My room

Ok, this is a post that has been long due... A lot of people have been asking me how my new place is and what furniture have I bought so far... so this is it! Got the bed frame, chest of drawers, bedside table and computer table and chair from Ikea and got the mattress from Macy's... My duvet was the old one I had back in Connecticut (deja vu!!) but I basically had to get new beddings again. Got the desk lamp from Target and I think I am all set for a while now. A big thank you goes out to Winnie and John for helping me set the stuff up. I know I wouldn't have been able to get it done without your help. I would have died of frustration trying to follow the instructions from Ikea.

I can't believe it is already autumn and the year is ending... I stepped out of my house just the other day and saw all the leaves dropping... Got to prepare myself for the harsh Chicago winters!!!

Free concerts at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion, Millenium Park

Summer in Chicago is supposed to be the best time of the year. I never really appreciate summer because it is hot and humid. How different is that from Malaysia? However, now that I am a Chicago native, I thought it might be good to enjoy the summer before going through 6 months of winter (ok, maybe I exaggerate a little about how long the winter is but it is long and cold).

Winnie and I went for a couple of free concerts at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion at Millenium Park. Pretty good quality if you ask me. We went for the final show of the Grant Park Music Festival and it was on Beethoven's 9th symphony. Since it was just music, it is ideal to get some food and some wine and sit on the grass and eat and drink and be merry. I also taped some of it using my iPhone - just wanted to test the Voice Memos. It works!

A week after that, we went for the Chicago Dance festival and they had 6 dance troupes performing. 3 ballet troupes, 1 contemporary troupe, 1 contemporary solo and 1 step dance troupe. It was pretty amazing how talented these people are. The ballet dancers doing a pas des deux were so spectacular that they were practically flying around on stage. They also had an all male ballet troupe that called themselves the Grand Divas. They were over the top and hilarious in their dresses and tutus.

This time we opted to get proper seats instead of lawn seats because we wanted to see the stage and the people dancing.

Perhaps summer is growing on me now... just as it ends and we go into the next season... My fav - TV SEASON!

Legend of the Seeker

I've been wanting to blog about this for a while now but I have just been too lazy. Legend of the Seeker is based on Terry Goodkind's The Sword of Truth novels and was produced by the same guy who did Hercules and Xena.
I started watching this on www.hulu.com (which is available for free in the US) and I was hooked! The storyline is basically about a farmboy who discovered that he is the Seeker (a hero who arises in times of trouble and suffering and seeks out evil) and goes on a quest to kill an evil tyrant. The Seeker is always accompanied by a Wizard of the first order and a Confessor (who has the power to magnify the love a person has for her and allow her to control them).
Of course there is the attraction between the Seeker and his Confessor but the love is forbidden as her power would take away his soul and he would not be able to fulfill his destiny. With all forbidden love, it gives the series a little more spark!
My favourite character has to be the Wizard - Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander (Zedd) who has loads of witty one-liners and corny comebacks. What I like about the show are all the different types of characters they introduce and the pretty good acting. I think it was filmed in New Zealand and they had some extras who were Kiwis. Occasionally you will hear a Kiwi accent. It amuses me.

I watched 22 episodes in 4 days. I can't wait for Season 2.

Traumatised!

I went for a haircut last Saturday. This is something I absolutely hate to do in the US because they can't do asian hair!

Anyway, I was due for a colour since I haven't coloured my hair for almost a year. So she did the colour first and after 2.5 hours, when she washed it off, my hair was black! I was annoyed and I told her that if I wanted my hair to be black, I would have just let it grow out instead of colouring it. She said she will fix it and she did the colour again. Meanwhile I was starving because this was taking longer than expected and I didn't have lunch. Luckily the colour came out the second time around and she started on the cut.

O-M-G. She was a butcher. She cut and cut and cut. I told her it looked like a boy cut and she said she will fix it and cut even more! I told her that one side was longer and she immediately cut some more of the shorter side! How stupid could she be? I was already getting super irritated when she accidentally snipped my EAR! What the hell!?? From the picture, I guess you can't really see it. It was just a small nick but it wouldn't stop bleeding. I had to rush to the bathroom and wash it off and put a plaster on it. Urgh!

Totally traumatised by then.

Anyway, as per Monty Python, "always look on the bright side of life!". I had a free hair cut and colour as well as a free shampoo and conditioner to take back.

Sigh... I miss getting my hair done in Malaysia....

Where am I? - June update

Since people seem to be wondering where I am now, I thought I better update this blog. I am now on a short project in Monroe, North Carolina. I am supposed to be here for 3 months but it might be until October. Not sure yet. I am flying every week between Chicago and Charlotte. Hate waking up at 4 am in the morning on Monday so I might start flying in on Sunday nights. Here's where I am now: