Back to work for CT

After the long weekend, which seemed short, CT went back to work. On Tues, CT went for a team building at Camp Beckwith. He came home tanned and his neck was red. The weather was rather sunny. On Monday night, I cooked Chicken Rice for dinner. Difficult to cook as the pot was too small to put the whole chicken in. However, for my 1st time, I guess it is ok. Edible at least.

On tues, I cooked fried rice and pork rib, corn soup. It is difficult to cook with the right ingredients as I cant find any white pepper here and the pork seemed to have a strong smell. Sigh..

Communicated with Hsiang Ling yesterday using Skype-this program which allows us to communicate PC to PC. I could hear Hsiang Ling's voice but she could not hear me as I do not have microphone. So I replied by typing it. It was fun. Hsiang Ling is in Chicago, living a tai tai lifestyle as well.She showed me pictures of her apartment and it seemed really nice, cosy and big. Well, glad that if I go Chicago, I can stay with her. No need to waste money on accomodation.

Have been researching on places to go for long weekends, especially when my parents coming down in May-June. So, spent my time researching on what to do when they are here and where to go for long weekend because of Memorial Day. Yay..

Going back to Mobile

Did not have to wake up early today as our bus leaves only at 1230pm. So, we only met up together at 10am. After checking out, we went to Peachtree Centre to grab our lunch to eat in the bus depot. I did not buy anything as I knew there was food in bus depot and wanted to try the food there.

We took the train to the greyhound bus station. We reached there about 11am. So had lots of time to have a gd brunch. So I ordered myself hot wings with fries, while CT had a fish burger with fries. They cook it on the spot, so it was nice and hot.

We started lining up to get into the bus at 12 noon. There was a long queue. Waiting time took very long. Even after we boarded the bus, we still had to wait a long time. The bus driver not as efficient as the one we had in Mobile. We took off one hour later-130pm. During the journey, I was listening to music in my MP3 player and reading my book. CT was asleep for a while. It was pouring and there was a tornado watch at Montgomery. We stopped two times. Though it was pouring, I was not afraid of anything as I knew God was watching over me.

God's wonderful creation was shown during the journey when I witnessed the setting of the sun. The whole sky was pinkish-purple and orange. Very beautiful. It was a nice dark orange light shone into the bus. Simply amazing.

We reached Mobile about 7pm. Went back to apartment for a nice, hot soupy maggi mee! haha.. It was nice as I have not had that for some time. Added luncheon meat and lettuce. Yummy.

During the Good Friday weekend, though I did not go to church, I was reminded of God's goodness, great love and His power throughout the trip- how He died on the cross, suffered humilation and betrayal for us. Though some people feel He has been defeated on the cross, I know that He led a victorious life for He did it for us , all according to His plan so that we can have eternal life. I pray that more people can come to know Christ and experience the kind of love I am experiencing from Him.

Visit to Stone Mountain Park

Left hotel at 9 plus am and went to Peachtree Centre to grab lunch to bring to the Stone Mountain Park. I did not get anything as I did not mind eating at the Park. The rest were afraid it will be expensive, but I felt it would not make much difference.

Took train and bus to the place. It was rather far. I bought a ticket which costs US$20. Ticket would entitle me to all the rides and admission free. I rode the skylift, went to the museum (explaining how Stone Mountain came about and the carvings on the mountain), watched a 4D Southern Theatre show. It was the best show I have watched as it was not only 3D, but there was water splashing on us, wind..other effects. Also watched a glass making demonstration, went one round on the train ride and stayed at night for a laser show. Bought dinner and took it to the field where I watched the show. Had southern fried chicken. Very yummy. The laser show was so entertaining. There were lot of fireworks. It was actually a medley of southern country songs and the laser pictures explain the story of the songs. Enjoyed the different fireworks.

After the laser show, took a cab to the train station and took a train back.

First day in Atlanta, Georgia

When we reached Atlanta in the morning, we went searching for breakfast. It was tough finding as it was a Gd Friday, a public holiday. The other thing is that it as early in the morning. So, most places were closed. So, in the end, we went to McDonalds for breakfast. I ate this chicken biscuit and hashbrowns, while CT had big breakfast. Biscuit, in US means something like corn bread/bun.

After breakfast, we walked to our accomodation- Atlanta Downtown Travelodge to see if we could check-in. Our place is next to Hilton and Marriot. A clean small place. Good enough. Thankfully, we could and when I entered my room, I straight away went for a 15 mins power nap. After that, we met downstairs and went to downtown to the CNN centre. We took the marta train. The weather was sunny and hot. We took the CNN tour, which brought us showing the CNN studio and office. Explained how news are being broadcast. During the tour, we were fortunate to have seen CNN live as the newscasters were in the studio on air..and showing on CNN at the same time. So it was rather cool to have seen how everything goes on in the set and how the newscaster seem so good looking on the set.

After the tour, we had lunch at CNN building. Had chicken teriyaki rice at Japanese store. Very yummy. Costs about US$5. Meals outside costs about this much. So, I kind of gotten used to it. Miss cheap and good food in Singapore. After eating, we went to the Olympic Centennial Park (Atlanta hosted the Olympics in 1996) just 7 mins walk away from CNN. The Park is not too bad...just dropped by to take a couple of shots.

After that, took the train to Capitol State Building to take pictures. The building looks really nice. Then, we walked to the World of Coca Cola, just 5 mins away. Met the 1st batch queuing up there. The Coca Cola Headquarters is awesome. It talked about the history of Coca Cola, how it all started and how it developed. What I like about the place is that at the end of it, there were 2 big rooms which allowed us to taste the drinks. The 1st room was drinks like, Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, Root Beer, Blue ice mountain drink, Rasberry drink etc.. All sorts of Soft Drinks. The second room was drinks from all over the world. So there was watermelon, passionfruit, lychee, orange, apple, strawberry, apricot etc...from countries like Japan, China, Papua New Guinea, etc.. All Soft drinks. Very cool as we kept tasting. It was free flow. Never burped so much or drank so much soft drinks in my life!

After that, we went "Underground" and took at look at the shops. Lots of stalls. Then, took train to Peachtree Centre near our hotel and walked around a bit. Then, took away pizza for dinner back to our hotel. What a day!

Leaving For Atlanta tonight

Went out with CT this morning at 815am to go with his colleagues to the Northside Clinic At Saraland. Pam came to pick us up. Glad she is looking alright. Pam told me to tag along as there will be shopping area near by. The clinic is really huge and warm as it looks like a nice terrace house with a big living room. Very cool. After registration, Pam took me to the shopping area just 5 mins away. Went to KMart and walked around. KMart do not sell much grocery food. It sells mainly shopping stuff like clothes, toys etc. After that, I walked to Dollar General store next to it. Things are cheap. It is like a provision store but bigger than Singapore-type of provision store.

After doing some shopping, I called Pam and she came to pick me up and drove me back to my apartment as the rest are still doing their checkup. On the way back, Pam and I spoke about our families, church and more about the education system in our countries. Enjoyed our time together.

When I came home, I started packing for tonight as I was going to Atlanta for the long weekend. Also prepared dinner. Cooked beef stew at about 2 plus pm so that the beef cubes would be tender when dinner time comes. CT called back a few times to check on me. He also told me that 2 of his colleagues will be over for dinner. I was glad as I do enjoy serving and inviting people to my house. I cooked beef stew, made a honey mustard ham, tomato and lettuce salad, and fried an egg with steam rice. I enjoy eating beef with egg...like the Japanese style. Kok Fong and Teck Meng enjoyed the dinner. There was left overs from their Mexican lunch too. So we had lots to eat.

At night, we made our way to Greyhound station about 15-20 mins away. Anthony and Janice (from the 1st batch) fetched us there. The 1st batch also going to Atlanta but some of them could drive. So they will be driving there. Our batch have not taken the driving test in Alabama yet. So, not allowed to drive the company's car because of insurance.

So, we took the Greyhound bus for about 8 hours. Stopped over at Montgomery, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia. It was troublesome stopping as we had to evacuate the bus and wait in the terminal for about 15 mins. I slept the time I was in the bus as it was night. Reached Atlanta, Georgia at 630am. The weather was good.

Whole day in apartment

This morning, I woke up as usual with CT. I was feeling very tired as I did not have a good sleep. So I woke up, prepared cereals and milk for CT and headed straight to bed. I woke up about 9am and called my mum to find out how is everything at home.

When I made myself cereals for breakfast, I switched on the TV and computer as usual. CT left me a love note on the computer. So sweet.

Did not go out today as I was afraid to walk and cross the road. Called the apartment office today to change my kettle. It seemed to have rust inside. So, the lady came over and got me a brand new one. I also communicated with Pam whole morning. She was on MC. Thank God, she has recovered.

CT called three times to find out how are things at home. He told me that tonight, he would come over and pick me up to go to Winn Dixie grocery store to pick up some fresh food. So at 6pm, I went grocery shopping. Bought lots of meat to store in my freezer.

For dinner today, I cooked eggs with chai po, fish soup with carrots and tomatoes, rice(dark soya sauce) with chinese sausages and dried mushrooms. Janice commented that CT is one lucky guy to have me to cook for him as most of his colleagues either eat out or eat something simple.

I do wish to invite his colleagues over once in a while for dinner but I feel it is better for me to get used to the kitchen first before I embarrass myself with burnt "offerings"!

Went to work with CT

Today is a special day. I actually get to go to work with CT to the plant. I have not even visited his plant in Jurong Island, and now, I actually have the opportunity to go to the plant in McIntosh. Cool. I was pretty excited. Woke up together as usual and made breakfast.

Had toast with peanut butter and Bovril. Yum. After that, Anthony came and picked us up. It was interesting as the rest of the people, including CT, was in the car to work and I felt strange. The plant was about an hour drive. Quite a boring drive as there were only rows of trees all the way.

The plant is neat! It is so clean and modern looking. There is even a nice huge pond and fountain. When I reached there at 8am, I was with CT and colleagues in a room. Training only started at 9am. So, we spent the time surfing the internet-find accomodation in Atlanta for this holiday weekendand placed a booking. I also went with CT to choose his safety glasses. There were so many different styles and choices.

Training was conducted by Sandy and it was on site awareness. I sat in and almost fell asleep. But I felt it was cool to be sitting in the room with CT and be in his office place. After training, Pam took me around with CT and introduced me to many of her colleagues. At around 11am, there was a presentation of Tate & Lyle safety achievements. There were speeches made by the managers and President of Sucralose.

After the speeches, we had BBQ lunch buffet style. There was a long queue consisting of all the workers (engineers, technicians) of Tate & Lyle. Lunch was great. There was a huge steak, potatoes, salad, bread and dessert. The steak was so thick but yet tender. I ate more than one-took some from CT. Most could not even finish one steak! Yup, I am a steak lover..

After lunch, we hanged around and then went out of the plant to buy steel-toed shoes for CT and his colleagues. The company is rather generous-giving them a pair of steel-toed shoes for work. So, they were taken to shop for one pair they like. I tagged along and helped CT to choose. Went over to a store next door to look at musical instruments. Love looking at guitars and drums. However, the store only sells full-bodied guitar. So, could not find one which Marianne would like. I was so tempted to buy one to play at home. Miss playing my guitar.

After shopping, we went to the Social Security Office to get our number. CT did not need to get one as he still kept his old card when he used to study in US. He kept it as a souvenir and thank God, that really helped him! With the number, he is able to take the driving test immediately. I feel God has really blessed us. God knows I will be bored at home and He provided internet access and cable TV to my apartment while the some of CT's colleagues cannot work their TV and all of his colleagues still cant access the internet. And now, He prompted CT to keep and bring his Social Security Card so that getting a driver license would be quicker.

Pam drove us around in a rented Chevrolet Van. Very nice and spacious. When she dropped us back at our apartments, she could not move. She was not feeling well. She parked the van and her husband dropped by to pick her up in their own vehicle. We were all so worried for her.

At night, we dressed up to go for dinner with the Big Shots from Tate & Lyle. Had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. It seems like a nice posh restaurant with waitress and waitresses treating us like VIPs. We went into a private room for dinner. Had crab claws and cheese mushrooms for appetisers. Ordered this really nice ribeye marbled steak(medium rare of course) and creamy spinach as sides. It has to be slightly rare for me to taste the juice of the steak...and marbled for the steak to be so tender and tasty. President and VP were there as well. We went one round of introduction and all of them were talking about their engineering background. But when it came to my turn, I could only speak about my teaching and why I came over to US--to support and feed my hubby :)

Throughout the dinner, Jim Davidson who works in the control room and this Mexican guy were entertaining me and CT. We talked so much and boy, Jim is a really comical and great guy. I asked him more about his diving and travelling experience. He loves food and has tried all kinds spicy food. That is exactly what I like-food, diving and wonderful places to visit. He talked about Cancun and that made me so interested to go. I do hope I will be able to go there with CT during our stay here. It has great beaches. I have heard of the place before on cable TV and I know people go there for honeymoon.

Had New York Cheesecake for dessert. Yummy but so full. After dinner, I felt sad as I wanted to hear more from Jim about the places he had been to. It was really a great dinner and company. Do not know when I will ever see them again since I do not think I will have another visit to the plant or have such meals with them. But I am glad Jim would be going to Singapore when the plant starts up.

Went back to the apartment so full and tired.

CT first day of work

CT left for work at about 7am this morning. So, we woke up at 6am. While CT wash up and change, I went to prepare breakfast for him. Prepared a toasted ham, tomato, lettuce sandwich and toast with peanut butter with a glass of orange juice.

After he went to work, I went back to sleep as I did not have a good sleep last night. Dad called me at 9am, which is 11pm Singapore time. We talked for a short while only and I went back to sleep till 11am when CT called me from work. After he called me, I went for a shower and walked out of apartment to explore the area.

Did not walk far as the cars were moving quite fast and there is no pedestrian crossing. So, had to cross very quickly and dangerously. I seemed to be the only one walking as I would say everyone owns a car. Where I stay is definitely not pedestrian-friendly. Hardly any place to walk at the side of road.

Went to Dollar General store. It is only about 7 mins walk from my apartment. It sells things very cheaply for most things at a buck or 2 for $1. After that, I walked a bit but felt it was dangerous. So, I headed back to the apartment.

Called the electrician to come and fix one of the bulbs in my toilet that was blown. Two big guys came over to help. Spent the afternoon watching TV and surfing the internet. Time passes real quick. Before I know it, CT was home from work. He came back about 6 plus. Cooked garlic, red pepper pasta with beef cubes and zuchinni. Tasted real nice as I added a bit of sambal blachan as well. Had cream of mushroom soup and mashed potato with bacon and melted cheese for dinner as well. I prepared 6 portions of mashed potato with bacon and melted cheese for CT's colleagues as well. Packed them into microwavable containers which I bought in the afternoon.

Colleagues came over to use the internet and to collect the potato. I made it for all of them as I was afraid they may not have time to cook much. Hope they liked it! :p

Rest Day

Today, I woke up at 11 plus am. Guess I was real tired. Had a real good sleep. Went to JS place at 12 noon to meet the rest up for lunch. Walked to nearby vietnamese restaurant for lunch. It was only 5 mins walk from our apartment. The food served was great. I ordered an XL bowl of noodles while CT ordered the fried noodles. It was delicious. After that, the group came over to my place to check out what we can all do during the Good Friday weekend.

Hmm..if I were back in Singapore, I would definitely go diving. But now that I am here, it is different. We thought of going New Orleans but heard the company may be bringing them, so we changed plans and decided to go Atlanta. CT colleagues came over to our apartment to use the internet as our place is the only place with access so far.

After discussion, they left and I started cooking dinner. Cooked beef with Zucchini and carrots and fried egg with plain white rice. Enjoyed the dinner as it was our first home cooked meal.

What we do during free time is to watch TV, surf the internet, wash the dishes together and just spend time talking. It was great.

First day in Mobile, Alabama

Woke up at 6:15am this morning. CT couldnt sleep and said he needed to get used to waking up early. So, I woke up together with him and had maggi noodles for breakfast. CT spent whole morning getting the internet by making calls to establish a connection. I was busy channel surfing on TV as there are about 70 channels on cable TV. They have a golf channel, food channel, lots of sports, news and movies channel, cartoon channels,Game show channel as well. Spent the rest of morning to unpack and arrange it nicely into the various cabinets.

Went out 12 noon to walk about in our area and went to JS place as a meeting place. We met up with everyone and was brought around by the 1st batch. They took us to a Chinese buffet place called Chinatown restaurant for lunch. It was yummy and cheap! Costs about US$8 per person plus tax. The buffets here are cheap. After lunch, we were driven around downtown and to the USS Battleship park. Awesome and big ship!

After that, we shopped at Walmart Supercenter and a place which sell electronics called Best Buy. It is all along Airport Blvd Rd. After that, we went to Winn Dixie for another round of grocery shopping. Heard they sell fresher food. It is very reasonably priced as I used the discount card. After shopping, we went for another buffet dinner at a western place called Barnhill's buffet. It was not fantastic as there were a lot of fried food. My brother would love it. Costs about US$12 per person. Dinner is usually more expensive.

After dinner, we went back to our apartments. Had a great day of shopping and looking at the place. Mobile, Alabama is a pleasant city. Not congested at all even downtown. They have a lot of supermarkets and shops-huge and spaced out. You would really need to own a car to be here as I have hardly seen any public transportation around here.

LA-Houston-Mobile

Woke up at 7am, packed a little and went down for complimentary breakfast at hotel. Breakfast was interesting. There was a long queue as the main breakfast served was cooked on the spot. Had to order what you want. Ate denver omelette (omelette with mushrooms and cheddar cheese on top), bacons (not salty at all), sausages, mashed up hashbrowns and 2 toast. Delicious.

After breakfast, we took our luggage to the airport to check in. Thank God for CT. He helped me carry so many luggages. It was carring total of 5 luggages in all! Checking in at LAX airport was quite fast as we used the computer terminal to print out our boarding tickets. Quite fun as we could choose our own seats by touching the screen. Love technology.

I slept almost the whole 3 hours flight from LAX to George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport. Felt good and refreshed.The snack given in the plane was quite good. There was steak with melted cheese sandwich potato chips, baby carrots and a bar of chocolate. The sandwich was piping hot. That made a world of difference.

At Houston Airport, we had to go from Terminal E to Terminal B by taking a train. Waited for about 1 and a half hours for the flight to Mobile, Alabama. In Houston Airport, I saw Marriott Hotel just at the airport. People staying there can probably see the runway and planes. Heard it is expensive to stay there since it is so convenient for travellers.

On the flight to Mobile, Alabama, I was on board continental express and the plane was quite small. Probably about 20 plus people in it only. Only made up of 3 columns. One column against the windows and 2 rows joint together on the other side. It is pretty low as well as I hit my head when I stood up from my seat. I could also see the cockpit and pilots from where I sit. Very interesting. The plane flight from Houston to Mobile is only one hour. It was a pleasant flight since it was quite short.

CT was sitting behind me in the one row sitter and he looked so excited as we were making our way nearer to our destination.

When I arrived in Mobile Regional Airport, there were so many of them at the airport to receive us--the 1st batch of engineers sent in Feb and some of the people from Tate & Lyle. The funny thing is that we could collect our luggage all together, rather than the usual collection of luggage before meeting the people. No police or custom officers seen as it was such a small airport. We just walked out from the plane, met the welcome party and collected the luggage and went out. Real cool.

The team brought us to Ruby Tuesday Western restaurant. Me and CT sat in Pam's car. Pam is a wonderful lady working in Tate & Lyle. The food in Ruby Tuesday is very nice. I ordered a Ribeye steak while CT ordered a New Orleans Seafood which was just as yummy. Great place to eat in! After the meal, we went to our apartment called Cabanas Apartment.

The place we are staying is a very warm and comfortable place. It has a great kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry place and 2 rooms with 1 attached bathroom. The living area is carpeted together with the 2 rooms. Makes the place more cosy.

We started unpacking and CT was busy fixing the internet access.Slept only at about next morning. We reached on Friday. So we had two days to settle down before CT starts work.

At Los Angeles

At LAX Airport, James was held up by the customs officer because he had 2 US visas. His tourist visa was not expired yet, so the officers brought him to a room and questioned him. Took about 2 hours. The rest of us waited and waited for him. We were all exhausted and hungry from the travelling, but quite excited for being able to step out of the plane and breathe America air.

We put up at the Embassy Suites Hotel near the airport. The rooms are all suites-with a living room and King-sized bed. We arrived at noon. Took a quick shower and had lunch at the hotel. Ate mushroom swiss burger and fries, buffalo wings and lobster bisque soup (shared with CT). Portions were huge, so I ended up so full. After lunch, most of us were exhausted. Some of them slept on the sofa in hotel lobby. What a sight..

Decision taking took a long time as there were 11 of us. So, it was difficult to arrange transport. Waited for quite a while before we decided what to do after lunch. Finally took a Metro train down to Hollywood and walked around in LA. Also went to the streets along Universal Studio. Had dinner at seafood place. Did not like my steamed mussels. But the dessert-strawberry shortcake and brownies were lovely. For a person who does not take much desserts, it was de-li-cious!

Took train back to hotel. Journey took about 1 and a half hours. Very exhausting as it was about 10 plus pm already. The waiting at the restaurant took very long. It was a test of patience. Fell asleep in the train. Once we reacher "Aviator" metro station, we had to take a shuttle bus to LAX airport before our hotel shuttle bus could pick us up. So troublesome. Reached hotel about 12 plus, 1am. Once reached hotel, went straight to bed. Such a nice big room with 2 TVs went to waste as we did not have time to enjoy all that. Too tiring.

Leaving for Alabama

Left Singapore at 730am for Tokyo, Narita Airport. Flight was about 6 hours long. Initially, CT and I were supposed to sit far away from each other. However, when we boarded the plane, James was seating just behind CT. So I swopped with him and was waiting for who will be beside me so that I can do another swop. Thankfully, it was a couple-one sitting with CT and the other, with me. So, we did a mutual swop. :) We were sitting near the toilets in the middle (very convenient) with no one behind except the air steward seats..So, we could lie back with no constraints..not bad. Watched 2 movies on board the plane- Taxi and Mr3000. Enjoyed Taxi-very funny and entertaining.

Narita Airport is a very clean and nice place. Quite high tech. Wanted to eat Jap food there in airport, but CT said it was too expensive and not much time left. Some of them ate and the bill was charged to company. Sigh..should have eaten. I love Jap food and always impress at the nicely wrapped food in the shops selling desserts.

From Narita, I flew to LAX (Los Angeles) Airport. Flight took about 9 hours plus. CT and I were put next to each other but it had to be a front seat and the worse part was that, it was next to a baby. So, CT did not have a good sleep as he was sitting next to the crying baby. I watched Bridget Jones Diary 2- funny but silly. After that, I watched Finding Neverland, but fell asleep shortly as it was a silly show. Food served was great as it came from Japan..so I had Japanese food. Was served Pork Katsudon with prawn sushi and tofu skin sushi as appetisers..so yummy.
Slept after meal and finally, I woke up to watch a Japanese romantic movie show- Be with you. It is a very nice and touching show. I watched it as CT told me that after he watched it, he feel he needed to treat me better. So, I had to see it! Enjoyed the show very much but could not watch finish as I reached LA already. Sob.. For once, I wanted to stay longer in the plane. I detest plane flights..but guess, all that has changed..hmm.

Farewells..

These few days have been lots of farewell lunches and dinners. My organiser seems to be packed with all the farewell gatherings. Today, I will have farewell lunch at Siglap with Marianne, Joshua and of course, baby Phoebe (my god-daughter). Will definitely miss them! As for tonight, I will be having seafood dinner at Marina Country Club- Punggol with relatives, mum-in-law and sisters-in-law. About 20 people I would say. I told Mabel, my colleague that I would grow fatter even before I go US. Sigh...Thought I could lose weight, so that I won't look overly overweight when I come back one year later..:)