can't wait can't wait.

Alright, I'm going to continue on the last bit on my vacation.

Day 9- 14 Nov 2009

After a long 5 hour flight from San Diego to New York and getting stuck in traffic for another hour, we finally managed to check in. One of the crown jewels of the company and they didn't earn that nickname for no reason. Large rooms, Bvlgari toiletries, bathrooms with TV etc. And their doormen wear top hats!

We had dinner at a little cafe under the Trump Tower and headed into the World of Disney. Bought Sylvester his tee and other little souvenirs for myself.

It rained and rained the night we arrived. I feel sorry for the tourists up on the various observatories.

Day 10- 15 Nov 2009

The exterior and interior of the hotel. I loved the lobby.

Started the day off with a short stroll to Central Park. Autumn colours the park in pretty colours. Remember this scene?

The Wollman Ice Rink funded by Donald Trump.

Yin Yin really wanted to find this "LOVE" sign in New York City but we couldn't find its location on Google so imagine our surprise when we happened to stumble upon it.

Next was a walk over to the Rockefeller Centre to see the Tree from that Home Alone movie but unfortunately it wasn't up yet.

Across the road to the St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was a Sunday so service was in full swing.

On the way to the Subway station, walked past this very familiar hotel. The New York Palace! Any ardent Gossip Girl fan will know the significance of this hotel. I was flying to heaven. =)

A complicated train ride later, we finally found Ground Zero- the site where the two World Trade Centre towers used to stand. Wanted to visit the Visitor Centre but they charged an entrance fee and we forgot to bring our ISIC cards for the discount. Oh, by the way, a hint to futue go-ers, to get a picture of the inside of the construction site, go up to the second level of the Burger King. LOL.

We took a VERY VERY VERY LONG walk to Chinatown. Lucky for the occasional getting lost and attractions to keep us un-bored. We had lunch at this cafe which was super crowded. We planned on ordering a lot of food but something very funny happened.

Pei Ting and I ordered a soup, two dishes and Wan Ton noodles. Then it was Yin Yin's turn to order; she wanted Fried Rice. But the waitress asked, "Are you sure? That's a lot of food already." So we didn't get the Fried Rice and got 3 (small) bowls of white rice instead but deep down inside, we still really wanted the Fried Rice. Why won't she let us order the Fried Rice? =(Another waiter then brought 2 bowls of rice over so we asked where the other bowl was and he said he'll only bring it out when we could finish everything else first (?!) What's with this restaurant and letting the customers choose and having food? Hahahaha.

Passed through Little Italy and Soho and took the Subway down to the Empire State Building after that.

Walked another 20 blocks back to the hotel and to go through Grand Central Terminal too.

Streets & Signs of NYC.

Day 11- 16 Nov 2009

Welcome to the Upper East Side! The houses and apartments are really pretty and of course, EXPENSIVE.

The MET Steps. Missing just a cup of coffee. =D

OMG OMG OMG! Gossip Girl filming?! I love this city.

Back to Central Park to visit a few more scupltures, statues, fountains and trees. Alice in Wonderland.

Some cheeky person left behind a green pen in Hans's book.

I absolutely love this picture. Bethesda Fountain.

My absolute favourite in the whole of NYC. The Mall.

Balto means a lot of my family. Hahaha. It's a cartoon we absolutely love. =)

Had to move to the Holiday Inn for the last night. After moving, we walked to the Pier for our 3hr cruise trip.

Tickets to the Statue of Liberty was sold out so we had to take the cruise only to pass it just for a photostop.

The cruise was a little too long. Fell asleep halfway. Hahaha.

Back to Times Square. So many lights but it was amazing.

Bubba Gump for dinner.

A little more exploring in Times Square. Bought some chocolates from Hershey's. (I've been to 2 out 3 of the Hershey's stores in the U.S.) M&M World was super overpriced. A pound (500g) of M&Ms for $12.99? Crazy.

Regretably, we didn't do anything crazy on our last night of the entire vacation. We headed back to the hotel to watch TV. LOL.

Day 12- 17 Nov 2009

Long flight back to Jackson Hole. Met our GM at Denver Airport.

All the toiletries from the entire vacation. Should have taken more of the Bvlgari.

Overall, I'm feel very fortunate to be able to go on this vacation. The Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole is the only Four Seasons that ever closes so we were lucky to get this short 3 week break. More thankfully, we had 3 complimentary nights each which saved us so much money and inconvenience and we got to travel in luxury. Everything went smoothly throughout the vacation. Lots of laughs and frustrations along the way when we got lost but we made it through. Most importantly, I had 2 very fun friends that went on this trip with me. I'm grateful. =)

Celebrated Yin Yin's 23rd birthday yesterday at Blu Kitchen.

Heavenly Food.

Popped over to a Christmas Party and Alex's place after that.

A Chip off the Old Block. Duper funny.

The Beauty of the Game. Weiting! HOCC sings the theme song!

Ok, finally done with this update. I'll try to find time to slot in some other random entries. Until then, toodles! =)