Last day in NY (boohoo hoo)
we had breakfast at Big Wong, our usual Sunday lunch HK eatery. a little sad to leave cos we have been regulars since we first moved to Fairfield. the waiter even bade us " bao zhong" when we left...

that's him-- the one in the red vest. we were tempted to take a picture with him...

the building behind us is the New York Stock Exchange in Wall Street. this was our second time there, the first being a year and a half ago. then, we didnt have many pics of the place cos the camera battery had run out.

we had heard of a "high-class" McDonalds in Manhattan and coincidentally we came across it. of cos located in none other than the Financial District.

see the pianist above. amazing. we were guessing how she made her way up cos if you look closely, there is a ladder on the right leading up. there is also supposedly a doorman at this outlet, but on the day we were there, we didnt see any .. hmm, i wonder how true it is.

anyways, i wouldnt be very surprised if there really is a doorman, considering how posh it is compared to the regular McDonald's. it's cushioned seat backs and marble table tops !!! oh, and the best part is the prices are the same as any other outlets. aahh...

me and the bull on Wall Street. yifan said there is also a bear somewhere, but of cos no one wants to take pics with the bear. i had to wait a long time to have this pic taken, cos some stupid indians cut my queue.

a contortionist performing in Battery Park. the line at the back is for the boat ride to Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty. too bad our camera sucks so we couldnt take a pic of the statue. but that problem will soon cease to exist ... heheh



little remote-controlled sailboats in Central Park. hmm, i dun see the fun in that.

i was trying to suntan while at the same time avoiding as much contact with the grass as possible cos i am allergic to grass. alas, the weather didnt hold out, and before we had even sat down for 5 minutes, raindrops fell. sigh ! it wasnt too heavy though, but we and many others left. there were still a few die-hards who sat thru the rain, some with brollies, some without. see, people can get so desperate becos they dun get to go to the beach much..hahah.

trying to find the right face powder cos mine is running out. the poor salesgirl was disappointed that i would be relocating cos there goes one customer for her. in her words, " I give up". and horror of horrors, i found out that my skin is now dry. it used to be oily, but then i had used yifan's scruffing lotion a number of times that it had dried out my skin..urgghh. supposedly the scruffing lotion was too harsh for me, so now my skin is dehydrated. Lesson learnt: never share skincare products with anyone nor use someone else's skincare products


just picked up our stuff left at Sutton. sad, but trying to look as cheery as i can.

one last meal before we leave Manhattan-- dinner at a Japanese restaurant next to Sutton. yifan is addicted to jap food now and wants me to cook jap from now onwards. we even bought the soy sauce for cooking grilled mackerel.

and finally, remember i said we would soon not need to bother with the lousy digicam? before dinner, we had gone to B&H Photos, and our new Nikon D70 will be arriving in the mail by the end of this week. yay!!

Day 3
it was a glorious day, and everyone was sunbathing in Union Square.

i was glad we didnt take the weatherman's words and stay in Connecticut for the weekend. Not only did it not rain, but it was so sunny and warm in the day. i like how people just laze around on lawns when the weather is nice. everyone looks relaxed, so unlike asian countries where you will never see such things happening. we sometimes join in the fun too, but not in Union Square. the lawn is a little too small for me. we sat on the wrought iron railings till our butts hurt. heheh.

look how happy i am in Jamba Juice.. :) i love the Mango A-go-go though its a little pricey. we were heading for Bryant Park which is right behind the NY Public Library on 42th. that's where we go to suntan.

i was red in just a matter of minutes, and yifan... well, let's just say he was a wee bit darker than he was before after hours under the sun.

Grand Central Station on 42nd. the name speaks for itself. the most beautiful train station in NY, comparable to the Hauptbahnhof in Zurich.

we had dinner at Kunjip Korean Restaurant in Korea town. we both thought that was the best meal we had ever had in NY -- saying the food was delicious is an understatement. look how long the line is just to get a table. in fact, that is just half the line, the other half is in the restaurant.

we have always wondered what the young asian people do for entertainment so we asked around and found ourselves in a korean lounge. i think their nightlife is a little boring compared to what we have in singapore... no dancing, just eating and drinking. or mabbe we didnt know where to go for the " happening" places, but still, it was much better than our first night-out in Boston.

Day 2
we went to the Ships Expo at Hudson River on the west side. the sailors were back in NY cos it was Fleet Week and ships like the JFK were open to visitors. we saw the Intrepid ship and the museum.

that's the Intrepid ship behind me. on the top deck were fighter planes that were used in the past.

they had some games like the tug-of-war where different divisions pitted against one another, like the Marines against the telecommunications guys.

man, the guys were huge. sad to say, there was an injury when one side lost, and the first guy got dragged a little and i think he sprained his knee cos he was groaning. poor chap!

that's the upper deck of the Intrepid. i liked it. too bad, its no longer sailing now.

just before lunch at Rockefeller Center. a stupid security guard recommended the cafe at the Rockefeller Center ( where they have the skating rink in winter) and said the prices are reasonable. My foot! a hamburger costs USD 32 !!!! i think he was all out to get us. of cos, we were not so stupid to eat a $30 burger.

that's some nice sitting area near where we had lunch. there are lots of such spots around Manhattan, but i think this is one of the prettiest ones. and that's a waterfall behind.

resting our tired legs in the compounds of the Trump Tower. Donald likes all things gold and flashy. the flooring inside is very-polished marble, and gold everywhere. we probably walked 10km that day, so you can imagine how badly our legs ached after that. good exercise, i must say.

on the way back to Sutton, look what i saw...

UOB on 5th Ave!!!!!

got home late last nite from NY. so tired but the whole trip was wonderful.
we went Woodbury Premium Outlet on fri to catch the early bird sale at A/X -- my fave store. got a top and a skirt. that was one of the most hurried buys i have in my life, cos we only had half hour left before the additional sale was over... so from the carpark, we rushed to the store, picked out the clothes, tried them on, then lined up to pay.. no dilly-dallying at all.
i think all in all, we spent a couple of hundreds in those few hours. but it was fruitful.. 1 bikini, a pair of sandals, teva slippers i have always wanted, a Kate Spade bag, my A/X, and yifan got a couple of shirts.

but that's not the best part of the trip..cos after all, we weren't in manhattan yet..

yifan reserved a room for us at this place called the Sutton House on Lexington Ave and 47th street. it's not a hotel or even an inn. he had called a hotel in the chelsea area and the lady recommended him Sutton instead.. Sutton is another one of her hotelling business. it's actually a private apartment converted to house temporary visitors. we were initially a little skeptical of the place cos of all the " weird" questions the lady asked over the phone, like " how old are you", " we only rent to asians", " how many people staying over" etc etc.. but as it turned out, Sutton was one of the nicer places i have ever stayed in NY thus far.



it's the one right above Snafu Bar, next to Burger King. the little red door you see on the left is where we enter the apartment. i know it looks kind of lousy from the outside, but that's how most NY apartment buildings are.. lousy on the outside, but the interiors are so beautiful. it's manned by an Italian who is in the US on one of his many travels around the world.


that's the common living area inside. not bad eh? the only thing that's lacking is a tv, but that's not a major problem considering we are in manhattan, where there's lots to do, and the last thing you would want is to stay indoors sitting in front of the tv. it's 2 storeys, 7 rooms, one occupied by the italian. there's a little kitchen that we could use if we wanted.. which of cos we didnt cos why cook when there's lots to eat out?

more pics later. meanwhile, i have to prepare lunch.

we are going New York for the long weekend. but first, a stop to the outlet mall tomorrow for some Memorial Day shopping. hotels at this time of the year are extremely expensive... ours is USD100 per nite, and thats the cheapest cheapest one we found. most were either already fully booked or terribly costly.

since today is the last day that we're gonna be eating at home, and we still had plenty of food left from last sunday's grocery shopping, lunch was sumptuous.

there's steamed fish, assam sotong, tom yum soup, stir-fried prawns thai-style and stir-fry vegetables with mushrooms. a lot huh? and the amazing thing is that we finished almost everything. only the soup is left for dinner tonite. of cos, there's still gonna be chicken and vegetables and maybe pork in addition to the soup. no choice. cant keep the food till we get back on monday.so better eat it now than to leave it to waste.

my family's going France tomorrow. How nice! have fun in paris and the french alps !!!

it's yet another day of bad weather here. cold and gloomy, it reminds me of the winters in England. i actually dun mind the cold, it's the rain that gets to me. cant do much here when it rains, except for going shopping, and even then, you would have to carry the umbrella from the outdoor parking to the mall. the heating in our apartment is central heating... now that winter is officially over, the heaters have all been turned off. i remembered that a few days ago when i tried to adjust the temperature in the apartment, nothing happened cos the mains had been switched off. silly me. i should have known.

the weather is just plain horrid-- wet and cold. 8 degrees now and we are going into summer in just slightly more than 2 weeks!! brrr...

this weekend is memorial day weekend. we're thinking of staying over in NY, visiting MOMA... blah blah, but not sure yet. have to check the hotel rates and all. i'm hoping the weather will get better soon, cos the last i checked, it's rain all week, right up till the weekends. that's bad.

got a couple of job offers. still dun know what's going to happen becos of the visa issue. sigh. it's terrible when you know you are so close, and yet so far.

today was by far our unluckiest day ever.
1. took us more than 3 hours to get to chinatown cos there was a huge jam just into Manhattan.
2. we spent more than an hour looking for parking. initially, after going numerous rounds, we got a lot in Little Italy right outside a restaurant. the maitre' d came to tell us we can't park there...supposedly the lots there are closed cos there's construction nearby. however, the parking meter was working ( unlike some others where the meters had been blocked) so we parked the car there. went to get more coins for parking, and came back to see a policeman there. apparently, we couldnt park there. we smelled a rat, and suspected it was the guy from the restaurant who called the policeman to get us out, just so he can have the lots for the restaurant patrons. huh!! blatant corruption.
3. so of cos, we had no choice, went round and round again, and finally got a space in the next street. bad choice. we were slapped with a hefty fine a few hours later. but before that, there was still number 4
4. within 2 minutes after we found parking and were walking towards our lunch joint, it started to rain...
5. went to the chinese medical shop to get herbs and were stunned to realise that yifan's credit card was gone. shit! panicked for awhile, then we remembered that the waitress at Hooters didn't return the card to us yesterday, and yifan had also forgotten about it until then.
6. major jam on the way back to CT ( there have never been any jams before) and we still had to go back to get the credit card
7. dinner at 9.40pm ...

and today might very likely be our last trip to NY. such a memorable one too.

i have been having weird dreams lately-- a japanese woman speaking to me in japanese the other night and then a dream about some grass slippers last night. i must be reading too much of the geisha book.

had lunch at Hooters today. buffalo wings and clam chowder. yummy! Hooters here is very different from the one in singapore. for one, its brightly lit here, unlike the restaurant in Clarke Quay with its dark interiors. mabbe the waitresses in singapore are shy, and so the management felt they would be more comfortable in dimmer surroundings ?! also, people go Hooters for the food, in particular the buffalo wings, but in singapore, they go for the view ??? i'm not sure, but i do remember that the only time when i went in singapore more than 2 years ago, not many people were eating. everyone was there for just a drink and to " watch" a show cos the Hooter girls were doing some hoola hoop thing. hmm, different selling concept, i guess.

it's just grilled flounder at Friendly's but that was the best meal i had in a week. mainly becos i had company at lunch. yifan's back !!
he kinda slimmed down. yes, it's just one week, but he said he didnt eat enough over in OK. heheh. the people there ate less than we do, so he felt he had to eat less too... quite pathetic, a slice of bread and a small cup of Milo for bfast, whereas at home, i make him 2 slices of bread and a big cup of milk, so it's sort of like he ate just 50% of his usual there.
and that's just bfast. lunch and dinner portions are smaller too. hmm.. either most people eat too little, or we both eat too much. i think its the latter. ( we go thru a whole big sack of rice every 2 months, and that's a lot, i can tell you.)

oh well, so much for eating like pigs, i am still skinny, and yifan is, ermm...okay, i guess.

i am feeling a little restless today. cant sit down to read for long. no mood for tv. all these maybe becos yifan is coming back tomorrow. strange how i managed to get by the past few days and yet its the last day that's the hardest to go thru. yeah, it's been almost a week.

just got the directions printed out. 2.50pm Bradley International Airport. counting down, i have slightly less than 22 hours to go.

i suppose i should test out my new hard disk to see if it's working well. it's brand-new and all, but it was UPS-ed here, and you know how they treat the packages. right now, it's just lying on my living room floor, untouched. i am just waiting for the right time. and most likely, the right time would be this friday when yifan gets back. hahah.
i am not procrastinating. it's just that i am not particularly interested in computer gadgets and the like. i mean, i am always waiting impatiently for my stuffs to arrive.. like my books, or clothes from VS... and this hard disk, it's more yifan's stuff. best to leave it to him.

i am beginning to get used to living alone, and am even starting to like it. it's great being able to do what you want, whenever you want. the only problem, and that's a huge one in my opinion, is that when it comes to mealtime, i am always loathing it. it sucks having to cook for just one person. imagine going thru all the trouble preparing the food, then eating alone in front of the tv, and keeping leftovers for the next meal. i dun usually have leftovers, but that means i will have to cook beef for the next two days !!! i can eat out of cos, but what can i eat? is KFC or Taco Bell or Burger King any better ?? never mind, never mind. i just need to endure one more day.

feeling a little nostalgic now. just spoke to an old friend, someone whom i have not seen for nearly 3 years. it brought back lots of memories talking about people we knew from years ago and how they have all since moved on. my friend saw it differently -- he said we should be glad everyone's moved on cos it means they have made progress. ya, true, but still ... as we neared the end of our conversation, he too was a little affected. he is, after all, human.

right now, i have mixed feelings. hey, i had just started my wednesday morning, and he had to inject it with some melancholy... sigh. nevertheless, it was good talking to him after such a long time.

on a more positive note, i finished my book yesterday. yes, finally after so long. i dun usually take such a long time to get done with a book, but Paris In The Fifties was a real tough one.
next stop, Memoirs of a Geisha.

i am almost done with Paris In the Fifties. just about 70 more pages to go... can't wait.

***********************************************

just spoke to yifan. where he is staying now, there isnt much to watch on tv cos there arent too many channels. poor thing. and here i am spoilt for choices with more than 100 channels available. and it so happens this is the week of all finales for whatever tv shows...talk about bad timing !!

my external hard disk is finally here. i dun know what to do with it though. have to wait for yifan to get back. yay!! now i wun have to worry about losing all the precious data and pictures in my comp.

*************************************************
i am so silly. i just remembered that i have a fan here that i can use to dry my hair after bath... and all this time, i have been sleeping with wet hair.

i think i am making slight progess today. at least its past 1pm now and i am not complaining yet. yesterday was a little tough. watched way too much tv...ANTM, Full House, comedies...and read for hours too. been reading Stanley Karnow's Paris In The Fifties. it's not exactly an easy read. in fact, its quite chim. it's about the author, and his life in France while he was a journalist for Time magazine. lots of french phrases in the book as well ... sometimes too much that it makes understanding the book difficult.
i am not intending to give up, though. trying my best to finish it off, so i can start on Memoirs of a Geisha. that should be interesting. i had read on Friendster that lots of people rate that as one of their fav books. hahah. see? i sometimes get ideas on what books to read from there.

running out of things to do, and it's only 12pm on sat.. hopefully time will pass faster from now till friday.
i am resorting to watching reruns of Full House. that will at least keep me occupied for the next hour. hmm, what should i do after that? there are actually quite a number of things that need to be done around the house, but i want to ration all that i have to do, to last the next few days.

sometimes things are just so difficult. there is no one good way to do things that will make everyone happy, everyone including yourself. i always believe everyone is entitled to make their own decisions and choices. it gets tough when people try to impose their views and ideas on someone else. more often than not, they do it out of care and concern for that person. however, only the person involved knows what's best for himself/herself given a particular situation. comments, opinions, and suggestions are always welcome, but that doesnt mean that suggestions or comments have to be taken and strictly followed.

there comes a time when the string has to be loosened. insisting on pulling it too tightly may just cause unnecessary tension that eventually results in the string snapping, and losing the kite for good. surely that is not the ending that anyone wishes. instead, isnt it better to know that there exists an invisible string that will bring you home in times of trouble, so that you will never get lost and stranded in the process of searching for what you want in life and realising your dreams, but at the same time, allows you the freedom you need to have to go about doing all that?

nothing much happened today except that we went for a short jog at the park. our very first attempt to keep fit. also, now that the sun is out, it's time to get tanned again. we are both so fair now that yifan suggested we go for the artificial tan. the beaches are like one hour away from our house.. too far. besides, i'm sure we'll get much darker in no time in OK.

talking about that, i've been searching for apartments online to prepare for the move. most of the accomodation look much better than those in the New England area, mabbe becos of land availability and weather conditions. i think that's about the only thing that's making me look forward to the move. i already know what kind of apartment i want -- one that has a swimming pool, spa, basketball court, fitness center etc etc.. in a nutshell, the amenities of a condo in singapore.

hmm... so i went for my interview at the job agency today. i didnt think the job was suitable for me. a lot of excel stuff. boring. the girl was nice though. american-born korean, and very friendly.

afterwards, we went to downtown Boston for a walk and some clam chowder.


we thought we'd have as much clam chowder whilst we can. it's one of the must-haves in New England. we were on the upper floor of Faneuil Hall, and to get up there, there is this spiral staircase that you have to take. and yifan noticed that each time a girl in a skirt went up the stairs, the men below would look up to try to peek under her skirt ! tsk tsk..

Quincy Market was bustling with people and activities today. hmm, that's weird, considering it's a weekday and a schoolday today. oh, and that huge Abercrombie building is still unoccupied after more than a year. such a waste of prime land...


that's Christopher Columbus Park, a mere 3 minute walk from Quincy Market. it overlooks the wharf and the view there is simply amazing.


taking pics in formal clothing reminded me of those Bangledeshis in their long-sleeve shirts and pants at East Coast Park. no choice. i wanted to remove my jacket, but it wasnt warm enough for that yet. but at least, i wasnt alone. check out yifan's dressing.

this was kind of a candid shot cos there was a problem with the camera, and the lady who took this pic for us accidentally pressed the button twice, and so caught yifan at his less-than-ready moment. however, i interpreted it in a totally different way. i thought yifan looked shy in this pic.. like it was our first date together and he was embarrassed and nervous standing next to me. hahah.

i just finished watching Swing Girls, a jap movie, without any subtitles. didnt understand much, but i think i have a fairly good idea of what the story was about. not a very interesting movie, though.

ohh, there is something very strange going on. everytime my friend says she has an interview coming up, i find myself getting a call for an interview too. i thought it was mere coincidence even though this had happened more than 3 times already. it happened again today. i was talking to her this morning, and she said she has an interview this Wednesday. then, sometime around 12, i got a call asking me to go for an interview tomorrow !!! seems like my luck with jobhunting is closely tied to hers. Boy, i sure hope she gets a job soon... i am saying this not becos i want to be hired soon too (of cos i do, but that's not what i'm trying to say). what i really mean is, i hope everything works out well for her purely becos she is my friend.

i know it's probly a little confusing why i am still going for interviews now since i'll be moving out of state. i have no idea either. basically, i am just going there for the experience, hone my interview skills, and it helps that Macy's and Filene's are in the area. heheh. but seriously, even if i am not going to be moving, i know it's a one in a million chance that i'll be selected for the job. the interview is with a job agency and it is highly unlikely that they will want me. i have had encounters with agencies, and they weren't too keen when they found out that i need a visa. anyways, no loss going tomorrow, so we'll see.

Yale

instead of going NY today, we explored New Haven and Yale University. it's my second time there but this time around, the town looked more beautiful. i think it would be nice to live in a college town, but yifan says it will be very noisy. we had lunch at a thai restaurant. the place was nicely furnished, and we sat in an area that resembled a greenhouse.

it's obvious from the pic that i thoroughly enjoyed my tom yum soup. too bad you dun see the spring roll. it was gone by the time this pic was taken. :-)

they had started getting the place ready for dinner with table cloths and all.
couple of hours later, we were back at the restaurant to buy the Siam duck home for dinner.
meanwhile, here's what took place before...

taken in the middle of the road when the lights turned red for the cars. the building behind me is Yale University Art Gallery. my jacket was pulled close to me cos i was feeling cold. it's almost mid-May now and the temperature is 15 degrees !!

that's Yale's old campus. nice archway eh?




taking a break before continuing our walk along Chapel Street.




we thought the structure of the building was rather unique. expensive stores they have there. it's not captured in the pic, but it's a Hugo Boss store on yifan's right. for a second, we wanted to go in for a looksee.



that's Sterling Memorial Library, part of the Yale campus. on the outside, it looked like some church, though not a very grand one, i would say. but just wait till you see the inside.
before that, a pic of the grand entrance... we were taking a few shots at the door and i was a little worried that someone would unknowingly push open the door.




can you believe it? this is their library!! i have seen lots of frescos, stained glass, stone carvings etc in european churches, but never have i seen such grandeur in a school.




the cupboards that resemble those in the old medical shop where chinese herbs were kept, actually contain catalogs where students go to look for references. of cos, now most people use the computers to check instead. nevertheless, i thought that was cute, and worth a picture.

The art store... most of the items were from china and indonesia. expensive stuff, or should i say, cheap stuff sold at exorbitant prices. still, there were some serious shoppers. we, on the other hand, were there mainly to warm ourselves up a little before we moved on.




for a moment, i forgot about this picture, and thought the focus was the Corvette. but no. see the line in the background of the picture, underneath the cherry blossoms? that's actually the line for Frank Pepe's Pizzeria. supposedly the place where the very first pizza was made in USA. i am sceptical. we had initially wanted to eat there, though we believe that pizza is pizza, and how much different can it be from other pizzerias, but what the heck? since we were already there, we might as well try it so we can say we ate at the place where it all started.. heheh
however, we didnt think it was worth the wait since it is just pizza. especially not since we would have to stand in the cold, and freeze our butts out. no way.

so that's how we found ourselves back at the lunch place.

we are going to have to move soon. to another state where winters are not as harsh as New England winters are. i am going to miss NY so badly, i am sure of it. i dun want to move, but we dun really have a choice unless something comes up real soon.
i dun know when D- day is, but i hope i will still get to enjoy a few more trips to manhattan.

it's a real coincidence becos i was talking to a friend just a few days ago and asking if she would be sad to go back to SIN. (she is currently in hk trying to get a job) her answer: NO cos hk and sin are pretty much the same. yeah, i would think so. for me, i miss SIN, but i like it here too. the US is very different from SIN, and being here brings new perspectives. it is an experience ... and i know i would be sad to leave here and go back for good. it is somewhat a relief to know that i will not be packing my bags anytime soon. so imagine how i felt when i learnt that we will be moving. !!?
each state here is like a separate entity with its own laws and norms. people behave differently and things are done differently state to state. i realised this fact when i moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut. that was just a 2 hour- drive-away kind of move, and the difference was already apparent. i cant think how it would be like moving from the northeast to the central.

one thing's for sure -- i am going to miss the cold and the heavy snowing here. i am so not looking forward to the hurricanes and the hailstorms and what-have-you in the central.

aahh.. those were the days.
http://www.bschool.nus.edu/alumni/alumni_list.asp?degree=B.B.A.&year=2000

a friend sent me the above link. it had me reminiscing about those wonderful times when i was still a BizAder. it's hard to believe that it's been 5 years since graduation. i still remember how it was like attending lectures, doing group projects, surfing internet in Comp club, drinking milo at breaks, and of cos the long walk from the bus stop opposite Forum to the Biz Ad faculty.

the last time i stepped into the NUS grounds was slightly more than 2 years ago. yifan had gone to NUH for some dental appointment. i took the opportunity to show him the place where i had spent 3 years of my life. we ate at science canteen, YIH, arts canteen, bizad canteen etc. it wasnt so much as the cheap food that lured us. i wanted to immerse myself back to those schooldays where life was so much simpler. somehow, things were different this time around. i felt different. it was the same food, the same setting. but everything felt different. i knew then that no matter how hard i try to recapture the moment, it is gone forever. the only thing i can hold on to are the memories i have.

sometimes, i worry that i will lose my memory. there is so much i want to remember for life. things and places and people that i met, be it good or bad. we are comtemplating getting an external hard disk for the computer. how nice if humans can do the same -- store their memories in a safe place so that those precious memories would never be erased.

my cousin Sue-ann is starting uni soon. i am envious. i think it's one of the best times of one's life. even kel is graduating this july. it's too bad the digicam wave only started after i graduated. otherwise, i am sure i would take so many pics of my life as a uni student. this learning institution that saw many people grow up into adults...sigh! if only...

i have never sent this many resumes in my whole life. it is quite demoralising when you keep trying, but yet still no job in sight. i am starting to doubt myself. it is not that i am bored at home or that i desperately need the extra income. god, i am actually quite happy doing my own stuff at home, reading and cooking. but i become a little disheartened when i try really hard, and my effort doesn't seem to be paying off.

all is not lost, though. i try to tell myself that so long as i dun give up trying, there is still a chance that something will come up. after all, hao shi duo mo, or good things dun come easy. Mai pen rai.

that's Hubbard Park in Meriden where the Annual Daffodil Festival was held last weekend.

we had to park a short distance away at a high school, and catch the shuttle bus to the park. it's the usual bus that schoolchildren take everyday. cute huh? that's my second time on a school bus!

those are daffodils. i have read about them long time ago but this is my first time seeing them. mostly yellow and white flowers. pretty.

fountains in the middle of the big pond. kinda reminds me of the fountain in Geneva. that is much bigger of cos.

hmm, what's that bright light at the back? never noticed it till now. anyways, this was taken by a kind lady who was walking pass us while we were taking pics. as you can probly tell from the pic, she is not very pro.



yifan waiting for his chocolate mousse cake at Ferrara Bakery in Little Italy.

as you can see, there is only one pic taken in NY cos most of the time, we were both too busy doing grocery shopping, and were lugging bags of meat and vegs and that wouldnt look very nice in pics.

btw, dunno if you can see my badly-cut fringe in those pics. luckily for me, it sort of got stuck to the rest of my hair becos of the rain and so wasnt very obvious.

we were heading towards our usual grocery stores in chinatown when we chanced upon a beautiful coffeehouse in Little Italy. it's called Ferrara Bakery and is America's oldest pasticceria. it started in 1892 !!!
there were lots and lots of people inside. it looked quite posh and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they were selling a whole chocolate mousse cake for just $15. needless to say, i couldnt resist the temptation and i am now having a cup of tea and a slice of cake for my daily afternoon tea. :-)

the place is something like what you would find in Europe. italy or france, perhaps. good for a little tete- a tete. and easy on the wallet too.