Char Koon

Just next to my client's office is a big Stop & Shop supermarket and there is this express noodle shop called Char Koon. One of the most popular noodle dish is the Malay Curry Noodles as shown in the picture below. When I arrived onsite, one of the questions I got was "Is malay curry noodles actually a real dish in Malaysia?". Anyway, I was quite curious to see what this "malay curry noodle" was actually like. So I ventured into Char Koon on ordered it. Hmm... it is meehoon goreng (a.k.a described as angel-hair pasta) with chicken & shrimp & mushroom curry poured on top. And they top it off with some boiled spinach. Hmm... don't recall seeing such a dish in Malaysia. It was quite yummy though... but the servings were huge!! It can easily feed 2 people!! Well, I reckon I can probably cook this myself... but I have to wait a while before I try it. After eating this, I felt a bit sick because it was just too much. So no curry noodles for me for a while...

My latest addiction

I was introduced to this by Bill from work. He said it was the main contributor to his big beer belly. I can totally understand why! It is delicious! YUM YUM YUM! The texture is something like a banana cake and it has the slight pistachio taste and the top is covered with the crushed walnuts... which was what I ate first!

The view from my bedroom window

I woke up to a snowstorm today!! It looks so pretty when you are in the apartment.... but the moment you go out, you enter a battlefield... Luckily the snow was soft this morning. I didn't really have to scrape any ice off the windscreen. I just had to sweep all the snow off. It was quite thick. On my car, there was about 3-4 inches of snow. It was snowing so heavily when I was sweeping off the snow... hmm... I was considering working from home but I figured since I was home bound majority of the time I was here, it might be good to show my face in the office today. I also made a quick trip to the neighbourhood post office and managed to send off my tax returns for my UK tax. Hope it gets to the tax people on time. It usually takes me around 10 minutes to get to work (although I have only gone into the office once so far) but today it took me 1 hour! Gosh... the I-91 highway was packed and you can't really drive fast because it was so slippery. My car actually skidded when I was turning a corner. The big snowflakes were also pelting down on my windscreen. Luckily, my wipers were working well. I also learnt how to use the back wipers in the SUV as well. Yay! *Pat on shoulder*...

Hollywood lights

One of the things I like in my apartment is what I call the "Hollywood lights"!! I only have one ceiling light in the whole apartment and that is in the kitchen. In my bathroom however, I have these Hollywood lights - light bulbs at the top of my mirror. Everytime I go into the bathroom and look in the mirror, I feel like a movie star for some reason. I think it is because I remember seeing lights like these in the dressing rooms of movie stars - where they sit in front of the mirror and get their make-up done. Hahaha! Cheap thrill for me every morning...

Screwing around

Hahaha! Suggestive title but not so kinky... I had a problem when moving into my apartment. The stupid furniture rental company didn't set up my dining table for me. They left it on the floor and then when I opened the box, I found the legs but no screws to screw it on. Hmph! I had no dining table for the whole weekend. Actually, I use the dining table as an office table anyways.... Don't really eat on the table. I am usually on the sofa watching TV and eating at the same time.... hahahaha! This is very bad because I am not eating "consciously" which is something that most diet professionals recommend. Sigh... I might have to break that habit soon. I called up the rental agency today and they sent someone to set up the table for me with apologies. Apologies??? What the hell is that? Where are my free goodies?? Oh well... at least I have a table to work on now....

Don't eat yellow snow

Ok... here's the popular pose with the snowball. Before you do this, please check whether the snow is white or yellow. You wouldn't want to eat yellow snow.... Someone might have gotten drunk the night before and had major bladder control problems and pee-ed on the snow... eeyyeeuuuch!
Oh... when I was making the snowball, the cleaner lady caught me. She must be wondering what this crazy Malaysian girl is doing and whether I was going to pelt anyone with all my snowballs... no one else is around here during the day though....
Don't I look cute in my red beanie? (ok ok... self-praise is no praise...) Hmm.. I think I look like the cartoon character Tin Tin. There was one episode where he wore something like that as well. I guess all I need now to complete the look is a little white dog.

Breakfast and Lunch

Every morning I wake up, I look forward to a bowl of hot oatmeal. I never used to like it but now I think I can't live without it. I am eating this for breakfast everyday now. It is just such a good way to start the day. I put 3 heaped spoonfuls of oats and 1 heaped spoon of oat bran into the bowl. Pour some hot water and zing it in the microwave on high for around 40 seconds. Then I take it out, throw in some milk and swirl it around a bit and put in some fruits. Usually dates or bananas go very well with it. The dates will melt and be slightly caramel-ish and goes nicely with the plain oatmeal. I only have bananas with me at the moment so that will do. The texture is slightly sticky and it is smooth and warm so it is easy to eat and digest. With the oat bran, it lasts a bit longer in my tummy so I am not hungry so soon. I can just imagine my arteries thanking me for the healthy food. Hehehe!!
Ok, just when I was talking about my healthy food, I decided to treat myself to an unhealthy lunch. I don't do this everyday but I just felt like trying it out today. I roasted some pork ribs. Mmmm... yummy! I marinated it with some black bean and garlic sauce, chilli, honey and teriyaki sauce and then just dump it into the oven and broil it. Easy! Don't really have to spend much time over it. Just have to leave it in the over until you smell something burning. Haha! Don't worry, it is a bit better if the fats are slightly charred anyways. And the taste? Mmm... superb!! If I can say so myself! I had some salad to go with it as well but it didn't look so nice in the picture so I didn't really want to put it up.
Here I am... enjoying my pork ribs! Yes, I look a bit tired but that is only because I don't have any make-up on. Damn! I used to look good even without make-up! Looks like age is catching up with me! Oh yes, I managed to sleep until 6 am today! Fantastic! I haven't been able to sleep much due to the jetlag. I read some where that for each time zone you cross, you will need one day to recover. I crossed 13 zones. Does that mean it will take me a fortnight to recover? Nah!! I am well-hydrated and well-rested now. Tomorrow I will be my usual gorgeous self!

Cutie pies

I think I need to improve my photo-taking skills... some of the photos here are not really doing justice to the subjects. In my opinion, these are the cutest kids in Hartford. My colleague Angie invited me over to their house and also took me to the chinese grocer yesterday. Here's a picture of her family. Its Kiera and Andersen, Jeff and Angie.

Kiera is a sweetie with an inquisitive mind. She asks a lot of questions and talks a lot. She is very loving and enjoys meeting new people. She was sitting in the baby seat of my trolley and helped me with my shopping. After a while, she got down and helped me push the trolley as well.
Little Andersen is only 1 year old. He can feed himself already and is already so gorgeous. This little boy is going to break many hearts in the future!

To eat or not to eat

This is really testing my willpower. I brought over a small tub of lovely open-faced pineapple tarts to pass to some friends of Georgina's. They haven't collected it from me yet so I have been staring at it almost everyday. Hmm, I probably should stuff them into my luggage or something so that I wouldn't be so tempted. But they are so pretty and makes me so happy just looking at it. Mmmm... I think pineapple tarts always reminds me of Chinese New Year and CNY is the time to stuff your face with all the yummy delicacies and getting ang pows (red packets) full of money!! But a friend of mine mentioned that CNY is not a holiday for single people our age. Lots of innuendos and suggestions that it is time for us to get married. Oh well, I won't be home for CNY this year so I won't be getting that!!

Planes and snow

This was the view from my hotel room. Nothing except planes and snow. The snow never melts. It might melt a bit but then it freezes up again at night and becomes hard ice. It is all over the place. On the side of the roads, in the parks, etc. It hasn't been snowing much but last night it snowed. Yesterday, it was raining heavily and I was driving on the highway. I saw an accident. It was an SUV. The driver must have lost control and swerved and hit the barrier. My car went over one of the headlights. Gosh... quite scary. Apparently there are crazy drivers here as well and they all drive an SUV. They think that it is the safest car to be in but majority of cars involved in accidents happens to be SUVs. Go figure...
Here is a picture of my car. It is orange in colour. Not the best colour for a car but the bright side (pun intended) about it is that I find it easier to look for it in the car park. Most cars here are either silver or grey. All look the same. Anyway, I won't be having this car for long. Have to return and rent another one. Will take a picture of the cheap car rental that I have to take. Won't be a new car that's for sure. I hope it would be safe to drive. There is a warning out about driving today because the snow is covering layers of ice.
I walked out of my hotel room today to take a few photos. Here a picture of my footprints. Haha! My feet just sinks into the snow. It is so soft now because it is fresh. I am driving afterwards. Hope I won't glide around too much. A bit worried now.

This is the view outside my room. The pool is frozen now. Might go and see whether I can walk on top of it later. I was very annoyed because some people moved into the room above me yesterday and they were making so much of noise in the middle of the night. Felt like calling up the reception to complain about them. But was too exhausted to lift the headset.

Yucky airport food

Urgh... my first meal at Newark airport was pretty gross. Wanted something hot and filling because I was starving so decided to get pasta. Ordered the spaghetti. Yuck. Look at it.... doesn't it look gross? I tried putting some chilli flakes and herbs but it didn't help much. It was such a huge helping as well. That was my dinner.
Didn't eat when arrived at the hotel because it was too late. I am currently at the Sheraton at the Hartford Airport. Woke up starving at 5 am though. Got a sandwich from downstairs. Nothing else to eat around here. Don't like airport food. Hopefully I will move out of this place and into my apartment by this weekend. Need to stock up and some food and cook some nice soups for myself.
Ohhh... guess what? There isn't a kettle in my room but there is a coffee maker. Pity I don't drink coffee though. I might request for a kettle to get my hot water. The coffee maker only gives me warm water. Unless I am doing something wrong.... Hmmmm....

Current stuff from now on

After spending a month or so uploading and writing about my holidays and weekends in the UK, I thought it would be best to start updating my blog with current stuff from now on. Anyway, the latest news about me is that I am heading off to the US on Monday (9, Jan 2006). Although you might think that this is quite soon after my UK assignment, I was actually back from the UK since August 2005. My boss just told me that it was -15 degrees celcius last week when he was in Connecticut and another guy just said that it is snowing heavily now. Argh! Good thing I have my new and sexy boots from Timberland. No... it is not one of those F-me boots but it is quite practical yet a bit more feminine looking compared to the usual Timberland shoes. I have to start packing this weekend. Wish me luck!!

My last weekend in London

Hehehe! Had loads of fun on my last weekend in London. Flo came down from Manchester and arrived on Friday evening. We had dinner at the Loch Fyne Restaurant in Egham and on Saturday, we went down to Canary Wharf for yum cha at Royal China.
We were there pretty early so we had to wait for a while until they let us in. Food was good as usual. I really liked their deep fried squid with chilli and pepper. So delicious. After lunch we walked around Canary Wharf and took a few photos. Was really stuffed so was also feeling a bit sleepy. Jenny was busy taking photos so we were all models for the day.
Decided to take the train to Greenwich and walk around there as well. After that, Jenny took some portrait shots of all of us. I didn't have a smiling one so I didn't put it up. Florence impressed us all by yawning on demand. Amazing! We went for the free tour and also took some pictures of the big ship.

Fruit picking

Ling and Annie recommended a good place to pick fruits. Ohhh.... so excellent. I can't remember the name of the place already! I must ask Jenny whether she remembers it or not. We got there on the last day for cherry picking so were pretty lucky. At first we were picking fairly nice ones but after going through the trees, we found some blood red ones. Didn't feel like eating the old ones already so we just dumped them on the ground and pick the new blood red ones. YUMMY!! You are not supposed to eat the fruits when you are picking them but everyone was doing it so I did it as well. This place had all sorts of berries.
We also picked big, sweet and juicy strawberries and lovely raspberries. Jenny found out that picking a whole handful of raspberries and dumping the whole lot in your mouth at one go was very delicious. Mmmm.... They also had other fruits... depending on the time of the year that you go there. They also had vegetables as well. Besides picking your own stuff, you can also go to the grocery store they had there and just buy the fruit and vegetables. We bought corn and Jenny boiled it. Yummy. We snuck it in when we watched a movie in Staines. Lovely snack....

Manchester

Sob! Sob! Florence was assigned to a project in Manchester and so that meant she would be moving there. Anyway, we decided to visit her the weekend after she left and carry over all the stuff she left behind. So after work on Friday, Jenny and I drove to Manchester. Gosh... it was quite a long drive. We were stuck just outside Birmingham for quite a while because of traffic. Finally made it to Manchester around 11 something. Pretty late. Jenny was going to bunk over at Flo's place while I was to bunk over at Swee Ling's place. I had to give SL a call pretty late at night and the poor girl was already asleep. Manage to bring over all my stuff and kept her awake most of the night catching up on the latest news. Hahaha! SL was actually heading off the Edinburgh the next day with the rest of the Malaysian group in Manchester so she didn't really get enough sleep. Luckily she wasn't driving. SL's apartment was actually facing the happening "Gay District" and so it was pretty loud outside especially on a Friday night.
The next day, we walked around the Manchester city area and for some unexplained reason, I fell ill. Kept sneezing and sneezing. Just wouldn't stop even after I took my hayfever pills. Saw these random balls in the middle of the city so Flo and I decided to pose for a picture.


I made a discovery in Manchester. Found out I look really good in almost every pair of sunglasses I tried on. Hahaha!

BBQ at Marlow - The AAAA Club

Mei San and Jezze was living in a nice little house in Marlow which was pretty close to their client's place. They had a nice spacious living room and a small little backyard where they hosted a small BBQ cum potluck party. As usual, heaps of food and heaps of alcohol. Adibah joined us for the BBQ and we made her the president of the AAAA club (which stands for Adibah's Axon's Alcoholic Anonymous Club). There was quite a few of us there at the time so it was pretty fun to meet up over the weekend and do something like that. Hmm... their TV was a bit old and everything shown was green. They also had a fair outside so after we were all fed and watered, we went for a walk and sat on a few rides. Quite fun. Even if the ride wasn't scary, we'll be screaming our heads off. Hahaha!

The Louvre

Ohhh... This museum is just huge! You definitely can't finish everything in 1 day. After a while, you just get really exhausted and probably won't appreciate much of it anymore. So remember, pace yourself and look at the famous stuff first so you can leisurely browse around later. Haha! As usual, when everyone get their tickets, the first thing they would do is to rush to the see the Mona Lisa. It used to be in a small room but now they have already moved it to a bigger room. There are guards around and you have to line up to see the painting. The line moved pretty orderly. I was quite surprised! If anyone spend too much time at the front, they will ask you to move along.
You can't use flash photography here. I just simply took a shot. It is a bit blur because I was sandwiched between quite a few people so I couldn't really take a really stable shot. Oh well... I think we spent about half a day here. I like looking at paintings more than some of the other stuff. The relics and stuff don't really interest me as much but still nice to have a look too. Hmm, wonder whether I should get a painting of myself done.... Sounds a bit extravagant huh....

Monuments in Paris

Paris is huge... we didn't take the hop-on-hop-off bus but took the metro around most of the time. Went to the usual places like the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Walked around Champs Elysees but didn't buy much. Didn't really feel like shopping much. Oh! I went to the Escada shop and asked how much a bag was and the saleslady replied "Its very expensive!". I can't believe it! I had a Pretty Woman incident and I am not even a prostitute!! Stupid people...




I think we were pretty lucky weather wise. It was sunny but cool most of the time. We went to the Eiffel and saw long lines everywhere. Anyway, decided to climb up the tower since I was on the stepper most of the time in the gym. Needed to see whether all the effort spent actually helped or not. I think I did pretty well. Got to the first level and had a brownie. Yummy! After that sugar rush, no problems... Debs gave up halfway and waited for me at the bottom.












We also went to the Notre Dame cathedral and I thought it was gorgeous. The problem I have about cathedrals in Europe is that it is just so touristy! No one seems to be praying at all. But I guess they need all the money they can get to maintain all these old buildings....

Paris Hilton

No, I am not talking that pooch tote-ing, anorexic hotelier's daughter. I wanted to book a room at the Hilton Paris which was just at the foot of the Eiffel Tower but unfortunately it was fully book at the time I wanted to go. Deborah was visiting the UK at that time and was going to Paris for a holiday and I was going to join her for the weekend, just before she flies back home to Malaysia. Anyway, since I could get that hotel, I managed to get the Hilton La Defense (which is pronounced as La De-fonz *add in French accent*). Managed to redeem my Hilton points for a couple of nights there.

I am not actually sure what is the significance of the arch but apparently it is a tourist spot as well. I can't remember who told me this but apparently they had a show where they flew a small plane through the hole.

They gave me a so-called "Relaxation Room" when I checked into the hotel. I specifically asked for 2 beds but didn't get it. So I complained and they managed to upgrade me into a small suite which was quite cool. Also got a fruit basket and a small bottle of wine and a bottle of Evian. Ahh... the benefits of being a Diamond member.

Northampton

I keep telling myself to plan a trip to Leeds to visit Chin Li and Kit when I was in the UK. Unfortunately, I never made that trip and they actually moved to Northampton which is closer to Egham. Yay! Managed to drop by their place a couple of times and went to Milton Keynes as well to look for a chinese grocery shop and also to have a look at the big big shopping centre there. Basically, in MK, the whole town revolves around the shopping centre. It is basically their town. Ohh.... guess what? They had a photo taking and autograph signing for some not so famous celebrities. I saw the guy that plays R2-D2 in Star Wars!! Kenny something!! Haha! Cheap thrill! Also saw the young boy that played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. Didn't get an autographed picture though. Was very tempted though....

I love tulips.

Bruges

Bruges is a beautiful place. We took a train from Centraal station in Brussels to get to Bruges. I think the train ride was around 1.5 hours. Can't remember now. Memory not as good nowadays. There was a cathedral (almost every town in Europe has a cathedral) and we also walked around the town. Went to the chocolate museum and just admired the scenery around.

We were walking through this garden and noticed that all the trees were crooked. Thought it might be funny to take a picture like that. One woman saw us and started laughing as well.

Ohh... did I mention before that the author of the Tin Tin comics, Herge, is from Belgium? I have read all the Tin Tin comics... I am such a big fan!! There was a Tin Tin museum in Brussels but due to time constraints, I couldn't make it there. I managed to buy a Tin Tin key chain though. Wanted a Snowy one but it all looked kinda dirty. I guess it is not easy trying to maintain a white dog. Hahaha!!


This is my favourite picture. I don't have many pictures of Jenny because she doesn't like to be in photos but loves taking photos. Look at the scenery behind! It is just like a postcard. Hehe!

Frites with mayo

Hmmm, I don't actually have a picture of the frites with mayo but if you look closely, Jenny is holding a cone-like thing. That was where all the fries were. After that, it went into our stomachs. YUM! Basically it is really unhealthy! They double fry the fries and then put a huge dollop of mayo on it. It is so delicious though. I thought it sounded a bit gross at first... but don't criticise it before you try it. The fries are like piping hot and crispy and the mayo thick and tasty. Mmm...

Belgian beer

Ohhh... I never liked beer when I was in Malaysia. But when I got to the UK, somehow I developed a taste for beer. Especially during the summertime when it is so freaking hot! A nice cold beer is as good as the chinese cooling herbal tea. YUM! Anyway, Belgium is just famous for their beers. They just have soooo many. I think on the tourist bus, they mentioned that there are around 400+ different Belgian beers. So even if you drink a different type everyday, you would not even be able to try everything in 1 year!! When I was hanging around in Bruges, we decided to stop for a drink in one of those tourist cafes around the square. I saw quite a few people having this particular beer and I asked the waiter what it was. It was the famous Kwak. 8% alcohol. Mmm.... I had to have it!! I heard about Kwak from my boss who dropped by in the UK just before our Belgium trip and told us that Kwak was like a truth serum for one of his friends. One drink and everything comes out!! Hahaha!! I bought a t-shirt that had the different types of beers on it. Very nice...

Brussels

I almost didn't make it to Brussels. It was a public holiday in the UK and I happily made my bookings. However, I forgot that it was my go-live weekend for my project!! OMG! Luckily, the go-live was postponed but I needed to be back in the UK one day earlier. So I had to change my flight to return a day earlier. Flights from Heathrow to other countries in Europe can be quite cheap. However, you need to book early to get the cheap fares and if you make any changes, you have to pay a steep fee as well. Oh well... Still, since we are living so close to Heathrow, it is quite convenient for us to fly from there.
We flew with BMI to Brussels and got onto the hop-on-hop-off bus just to have a look at the places of interests. Hmm, I think Brussels is pretty small so you don't really need the bus. Can probably walk around on foot. We stayed at Citadines at Sainte Catherine. The rooms were small but manageable. The bed is basically a sofabed that can be converted into 2 single beds. It was pretty cheap though so that was good!
We started walking from the heart of Brussels which was the Grand Place which was the historic square lined with exuberantly ornate guild houses.


We had a city map and was walking around. One of the main attraction was the Mannekin Pis. It was highlighted in the map. So we went around looking for it. When we finally found it, it was sooo tiny!! Only about a foot tall. Hahaha! A bit of an anti-climax. The pissing mannequin is apparently the mascot of the country and on special occasions, it will wear clothes donated to it. Apparently he now has a wardrobe of more than 250 outfits.

Belgian waffles and yummy Belgian chocolates

Ohhh.... being the food enthusiast that I am, Belgium has to be the place to go for the chocoholic. Jenny has a t-shirt that says "I have never met a chocolate I didn't like". Haha! Yes, that is my sentiments exactly! It was like chocolate galore over there. Just walking around Brussels, there are many chocolate shops and many stalls selling Belgian waffles.


Of course, we couldn't resist it and got a chocolate and fresh strawberry waffle to try. It has a different texture compared to the normal waffles we have in Malaysia. I think the texture is slightly similar to a croissant but not as flaky. I couldn't take the ones with all the cream because just looking at it makes me feel a bit sick.


The waffles are baked fresh on the premise so the lovely smells will be wafting from the shops onto the streets.





There were heaps of chocolate shops around but the more famous ones were of course Godiva and Neuhaus. There are the world famous ones that you can get at the airport if you pay exorbitant prices. Godiva had fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate (white, milk and dark) and was selling it in little packets. The strawberries were huge. But of course, it is not cheap.

However, according to some internet article, one of the most famous chocolatier is Pierre Marcolini. We bought several boxes from here. The chocolates (pralines) can only last for 2 weeks. I think it can probably last longer if you refridgerate it but ideally it should be consumed after 2 weeks. They had the most interesting flavours. Sometimes we don't even know what we are eating but it tastes so good - who cares?!




Just opposite Pierre Marcolini, there was another chocolate shop called Whittamer. The chocolates there are also very delicious. Aiya, basically all the chocolates there are excellent. The picture shows the display window of Whittamer. Somehow it reminds me of the brand LV. Don't know why...

Durham

Welcome to the Historic City of Durham. Like most of the places in the UK, the pronunciation of the place is different from what you would expect. Firstly, anything with "ham" is not pronounced as ham (the pork kind) but more like "herm". "Dur" does not have the "Duh" pronunciation but it pronounced as "Darh". Thus, Durham is "Darh-rum". Oh well...
We visited the famous cathedral there which was there for almost 1000 years. Was quite amazed that something so old actually still looks fairly stable. Apparently during the olden days, the Bishops of Durham were one of the most powerful people in England. Had loads of power and riches during the time where religion was mixed with politics.


It was a really beautiful town. As you can see, it was during autumn so we could still see some of the fall foliage. I think Connecticut is famous for it so I will take loads of photos during autumn when I get there. Durham also had an indoor shopping centre as well as street-shopping.

Angel of the North

On the way up to Newcastle, we actually saw a sign (the brown one that tells you about tourist spots) that said "Angel of the North". We were quite curious about it and decided to stop here on the way to Durham. Basically it is just a huge metal statue. It is as big as a big jumbo plane. If have a look at the second picture, you can probably spot Mei San and myself there. We are the 2 small things at the base of the statue. That was just to show how gigantic this thing was.