These few days... I've been living a life of a housewife. I did nothing except cook, eat, sleep, surf internet for recipes and to check the lodging and attractions for our awesome & crazily long driving trip which will take us to Las Vegas, Yellowstone, Seattle, and San Francisco in Aug...
13th July (Fri):
- I didn't regret sitting almost right at the end of the plane where there's only two seats (instead of three) because of the tapered end. Although the window seat has plenty of leg room (67A fr HKIA to LAX) but it's the aisle seat (66C fr SIN to HKIA) that has plenty of freedom. It feels sucky to be stucked inside and having to be excused just to get to the restroom. Luckily my return trip are both aisle seats.
- The air stewardess talked to me in Cantonese... ?!?... until I made them repeat in English.
- The fish with rice + Haagen Dazs ice cream from SIN to HKIA (minus the yucky salad) was great. But the beef with rice on the leg from HKIA to LAX is a bit too salty lor. Then the tim sum + rice vermicelli is too oily. Faint.
- Transit was smooth. Took me just 20 mins to get to the departure gate (plus a trip to the restroom). Still have plenty of time...
- I filled in the wrong I-94 form. Filled in the white (with visa) instead of the green (visa waiver program) one. I didn't know cos the air stewardess just passed me the white one. Luckily the immigration officer is quite nice and patient (not those guai lan type which I've frequently heard of).
- The pilot was so soft spoken and I only managed to hear... Economy Class: Carousel 6... First & Business Class: Carousel 7... The belt has already stopped moving by the time I arrive (cos I go to the ladies, cos of the long queue, cos I need to refill in the form but no need to re-queue). I walked two rounds but I couldn't find my luggage at Carousel 6 lor. Then I walked up to a personnel who's unloading the luggages from the belt... told him to help me find my luggage. In the end, found it on the floor (surrounded by other luggages) near a corner of Carousel 7. Faint. Did anyone mention transit passengers collect from Carousel 7?
14th July (Sat):
- Slept the whole afternoon cos of the stupid jet lag
- Xian cooked beef soup and penne for dinner (combination is a little weird though... hoho)
- Kal invited us to his place for dinner. We still went, not for 2nd round dinner, but to play cards... These friends are quite fun to hang around with.
15th July (Sun):
- Went out with Xian's friends to watch a dragonboat race (no photos cos I thought we were going to another person's place - so didn't bring camera... need to get fr Keen) - There's only two dragonboats which were in no way comparable to ours. It is made of two boats joined together by a wooden plank; the dragon head and tail were fixed on. In Singapore, those guys trained for the competition. Over here in LA, they 'experiment' on the spot - resulting in some funny incidents.
- They brought us to Hollywood... didn't managed to see any movie stars... only saw their hands and foot prints (recent addition: few cast from the Harry Potter movie). We paid USD $11.25 (per ticket, approx S$17.15) to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix at the Chinese threatre and a whopping $3+ for a 500ml bottled mineral water (most expensive sky drink I've drank so far). Over here in LA, there's no allocated seats... it's first-come, first-select... in order to get good seats, arrive early (to watch lots of commercials & previews)... I wouldn't label myself as a Harry Potter fan + I'm still under jet lag = Slept through the last bit... Haiz...
- Eight of us (3 guys 5 gals) went for sumptous Chinese dinner in an area populated by Vietnamese (don't know where cos I was in 'screensaver' mode cos of jet lag)... lobster + crab + tom yam soup + stir fried dou miao + cereal prawns + deep fried whole fish + stir fried beef + cold dish = each pax pay USD $22 (approx S$33.50)... Delicious... I think it's quite reasonable and the portion is so huge until we couldn't finish...
16th July (Mon):
- Already been to and fro Ralphs twice (a supermarket that's five minutes away) to buy groceries. Oh btw, Haagen Dazs ice cream is cheap over here (one of the lower end ones)...
- Experimented cooking rice using microwave (no rice cooker, what to do) on 16th July - the first day I started cooking decent meals for Xian - and it was a success. Phew!
- Cooked stir-fried asparagus + baked cauliflower + New England Clam Chowder
17th July (Tue):
- Went to the gym *healthy lifestyle* =)
- Xian told me the rice was fragrant, the boiled then briefly stir-fried cauliflower and mushroom in oyster sauce and the baked marinated salmon (marinated for 6hrs with olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, grated zest and juice of lime, garlic, wine vinegar; baked at 375degF for 12-14mins) was delicious.
18th July (Wed):
- Tonight I don't have to cook cos his colleagues are holding a farewell party for Xiao-Yun.
- Tomolo I shall make japanese chicken curry with cauliflower, perhaps with japanese rice... think it will be yummilious too (must go buy some potatoes and carrots).
- Heh heh... coming up will be "lor ba" (wait till I find dark soy sauce first), bak kut teh...
Ohoh, I'm really like a housewife liao - I enjoy it somehow...
It's summer but it's still quite cooling... shiok man!