After walking around Vancouver, we were pretty tired, so we met up with Lilian for a spot of dinner. Come see what we had! [[image:pacnw149.jpg:Olive Tapenade appetizer:center:0]] [[image:pacnw150.jpg:Scallops appetizer:center:0]] [[image:pacnw151.jpg:Baby Octopus and Asparagus appetizer:center:0]] [[image:pacnw152.jpg:Seafood Risotto:center:0]] [[image:pacnw153.jpg:Lamb chops:center:0]] [[image:pacnw154.jpg:Fish (I forgot what kind now):center:0]] [[image:pacnw155.jpg:Chocolate cake and bread pudding in the background:center:0]] We had us a veritable feast! Yummy! I was so involved with the food that I didn’t even take any pictures of people. Seriously. *ishhhh* So we said our goodbyes to Lilian, as we were heading back to Seattle and home to Ohio the next day. It was a really fun trip, and I’m looking forward to getting together with Vincent and Lilian again next year! (Or whenever the next get together might be). Here are some pictures of the view from our room at night – a bit blurry. Sorry, my hand is not as steady as […]
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Pacific Northwest: Part X (Vancouver)
My goodness, I can’t believe I’ve been sitting on these pictures for so long. This was back in July, when we had a mini-get together with Vincent and Lilian. The journey so far, we had spent time in Washington State, and driven Lilian back up to Vancouver. Checked into our hotel and didn’t do too much that first night, due to the rain and the altogether blah weather. The next morning, it rained and rained some more. So we took our time getting out. We were going to go to a museum (for an indoor activity) but realized it was pretty far from where we were and would take an hour and a half by public transport to get there, so that deterred us. We were just lazing about the hotel, and ended up having lunch at the food court of the mall next door. Unbelievably, every store there was […]
Continue readingWhich Transformer Are You?
It’s Athena’s fault. Suddenly I’m 84% Optimus Prime! Optimus Prime Optimus Prime is the heroic leader of the Autobots. He is the personification of courage, strength, and integrity. His personal motto is that “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” Like Optimus Prime, you are good by nature. But beware because mischievous thoughts sometimes tempt you. You are inspiring, confident, and a natural leader. The Autobots have chosen well. In addition, you enjoy being one step ahead of your friends as far as trends and technology. I AM 84% OPTIMUS PRIME Take the Transformers Quiz
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part IX (Journey to Vancouver)
I know, it’s been a long time and I haven’t finished posting our Pacific Northwest story. Here’s the next installation. Just a quick recap to remind everyone where we were: we had said goodbye to Vincent and been handed off to Lilian, who we would drive back up to Vancouver. Here’s Lil, as we drive by Boeing on our way north: [[image:pacnw115.jpg:Bye bye Boeing:center:0]] The day was still gloomy though: [[image:pacnw116.jpg:Cloudy skies:center:0]] Here we are at the border. The Peace Arch park: [[image:pacnw117.jpg:Peace Arch Park:center:0]] [[image:pacnw118.jpg:Bye bye USA:center:0]] [[image:pacnw119.jpg:Big tree by the border:center:0]] Our first glimpse of Vancouver: [[image:pacnw120.jpg:Vancouver!:center:0]] We ate lunch with Lil, but then it started to rain. We dropped her off at her place and met David and Miriam. [[image:pacnw122.jpg:Bye bye Lil:center:0]] [[image:pacnw121.jpg:Looking upwards:center:0]] Then we headed to our hotel. No point going sightseeing when it’s so foggy and rainy and ugh. Some pictures at the hotel […]
Continue readingFootball Season has begun (American Football)
Oh dear, oh dear. What shall I do? We are at the point in the year where the NFL season (first official game was last night, Saints @ Colts) overlaps with the MLB season. Cubs and the Bears both will be playing! Vin is very happy! Me?? Sports overload! Help!!! Tolong!! Ayuda me!! [[image:47.jpg:The beginning of football season:center:0]] [[image:48.jpg:Sila takes a big hit! 2 sports to watch at once!:center:0]] *pictures taken in LA at Universal Studios last year
Continue readingAugust Reading List
[[image:notw2.jpg:The Name of the Wind:center:0]] Books Read Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (started in July)Turtle Moon by Alice HoffmanQueen of Babble by Meg CabotCompany by Max BarryThe Name of the Wind by Patrick RothfussDead Souls by Ian RankinDoomsday Book by Connie Willis Books Bought Doomsday Book by Connie WillisKushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline CareyFirst Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde This is the second installment of my Nick Hornby-inspired monthly accounting of books read and books bought. The easy things about the Books Bought list in August was that I ordered them online from the Science Fiction Book Club. Not too much to tell there – except that Kushiel’s Justice and First Among Sequels are both sequels of series that I’ve read with great pleasure, so I’ve been looking forward to getting them. I don’t usually like books with too many sequels. For instance, I greatly enjoyed Dune, but not so much […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part VIII (Addendum: Artsy Seattle)
Now that my little spate of patriotism is over, and it’s September (Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone! And YAAAAY to Monday being a holiday!), a little addendum to day we spent walking around Seattle. Aside from the cleanliness, as has been remarked upon by several people, there was a lot of artwork displayed in and around the city. They’ve also architected the city to be sort of artsy and functional at the same time. I took a bunch of random snapshots and decided to group them together in this entry. Just look at this cool fountain: [[image:pacnw85.jpg:Fountain where we had lunch:center:0]] Please hover over the images for the captions. [[image:pacnw84.jpg:More Lavender:center:0]] [[image:pacnw83.jpg:The Pacific Science Center:center:0]] [[image:pacnw88.jpg:Monorail coming into the station:center:0]] [[image:pacnw90.jpg:Sculpture and building:center:0]] [[image:pacnw91.jpg:Water sculpture – there’s a walkway through the waterfall, so cool:center:0]] [[image:pacnw97.jpg:Taking pictures of pig sculptures:center:0]] [[image:pacnw98.jpg:Arrr Matey – Vin and Vincent and the Pirate Pig:center:0]] [[image:pacnw101.jpg:Reminds […]
Continue readingHari Merdeka ke-50
Kami yang merantau jauh mengingatimu di hari kemerdekaan yang ke lima puluh. Lima puluh tahun kami rakyat Malaysia tidak perlu tunduk kepada penjajah. Lima puluh tahun, Merdeka! Walau jauh di mata, namun tidak di hati. Selamat Hari Merdeka, Malaysia! [[image:malaysia_flag.gif:Flag image obtained from google image:center:0]] *chewah – boleh tahan tak? berkurun tak pakai Bahasa Malaysia standard 😉 Dan, sebagai penutup, lagu Tanah Pusaka. Satu-satunya lagu patriotik kesukaan saya: Sungguh gemilang negerikuYang kupuja oh tanah MalaysiaDi merata duniaHarum semerbak namamu oh Malaysia Aman makmur kaya-rayaSelama-lama hidup maju jayaOh tanah pusakaNegaraku yang berdaulat dan merdeka Tanah pusaka bertuahBerbagai bangsa didalamnyaHidup aman dan berjagaBertekun kerja dan berjasa Musuh melanggarku gempurSungguh rela kugugur keranaKau tanah pusakaBiar putih tulang jangan putih mata [Translation: We who are journeying far remember you on this your Fiftieth Independence day. Fifty years that we Malaysians did not bow to any conquerors. Fifty years, free! Although we are far away, […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part VII (Walking Around Seattle)
After the Space Needle, the first thing we did was get ourselves an early lunch at the Bite of Seattle. It’s a big food fair where tons of local restaurants manned little booths and we got to taste a bunch of different foods pretty cheaply. It was a smorgasbord of delights. I ended up eating fresh shrimp rolls, pad thai, and a bunch of other little snacks. However, it turns out, I was so busy looking through all the booths and foods that I didn’t actually take that many pictures! None of the stalls! Just this one of Vincent and Lil while Lil ate her lunch: [[image:pacnw86.jpg:Vincent and Lil by a funky fountain:center:0]] It took a while for us to decide what we wanted, but since it wasn’t even noon yet, it wasn’t too crowded so we didn’t have to queue up for too long to purchase our food. We […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part VI (Seattle and the Space Needle)
I meant to blog more over the weekend but I got distracted with other stuff (don’t even ask me what because I can’t seem to account for too much of the time, except I did watch 2 movies at home on Saturday night). But excuses aside, here’s the next part about our travels in the Pacific Northwest. We picked Lil up at the train station, and then turned in for the night. The next morning, we had breakfast and went off to see Seattle! But on the way there, we saw a semi truck that was on fire (did Starscream manage to score a direct hit on Optimus Prime?). The EMTs were there and firemen were putting out the fire. I whipped out my handy dandy camera and got a quick shot of it but after the last of the flames were put out: [[image:pacnw74.jpg:Fire’s out:center:0]] Then, our first glimpse […]
Continue readingDog Days of Summer
August has been a gruelling month in Southwestern Ohio. We might have seen a lot of rain in the Pacific Northwest when we visited, but from when we got home to this past Monday, we had not seen one drop of rain at our house! Grass is turning brown. Record high temperatures have been seen. Today’s high, for instance, is 99 F (34 C) and yesterday’s was 101 F (35 C). Humid like Malaysia. It did rain on Monday, and wasn’t too crazy hot on Tuesday, but we’re back to the heat now. So yeah it has been HOT! This is the kind of heat that makes up the “dog days of summer“. Defined as the period of time between July and September (roughly) when Sirius (the dog star) rises and sets with the sun. It also corresponds to the hottest days of the year in the northern hemisphere. And […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part V (Lavender Farm and Back to Seattle)
So many things to blog about, so little time to actually do it! Picking up the travel from the Dungeness Spit, we drove east to Kingston to catch the ferry back to Seattle. On the way there though, we kept seeing signs for lavender farms so we took a quick detour: [[image:pacnw61.jpg:Lavender Farm:center:0]] So we stopped for some pictures: [[image:pacnw64.jpg:Vincent photographing the lavender:center:0]] [[image:pacnw62.jpg:Fragrant and pretty:center:0]] [[image:pacnw63.jpg:Lavender!:center:0]] [[image:pacnw65.jpg:Vin in a field of lavender:center:0]] There was a little gazebo in the middle of the field, with lavender lemonade. Except the lavender lemonade didn’t really taste like lavender, just like lemonade… But nice and cool to quench our thirst. Plus it was free, so who’s complaining, right? [[image:pacnw67.jpg:Vincent in the gazebo:center:0]] [[image:pacnw66.jpg:Lavender Kings:center:0]] After we bought some lavender products (lavender caramels which again, did not taste like lavender, lavender sachets, etc.), off we went to the ferry terminal. Unlike our trip to […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part IV (Dungeness Spit)
After our disappointing Hurricane Ridge outing, we had to recover so we opted for an early lunch. We were planning to have a big sushi-buffet feast for dinner, so if I recall correctly, my lunch consisted of clam chowder, a few of Vin’s fries, and a slice of chocolate cake. A highly nutritional meal, no? 😉 But, lo and behold, after lunch, as we drove onwards, the sun came back out. We decided to risk stopping at Dungeness Spit. [[image:pacnw51.jpg:Dungeness Signboard:center:0]] Before you ask what this is, and if we expected expectorating when we were there, it’s basically a long, narrow strip of land that sticks out the coastline in the shape of somebody hocking a loogie. It was pretty foggy though. Pretty much the best picture I could get of the Spit is this one, taken from the overlook by the parking lot. [[image:pacnw52.jpg:Dungeness Spit:center:0]] [[image:pacnw50.jpg:Vin and Vincent at […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part III (Hurricane Ridge)
The next day dawned rainy (as evil Mr Weatherman had forecasted). We drove back east towards Seattle, and decided to try Hurricane Ridge to see if the rain would hold off. On the way up the Ridge, this is what we saw: [[image:pacnw47.jpg:Bambi? Is that you?:center:0]] Bambi! And his family, too: [[image:pacnw45.jpg:Bambi’s Aunty?:center:0]] [[image:pacnw46.jpg:Bambi’s Mommy?:center:0]] I couldn’t see any big antlers, so I presume these are female adults. Although what do I know about deer in North America? Nothing, really. In the meantime, what about another video distraction? Say “Hi, Bambi!!” [[image:pacnwbambi.jpg:Where’s Thumper and Flower?:center:0]] But this early on in the drive up, it looked promising (weather, I mean). We might be able to see some stuff. Right? Wrong! By the time we got to the top, to the lookout point, the temperature had dropped to below freezing, the wind was whipping us around, and freezing rain attacked us. 🙁 […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part II (Rialto Beach)
After the wet Rainforest adventure, we relaxed and napped in our room before going out to dinner. Vincent recommended the Smokehouse, a little outside of downtown Forks. This guy welcomed us: [[image:pacnw30.jpg:Is this what Eric Cartman looks like grown up? Pie!!!:center:0]] It served excellent local seafood and we had a lovely meal. We were too full to try the pie though. 😉 When we left the restaurant, wonder of wonders, the sun was shining! We decided to take advantage of the break in the rain and headed down to Rialto Beach for a little post-dinner beach sight-seeing. Here’s Vincent at the entrance to the beach: [[image:pacnw31.jpg:Vincent at Rialto Beach:center:0]] Views of the beach looking left and right: [[image:pacnw33.jpg:Looking left:center:0]] [[image:pacnw34.jpg:Looking right:center:0]] See those big tree trunks lying on the beach? They’re driftwood. Yes. Driftwood. The biggest blinking driftwood I’ve ever seen! See this giant formation of driftwood – I see […]
Continue readingPacific Northwest: Part I (Hoh Rainforest)
Last month, we packed our bags and took a flight to Seattle, WA for an almost week-long Pacific Northwest extravaganza. We met up with our friend Vincent (a citizen of Gloomville), who went to good old ACS way back when, and who is an Admin at the Unofficial ACS Alumni Forum, and he had thoughtfully planned an itinerary for us. We arrived in the evening and Vincent took us out to a lovely dinner (but we didn’t take any pictures because we were so out of it from the flight that I forgot to take pictures). We checked in to our hotel and Vincent said goodbye, but he would be back early the next morning for the first thing on our Pacific Northwest itinerary was to go to the Olympic Peninsula for a couple of days. This means an early morning ferry ride on a weekday (to escape the huge […]
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