Happy 61st Birthday to Mummy!!!!!

too tired

i received one of the best news i've heard in a long time yesterday, but due to such a trying week, my bad cough, the drowsy meds i've been taking, all the household chores, sleeping on the couch and taking care of the boy, i dun really have the energy to be excited.

this has been one of the most tiring week ever. there's so much to whine about but i shan't. cos i have one thing to be happy about!

i just hope i get better soon and the boy returns to brand new and we can get on with this...

crazy 48 hours

so much has happened in the last 48 hours compared to the last 11 months we've been here.

we saw the inside of the hospital. we saw the inside of an ER. we had our own "grey's anatomy" moment. there was blood, a mini surgery, tears, fears...

but we're all good now.

i whined about falling sick in a foreign land, but that wasn't the worst. taking care of someone else when you are sick is the worst. i hate that i am sick. i wish i was in the pink of health. i wish i was better at taking care.

*WAILS*

what happens when u get a scratchy throat? u cant fall asleep cos it hurts when u swallow ur own saliva and u keep doing it cos your throat is so dry. ur body aches and it doesnt help tt it's wintery cold - without the heater or air con, the room feels like it's well air-conditioned. i think i am finally falling ill.

i havent had a sign of a flu since i've moved here 11 months ago. even when the boy was ill, i've not caught anything. though the weather is wonky, i've managed to stay strong n healthy. and now...i think it's finally happening.

one of my biggest fear is us falling ill here. cos though we are insured medically, it is still unnerving to have to visit the doctor here (finding a hairdresser is scary enough, imagine a doctor who will ask u to say "ahhhhh").

i feel like i have something more to type abt but my body aches, n i'm wrapped up in a sweater n huge blankie, n the only thing tt can go down is green tea and raisin bread. so my mind is gg blank.

*wails* I AM SICK!!!!!!

imagine this....

see this guy here, the one on your right with straight long hair on the sides and none on top? that's andy from little britain.

imagine, someone who looks like that but with hair on top, in a sweater coming up to you, like maybe 2 inches away from your face asking you, "hi, would you like to go on a date with me?"

that's what happened this morning! i thought he was gonna ask for change (cos there's plenty of those on the streets), but noooooo he asked for a date. and after i said no, i went into a store for about 20 mins and when i came out, he came up behind me again and whispered the same question!!!!

@#$^%&^%*&(*()@!#@%$^*&(

yuck yuck yuck. it's not just what he said or how he looked, it's the invasion of personal space topping that revolting question.

needless to say, i ran to the nearest train station. EW. EW. EW.

Martin Luther King Jr's Day

yup, that's today...it's a public holiday as america celebrates the birthdate of the famous "i have a dream" man.

however, DID YOU KNOW - he did not write all his speeches. he had a speech writer, Stanley Levison. Martin Luther King Jr delivered about 200 over speeches a yr and he didnt write at least half of them. it is speculated that his famous "i have a dream" speech was written by Stanley Levison. this was then confirmed last week on the NBC's Today show. hmmm, so much for the american dream.

and, DID YOU KNOW - he was born as a Michael? he then changed his name to Martin.

anyhow, just some trivia for you. happy holiday to us!

banned from wine glasses

see, when we first got here, we bought a set of 8 wine glasses. 4 for white wine, 4 for red. and since i dun drink red wine, i havent touched the red wine glasses alot. hence, sadly for the 4 white wine glasses, they now no longer exist.

i have broken all of them. 3 of them were broken while i was trying to wash them. and last night, i knocked over the last glass and splattered glass and sparkling wine all over the coffee table n rug. needless to say, the boy's first words were, "u are banned from all wine glasses from now on."

so i'm going to be have to drink wine from plastic cups from now on.

*whines*

baking with fresh cranberries!

it's my first time baking with fresh cranberries and i was so excited cos i've loads of recipes tt involve cranberries, however, it's not been easy to find them in the supermarket. so i had to contain my squeal when i saw them last weekend! so i made a cranberry buckle topped with vanilla crumb, the recipe is at shewhobakes.blogspot.com

i've decided that i like any cake with a crumbly topping. gives the cake a different texture - this buckle allows u to first bite down on a crumbly and crunchy top, then sinking into a soft and fluffy cake and finally allowing the cranberries to explode in your mouth. yuuuuuuuummmmmz!

new year's dinner at kennedy's

tucked away in one of the lil quiet lanes of boston's downtown crossing is really old-looking new england pub called kennedy's. it's decor is definitely not my kinda thing (think floral wall paper, velvet carpet, creeky wooden stairs, etc) but the food is super yummy. it's not your typical bar food for sure, in fact, it's actually even better than some restaurants here.

so for dinner on the first day of new year, the boy had cajun chicken that's grilled to perfection.


and i couldnt pass up on the kennedy sirloin burger, only 10 bucks!

i'm not a beer drinker at all, but there's one beer here tt i absolutely love - PERONI! italian beer that is so good! actually better than my usual gin and tonic!

however, the tiramisu is disappointing. it's edible and tt's all i can say about it. and honestly, tiramisu in the states have been disappointing. i have yet to taste one that is as good as the one at garibaldi from back home! maybe it's time for me to bake my own....

speaking of kennedy's...i have heard about the kennedy's family curse for the longest time but i have just googled it in detail and i am starting to believe it too. how else can u explain that many unfortunate and unnatural deaths in a family? read about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Curse

Happy 31st Birthday!

not me of cos, i'm still young....lalalala! it's the boy who turned 31 last thursday. he said the only gift he wants is for me to bake a loaf of butter cake, so i did! and i also ate half of it.


and since he didnt want a real big round birthday cake layered with loads of strawberries and cream (like i've been craving), i baked yellow cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting instead. the best part has gotta be the cute candles!

it was a yummy birthday! it's not so bad to turn 31 if you get loads of cakes! (ya right, am sure if i was the one turning 31 i will be whining abt growing old...)

party where?

i meant to blog about this on new year's eve. the boy and i were looking for a place to party, drink and countdown to the new year here in boston. and after looking at all the NYE parties' posters, we decided not to party. i mean seriously, these posters are what you see at boat quay back home. er, no thanks.

so it was either one of these bars (cos god forbid, boston has no real clubs with real music) or crash some college party and play beer pong. our home was just fine!

happy birthday maaaaaandaaaa!

watch me

cute pot of chili!

look what i found while having ramen at porter square here!

naturally, i found it inspiring....

and the boy just wants to pretend i'm not right in front of him.

see what he has to put up with everyday...*evil laughter*

goodbye 2009, hello 2010

it's been an interesting past year. the boy and i have never lived out on our own and neither of us have ever lived abroad as well. needless to say, the move to the states was both exciting and daunting. looking back however, we wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

we've learnt how to look for an apt to rent, how to do all your household chores yourself, how to take care of ourselves (falling sick in a foreign land is scary), how to live with one another (but tt really has been a breeze, we love living with each other, no issues here at all), how to not compare what we had back home and what we don't have here and most importantly to be responsible for each other.

it hasnt been easy, and there are times where we asked if this was the right decision, but with each day, we find reasons why we shouldnt look back. we were at a place and time where it was time for a change, and what better a drastic change than to move to another continent all together! we're definitely looking forward to another year here with each other. as much as we miss our families and friends back home, this time here is necessary for us individually and together as a couple. we've grown so much, and we've learnt so much - something that i dun think we could have done if we stayed where we were.

we miss everyone back home but we can safely say we dun miss the life we use to have. we like this life here very much. and this is why we know 2010 will be a better year. to everyone we love and miss, we hope to see all of you soon, maybe sometime this year! and here's to another crazy year!

our cheap ass NYC hotel

we stayed at one of the thompson hotels at wall street and it was really becos of this cheap deal that we decided to spend x'mas in nyc. it was 100 a night! the usual price was 429 a night. such a steal. being cheapo, how can we pass it up? and it was quite an interesting hotel...rather boutique-ish looking. have a look at what the boy snapped away at the lobby.

i love peking duck

i have been craving roast duck for a long long time. n believe it or not, i have yet to find a place with proper crispy red skin roast duck here. i keep getting the hong kong style one, where it's not really roasted n yet they call it roast duck on their menu. anyway, we thought we might have more luck in new york but noooooooo the boy ordered peking duck instead thinking it's the same. but it was so much better....

and it's dirt cheap. for about 8 serving, it was about 15 bucks! i was a happy girl that night.

NYC...erm...subway?

this trip to NYC has very little photos mainly becos it's cold out so we're always moving, getting in and out of places, taking photos is just the last thing on our minds. but of cos, once the boy was feeling a lil warmer at the subway, he decides to snap away. so here you go, photos of us at the subway. ha!

oh look, my new boots, they come all the way above the knee, stuff i can get away with here only. one of my pressies from the boy, love love!

P.S. pple keep asking me why i said "happy bloody new year" in my previous post. no it's not becos i got my period! nothing is bloody - literally. it's just a saying, like "u bloody fool", "u bloody idiot".....

Happy Bloody New Year!!!!!!!