Heroes...

Today, watched Oprah as usual at 4pm and it was very touching. Oprah always invites guests and interview them but today, the guests she invited all went through some sort of trials in their lives.


The first guest she invited was Melissa Etheridge. She is a multi platinum singer that sold more than 25 million records. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 43 but she survived after undergoing grueling chemotherapy, she emerged truly triumphant. She was bald and beautiful when she returned and performed at this year's Grammy Awards ceremony, despite feeling weak from the cancer treatment.






This was what she said in her interview with Oprah,

" It was perspective. It was—this is my body and this is my mind, and my mind is still going. My spirit is going. I have love. I have feelings. I have thoughts. I have a whole world going on. But my body is not available to me now. And so I…I now no longer fear death because I know that, yeah, this body goes away…it will terminate. But, that which is inside me goes on and on no matter what. And it really raised me up to that. That energy."

The second guest was Kyle Maynard. He is is one of the most inspiring young men you will ever hear about. Due to a rare birth defect called congenital amputation, Kyle was born without arms and legs. By Kyle's senior year, he was one of the top wrestlers in the state. Today, this astonishing young man is a freshman and a wrestler at the University of Georgia.

As his parents hoped, he does everything any other college kid can do and a whole lot more." He types 50 words a minute as well! "I've always said it's not about what I can do," Kyle says. "It's what I will do, and what I will go out and do is exactly what I have my mind set on doing."

He wrote a book called, "No excuses". What it meant to him was...

"'No excuses' to me," Kyle says, "is just an attitude. It's an attitude that says I can accomplish anything. No matter what it takes, I'm going to go out there and achieve my dreams. If I made an excuse early on in my life, I would have given up a lot of things. But I'm here with you today because I made no excuses.""I think God made me the way I am because now I have the opportunity to go out and speak and write this book. I have the opportunity to reach other people and tell them that anything's possible as long as you carry this attitude with you."

If you look at him during the interview with Oprah, you think he looks so normal and so good looking. And truly, when his sisters were interviewed, they said that his brother can do things better than a lot of 'normal' people. To them, his is more normal than anyone.

The next guest was this guy called Jim Maclaren. In 1985, 22-year-old Jim MacLaren was a 6'5" 300-pound Yale all-American athlete and aspiring actor. His future appeared as unlimited as his ambitions. But one fall day in New York City, Jim was struck by a bus and pronounced dead. "They actually chalked my body on the street," he says.

Ultimately, Jim recovered, but his injuries were serious. Jim lost his left leg below the knee. He was devastated at first, but his courageous spirit liberated his body. After transforming his muscular build into the lean frame of a long-distance runner, Jim became the fastest one-legged endurance athlete on the planet, breaking the marathon world record in 3 hours 16 minutes, and setting the world record in the Ironman Triathlon.

In the middle of an Ironman competition, on a closed course, a van struck Jim and threw him from his bike. At the hospital, doctors delivered a devastating blow. Jim had a broken neck, and he would never again move or feel from his chest down. Heartbroken, Jim could barely cope with the news that he was now quadriplegic. "I don't know if I can do this again," he thought.

Jim faced a choice—to lose himself to his body or to live beyond his so-called "disability." Told he would never move again, doctors only considered the severity of Jim's injuries—not the strength of his will. After enduring thousands of hours of painful rehab, he stunned and inspired all who knew him. His doctors call him a living miracle.

"Initially I was diagnosed as a complete quadriplegic," Jim says. "Complete means you'll get no motor or sensory from your injury and below. … Now I'm [an] incomplete [quadriplegic]. My legs are stronger. You [Oprah] and I, if we had to, could get up and walk out of here. It's not functional, [but] I do it every day for exercise. It's a miracle."

The next story was...

When Emmanuel Yeboah was born without a tibia in his right leg, his mother was advised to kill him. In Ghana, a disabled baby is considered a curse and is either poisoned or left in the forest to die. The lucky ones are hidden away until they can make their way to the streets, where they'll spend the rest of their lives begging.

Emmanuel's mother made a choice to keep her son alive and teach him to transcend all limitations. Every day she carried her son three miles to and from school. At school, Emmanuel was ostracized. But it was when he was turned away from the soccer team that he decided to take a stand. Earning a dollar a day shining shoes, he bought his own ball and offered it to his classmates on one condition—they had to include him on the team.

When Emmanuel's mother died, he chose to honor her life and the lives of Ghana's two million disabled by showing the world that people with disabilities can contribute to society. For 10 days, and with just one leg, Emmanuel rode nearly 400 miles across Ghana—a journey to prove to his country the value of all people. "I believe that I get my strength from my mother," Emmanuel says.

Emmanuel took his mission to the streets by first writing a letter to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, anorganization founded to help Jim MacLaren after his paralyzing accident. After communicating long distances, Emmanuel and Jim finally met face-to-face and learned that they shared more in common than a disability.

Jim and Emmanuel's story is documented in Emmanuel's Gift, a film narrated by Oprah. So, if it comes out in the movies or TV, do catch it!

The Oprah show ended with a new song by Melissa Etheridge called, "I run for life". It is a very touching song about not losing your faith and running despite your sufferings or pains. I shed a tear when she was singing cos the lyrics and the song gave hope...

Blood donation

Today, did not do much. Just went with Gek Teng to collect mail. Every Wednesday, the mail would include the supermarket's offers..So, it is quite exciting to open up mailbox to see all these. Sometimes, they would give food discount coupons as well and I have been using them.

Anyway, I have been watching this Korean VCDs which CT's female Singaporean colleague lent me. She also has some VCDs for her stay here in US..so she lent me as she said she has no time to watch. It is quite nice..but a girly show. So, I watch it in the afternoon, knowing that CT would not watch it. It is about this innocent girl who works her way up to be successful..her trials that she faces and about her meeting a guy and their relationship. Hehe..

I did not want to watch it initially as I thought the storyline so expected. But I was bored and I thought, since I have it, I might as well watch it. And I did not regret as I watch 4 discs a day! It is quite interesting.

Tonight, CT came home with his elbow wrapped with red bandage. He donated blood during his work. When I first saw him, I told him that he looked like a Communist with his red bandage! Haha..

Anyway, I am very proud of him to donate blood. He is a regular blood donor and it makes me happy to see him think of others because I know there are a lot of people who do not donate because they scared pain and the blood and needles. But I always believe that if you focus on other things like how important the blood is to someone fighting for his/her life, I think the fear will disappear.

By the way, my friend sent me this link which I thought it is very very insightful. It is a blog by written by her friend and it is very interesting as her friend pens down his convictions about God and all.Do take a look!
http://webprayers.blogspot.com/2005/09/my-convictions-logical-deduction-of.html

Pak tor at night

Today after lunch, went out with Gek Teng to Dollar General store to shop. It is just across my apartment, which most things sell for a buck. I wanted to buy a bag of Potato Chips. Gek Teng ended up buying more stuff than me even though I was the one who suggested going. Ha.

Anyway, tonight after dinner, CT and I went to "Marble Slab Creamery" ice cream place. We wanted to give ourselves a treat after realising we lost a few kg. On Sunday when we were at Bel Air Mall, we went to the departmental store and took a weighing machine which was on the shelf to weigh ourselves. Ha..We were glad we lost weight and so, we bought an ice cream tonight.

We ordered one cone double choc ice cream with toppings. It is very nice homemade ice cream...but expensive. It was US$3 plus. Anyway, we brought our ice cream and walked around along the shops. Went into "Books-A-Million" shop. It is a big bookshop with a cafe inside. I wanted to buy a book which Oprah recommended- A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. It sounded good as Oprah describes how she stayed up all night reading it.

The picture of the left is taken in the bookshop with our ice cream. Yup, here in US, it seems that we can bring in drinks and food to shops..unlike Singapore...dun allow this, dun allow that..


This book is a true story about himself-his addiction and his journey to recovery. He also had drug and alcohol addiction and the book talks about his rehab. It is an unforgettable account of how far one man will go to destroy himself and what it takes to turn him around.

I kind of like books like these that are inspirational as I always believe there are things to learn from everyone.

We stayed on in the bookshop for a while as we look through books and I was looking at boardgames. I love the games in US as they are all quite interesting. After that, we walked for a while more before heading home.

Cooked new dishes

Today, did not leave the house at all as even housewives have 'Monday blues'. So, when Monday comes, we get lazy to leave the house and just stay at home resting to recover from the activity that took place during weekends.

I did one chapter of A Level Mathematics in 10-yr series book on functions and graphs. It was fun and I felt at least my time was well spent because it keeps my brain working. I also did bible study by studying the book on 1 Peter. Studied the background, history and the purpose of writing this book.

I remembered reading somewhere about how amazing the bible is. It is written in different languages by so many different people from all over, but yet, the theme coincides and when the books come together to form the bible, it just fits so perfectly. Why? Because God inspired the writers to pen down the words..

It is like saying..I go Orchard Road and pick 10 people and give them a topic to write. They would def come with diff ideas and writings...what more people from different places, diff languages? SO, this shows the authencity of the bible and how God really inspired them to write. So, with that in mind, I have been wanting to study the bible in more detail to discover more of God's wonder that will amaze me.

I listened to my church sermon on 1 Peter as well as did a study by Chares Swindoll on 1 Peter to see their views on this book. It was fun as I felt like a researcher..

When CT came home, I shared with him what I studied and we discussed the book together.

Today, I cooked new dishes- sweet and sour (and spicy) prawns as well as chicken with black fungus, mushroom, dried lily flower, chinese sausage with chinese wine. I could not steam it as I should, because I do not have a big wok...much to my regret when my mum came over and offered to buy me one. But I thought it was troublesome to bring home, so I declined her offer. Anyway, here is a picture of what I cooked... There is also spinach with garlic...if u are wondering what that is. :)

Body aching..

This morning, woke up with my shoulders aching because of the heavy buckets which I carried yesterday. CT kept laughing at me cos I so weak..hehe..

Anyway, went church as usual and after our bible study class, me and CT were walking down the stairs where we met this lady whom I thought she looked familiar. Then she said to my husband,"You are CT, right?" Then we said, "You are??" She intro herself as the lawyer's secretary. A week ago, we went to her house to ask her to witness the signing of some lawyer papers and I rem her house is very big and nice.

What a coincidence to see her in church and the same one as well!

After service, we went home and I cooked pork chops for lunch. It was yummy though my first time cooking. I added italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, paprika. This is what we had for lunch... It is not burnt thought the picture looks like it, but I added lots of spices which makes it tasty and pan-fried it.

So, we had cream of mushroom soup and salad as well. Yummy...but made my whole apartment smell because I do not have any ventilation in my small apartment.

After lunch, we watched the VCDs. Almost finished watching the discs.

Then, we went to Bel Air Mall to look for Levis Jeans as CT's relatives ask him to buy cos it is cheap in US. The Levis Jeans costs about US$30. I think no matter how cheap Levis jeans is compared to singapore, my usual price jeans I purchase is about S$30..which is still much cheaper than levis..hehe..

We walked around and went window shopping. After a while, I went to this departmental store, JC Penneys to get a nice looking pants for only US$22! It is very comfortable material and has the flexibility of becoming 3 quarter pants or normal pants.

As we were driving out of Bel Air Mall, I spotted lots of sea gulls flying at the carpark..and decided to take a picture from my car..

We went to "Wanfu" Chinese Restaurant to dabao our dinner. I told CT tat I lazy to cook dinner tonight as it was already 545pm. So, we dabao Fried Rice, Fried noodles and braised tou fu. Chinese Restaurants in US always give out fortune cookies..quite cute.

I love the "Wanfu" fried rice but their cooking is rather oily..I guess it is the same for all Chinese Restaurants here.

Task Force Hope to Pascagoula, Mississippi

This morning, woke up at 7am, had quick breakfast and went to BK to take away sandwiches for lunch later. We will be going to Mississippi to help in the relief efforts for the victims of hurricane. So, we had to bring our own lunch. Went to our church (First Baptist North Mobile) to gather with the group.

We first helped in the carrying of buckets-'Bucket of Hope' into the trailer. The buckets are donated by church members, filling it up with food stuff, toiletries etc. This is what it is inside the bucket.



















We carried a lot of buckets to load up into the trailer. Packed about 120 buckets in it and few bags of quilts and bedsheets. We car pooled and went in trucks and vans. So, we left our car in the church. It was about a 45 mins ride to Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Today, Hurricane Rita made landfall at Texas and Louisiana. It seems that it has caused flooding in these areas. So, the weather reports thunderstorms for the whole weekend in Mississippi and Mobile area as well. However, the whole day we were at Pascagoula, the weather was sunny and breezy. I was actually praying for good weather despite the report saying 100% chance of rain.

Anyway, our first stop was to this baptist church in Pascagoula. From the outside, I do not see much damage, but when we entered, you can see all the carpet and walls being ripped out due to the flooding. The pastor in the church mentioned that the water rised to 1 metre plus.

After touring the church a while to take a look at the damage, we helped to move boxes of donations to a room to sort it out and clear the sanctuary to prepare for service tomorrow.

We had to organise the donations into toiletries, baby stuff, food stuff etc..

After few hours of moving and sorting, we took a lunch break. Got out my burger I got from "Burger King" and ate. Got to know the rest better by talking during lunch in a circle and everyone shared their potato chips. It seems that for lunch, Americans like to eat potato chips with sandwiches and then end off with cookies. Interesting...but I quite like it as well. Ha..

After lunch, we mopped the floor to prepare for their service tomorrow. It was enjoyable as we talked and worked out our lunch by mopping and scrubbing with bleach.






















After cleaning the floors, we went with some of our church members to visit the homes of the victims. But before that, we stopped by at another church as some of the members were there to help out to sort the donations there as well...and we wanted to talk to the pastor to ask him where is a good place to go that may need our 'buckets of hope'.

Entering the other church, we saw how the donations were sorted out and they jokingly said that this would bring Walmart out of business as there were a lot of donations and people would be allowed to come in a shop for free.

After visiting the church, we went to homes. There was this couple that striked me most as they totally lost their house and is living in a trailer. What was left on the plot of land was just a concrete slab. Travelling in the neighbourhood of the devastation was a messy place with lots of junk outside people''s house as they had to throw away their carpet, sofa, cabinets etc..because of the flood water damaging all of it.

So, we went to houses to distribute our "buckets of hope" to them and listened to their story. Before we left, we prayed for them and the couple was tearing as we prayed about how God will see them through. It was amazing seeing their happy and hopeful faces at the end of our prayer. I gave them a hug before I went back to the van as we went on to other places.

Seeing the devastion from CNN and actually visiting the sites personally is so different. Being there changes the atmosphere and you just feel so sad as we travelling down the roads looking at devastation-roofs collapsed..houses gone, rubble everywhere..etc..Here are some of the pictures I took..

We reached back church at 5pm and as we drove back home, the rain started pouring and it was so heavy that we could not see the cars in front. God really blessed us with good weather when we were in Pascagoula.

Went home and cooked spaghetti for dinner.

What a fruitful and eventful day!

Went out for dinner

Spent the whole day doing presentation for CT's work. He is supposed to give a safety talk and asked me to think of a topic and come up with a powerpoint presentation. So, I told him a safety talk on lightning since it is so common. So, I have been finding info about lightning in US and Singapore, its statistics of the death and safety codes.

It was fun but yet, I am not used to such stress and have not done so much work for a long time already. I better get used to it before I go back Singapore to work. :)

Went out for dinner today since it is Friday and I did not feel like cooking...too tired already. So, I suggested eating Mexican food as I have not tried it in Mobile yet. So, we went to a nice restaurant...I enjoyed the fried chicken wings.

Here is the food we ordered

In the Mexican restaurant, the waiter will bring out a basket of nachos with salsa. After eating that, quite full already. I find mexican food to be very filling because of the sour cream, cheese etc.

After dinner, we went to Walmart to buy heavy duty trash bags for our trip to Pascagoula, Mississippi to help the residents in Mississippi to rebuild their homes. However, as usual, I ended buying more things than just that! haha..

Rainy..

The weather forecast says there will be rain for the next few days because of the hurricane. There is a flash flood warning nearby my area. I guess that is about all here in Mobile I hope. News of Texas residents evacuating and jamming up the highway.

This morning, after CT left, I got changed and went swimming at 715am to 8 plus am. I swam 44 laps..about 1km as the pool is about 20-25m. I wanted to train my stamina and at least do some workout. The clouds were dark but I still swam. Water quite hot as weather has been very sunny.

However, it was raining in the afternoon and after the rain, I went out to wash the car as there were a lot of leaves and flowers on it. It was so much cooler and nice weather towards evening and night..probably low 20 degrees.

I borrowed National Geographic mag and A Level 10-yr series from Gek Teng to read and do. She borrowed the magazine from the library. I felt so happy that I got stuff to do! I do not wish to waste my time away by just watching TV and playing with my computer.

So,I did some A Level Math Questions and read the magazine. At least it makes me feel that I am not wasting my time. I have been reading a lot of books as well.

Cooked Cheng Tng today and gave some to CT's colleague, Colin and his family. Colin brought along his wife and 2 kids. They have been very nice- inviting us over for dinner before and I rem his wife starting outdoor cooking during the Hurricane and allowing us to cook at their place.

Added lotus seed, red dates, dried longan, sweet potato and white fungus into it. Tastes good. Hehe..

Thursday is a day to watch my survivor: Guatemala. So exciting and seeing the games they play.

During dinner, CT was telling me about his presentation and that he needs to do a safety presso soon. He asked me for a topic and I gave some ideas. Anyway, I told him I can help him to do the presentation in powerpoint since I have always done presentations in powerpoint for my teaching.

So, it is great that I can help my husband in his work and at least make use of my time. :)

A hurricane has been formed

Yet another hurricane coming.. Tropical Storm Rita has been formed into a hurricane within a day and moves at the speed of over 220km/h. Its path is said to hit Texas and part of Louisiana.It is a powerful Category 5 storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico. The news reported that it might be a bigger hurricane than the last one.

Evacuees from New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina was evacuated to Texas, Houston to stay in the stadium. However, right now, they have to move to another place again.

Very sad because can you imagine how unsettling it is to move here and there without the proper amenities and without your own home, sleeping in the same place as few thousands in the stadium?

A lot of people are evacuating already, as they do not want to take anymore chances.

For updates of this hurricane Rita, do check out the weather website at www.weather.com

Grandma passed away

Today, received an email from my bro that my grandma passed away. When I was back in Singapore, I visited my grandma at her house and she did not move or talk at all. She lost so much weight already. She was also always in and out from hospital...with difficulty breathing.

CT and I have been praying that my dad would be able to talk and see my grandma...as that time, my dad still could not talk and was lying in the hospital bed. Then, recently, my grandma was admitted to the same ward as my dad and then moved to another ward. So, we kept praying that my dad would be well enough to see my grandma and talk to her as it has been so many months since my dad has seen her.

So, heard from my brother that my dad got to see her and talk to her before she passed on. We were thankful that at least my dad got to see her.

I think my grandma is about 92 years old already and she has been very sickly and weak. I hardly talk to her as she cannot really hear me or either that, I cannot hear her. So, it was difficult for me to have a close relationship with my grandma.

However, I was still sad because she has always been in our prayers and I do care about her.

Irritating love bugs...

Now is the season(Sept-Oct) where love bugs are all around..

Initially, I never knew the names of these insects but the bugs always appear in pairs because it seems to be the mating season..so I call them "love bugs". I never realised until few days ago that they are really called "love bugs". What a coincidence.

I find them really irritating as they keep flying in the air when you drive out and they just die in front of the car bumper.. So all the cars during these few months have lots of love bugs on the front of the car. Gross...

And the windscreen appears very dirty as well..so I kind of gave up washing the car.

Here is how the love bugs look like..(magnified version)



Got a picture of my car bumper..with all the dead love bugs.

Talked to my daddy on the phone!

Today, went to USA Hospital at night-the same hospital my dad was in when he was here... Went there because Pam, CT's colleague's husband was sent there for acid burns on his leg. He was carrying a container when it spilled on his leg.

Doctors said that if this kind of acid has 10% concentration on his body, all his internal organs would shut down and after doing a test on him, he had 8% concentration. So, it was a close call. So, we went to visit him with CT's colleagues and gave Pam a huggie. Pam is a wonderful lady who is so sincere and helpful...one who would always think of others more than herself. She had been a great help when my family met with the accident-helping with the adminstrative work, taking care of the rented car, police report etc..

Spent about an hour in hospital as I went up to the 8th level to see my dad's nurses..to just say hi and tell them update of my dad's condition. However, I went up and did not see anyone I know..When entering the hospital, my first comment was..."What a familiar smell.." as the hospital smell was so distinct when we first entered.

After the visit, we went home and watched our VCDs..then I called my dad as it was his birthday (according to Singapore time)- 20 Sept. Mum and I arranged a time for me to call her hp so that I can talk to dad and wish him happy birthday. So I called at 945pm, which was 1045am singapore time...

My dad sounded so good..It was really nice to hear his voice. It does sound weak but it was good and clear enough. It sounds as if he has a bad sore throat. My dad told me he misses me...

My aunt brought a birthday cake at the hospital. My aunt always celebrate her birthday tog with my dad as it is the same day..so, she took leave to celebrate with my dad. So sweet. I think my aunt seldom take leave as she seems to be working very hard all the time. So, I feel it is nice that my dad has company and some sort of birthday atmosphere to cheer him up.

My dad is rather bored in hospital as there is nothing for him to do..So he said, he will just pray to God. :)

CT also spent some time talking to my dad..After the phone call, we were happy but yet sad cos I cannot be there to celebrate with him..but happy cos he can talk and we can hear his voice finally..after not hearing for more than 3 months!

Just want to wish my dad a happy birthday and pray that he will continue to be strong and joyful in the Lord as God is with him. God promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us.So, there is so many things to give thanks for.. :)
Pray that whatever my dad prays to God, God will honor his prayers..

Tropical Storm Rita

Everyone staying in US ,especially people living at the Gulf Of Mexico, has been keeping track of the weather eversince the damage done by Hurrican Katrina and the strong winds, waves and some damage by Hurricane Ophelia in South and North Carolina recently...

Now, another tropical storm coming up...called Tropical Storm Rita. It is developing around the Florida Keys area and will gain strength as it moves up to Louisiana and Texas area on Fri/Sat. It is most likely to become another hurricane..

The reason why there have been so many hurricanes so far in Aug and Sept is because the water is hottest and hurricane gains strength because of the warm moist waters. It will only lose its powers when it hits the land and when it picks up cooler waters. However, I am sure this hurricane will gain strength as the weather has been very hot lately..

Please pray for this hurricane that it will not cause damage or take away lives as many of the evacuees are in Texas and Louisiana is just starting to pick up the pieces again after Hurricane Katrina..It will be terrible for them to face another hurricane.Pray also the wind will not change and come round my area. Anything can happen.

I must say, life has been more interesting ever since I have came here. I tend to appreciate life and the small little things more.

Farewell Party

Today, went church as usual and boy, the service was crowded as there were athletics from Uni of Mobile who attended. The Vice-President from Uni of Mobile went up to talk and gave his testimony. He was dying from cancer and told everyone that he would not live to do this and that..but the whole time he was just telling how good God is and how much peace he has received. After his moving testimony, everyone stood up and gave him a standing ovation.

After church, we went back home and reheated our left over curry and I cooked spinach with wolfberries (Gei zi), garlic and egg. Very nice..Can add salted egg and century egg as well.. The Spinach I bought is all leaves..as it is actually packed in a bag nicely and washed for American salad..haha..

Anyway, after lunch, I started reading my travel books while CT was doing some work on computer..I was watching TV at the same time. At about 4pm, we watched our VCDs one after another till 6pm. I bathed and changed as we had a farewell dinner appointment in Chinatown Restaurant.

It is about 15-20mins away from my apartment. And I loved it. Chee How (CT's colleague) chose that restaurant for farewell as we went there on our first day when we reached Mobile...so he thought CT's colleagues who are going back should end off back at the same restaurant. 4 of CT's colleagues -James, JS, Tee and Shawn are the first batch of colleagues going back. They would be leaving tomorrow afternoon.

The food in Chinatown is great. The last time we came was during lunch, so it was not as fantastic. Dinner buffet menu is always nicer. What we liked was the dim sum. There was steamed pork ribs with black beans, chicken feet, lotus wrapped glutinous rice, fried carrot cake, har gou (prawn dumpling), siew mai, char siew pau etc.. All taste quite nice..surprisingly!!

Here are the 4 who are leaving... (from Left to Right: James, JS, Tee, Shawn)

After dinner, we went home and continued watching our VCDs...then stopped half way to make banana orange milkshake with our blender.. After I saw CT taking a mouthful of milkshake, I had to take this..

Exciting day

This morning, we woke up at 8am and played tennis. Again, my stamina got the better of me. I lost 6-3 to CT..and then after one game, we played two more sets before I told CT I cannot take it anymore cos keep panting.. I felt weak..breathless..I think it can also be due to the sun. It was scorching hot and oh well...will try to build my stamina.
After tennis, we continued with swimming. So fun..We swam and played in the pool. After 2 hours of exercise, we had our breakfast. Cooked maggi mee. I have been trying to save and scrimp on my koka noodles as I only have 2 packs left. So, I only cooked one packet for breakfast and shared with CT. It was Tom Yam flavour...too hot for me. I prefer to original flavour like chicken, mushroom, seafood flavour..hehe..

After tat, went Asian mart to buy my usual veggies...Bought bean sprouts and brinjal. Then, went to Winn Dixie Supermarket to get meat as they have "buy one get one free" offer. Bought pork chops, fruits and some veggies. Then, went to the library which was near by. We have not visited the library before...as I did not know where was it.

I only found out that it was nearby our place from Tee, CT's colleague when I saw him reading a travel book..So, he was the one who told me where it was from and how to get there. It was a big and pleasant library. I loved it!! SO many books..and guess what?? It is free membership and you can borrow UNLIMITED books!! The date due is one month later. How cool is that??!!

There were Movie DVDs as well but heard it costs one buck for one dvd...Still cheap..But I dun think I will borrow cos I still have my VCDs. :)

We spent a short time in the library because it was close to lunch time and I had groceries in the car. We just wanted to go check it out and borrow some books for fun..and I ended up borrowing 13 books!! hehe.. I borrowed lots of travel guides to read up the places which I would be visiting and would like to visit.. Borrowed tennis books to improve on my tennis as well, photography magazines..Hehe..It was fun!!

CT also enjoyed. I told him that I would like to come back again and stay much longer in the library..He also said he would like that too. Yay!! I told him I could spend the whole day in it just reading..cos so peaceful and at the end of it, I would come out of the library with more knowledge..hehe..feels great.


Here are pictures of the library building..



















We went Burger King after library to da bao lunch...cos I have coupons- buy one value meal and get one free burger. We got mushroom swiss burger cos CT and I loves mushrooms..

We went home to eat and watch VCD together. The show is getting more and more exciting.. :)

After watching VCD, CT went to prepare dinner. He promised that he would help prepare dinner tonight.He would be cooking Curry Chicken. So, he was peeling the potatoes , carrots and cutting them, marinating the chicken.. I just stood beside him to see and tell him how to do it. Hehe..

However, after he peeled the carrots and cut them, he asked me how come curry chicken need carrots one. So we kept them in the ziplock in fridge to use for other dishes next time since he does not want it in the curry. Then, he said, "Aiyah, waste my effort.."

So, CT prepared his chicken curry while I cooked bean sprouts with fresh cut chilli and fried salted fish...I love the salted fish with bean sprouts.. We had this for dinner and ate the curry with french loaf. No rice..Very enjoyable.

























After dinner, we watched one VCD after another as the night was still young..

Day of Prayer

Today, George Bush announced this day as a day of prayer for the hurricane victims and situation. It was held in a church in Washington. Other churches around US also had their own day of prayer. Many people who attended the prayer service all mentioned in the news that they were moved and it was a touching service.


Today, also marks "Hurricane Ivan" anniversary. Exactly one year ago, Hurricane Ivan hit gulf coast and caused damages about US$25 billion. Heard this hurricane hit my apartment and caused damage as well. It was more Mobile and Florida area that was hit. However, Hurricane Katrina is worse..causing more than US$28 billion worth of damage. The news even mentioned that a lot of houses in New Orleans are unsalvageable. Sigh..


Today, me and CT went out for dinner. I told CT that I did not have any vegetables left to cook...and I guess it was also an excuse to go out to eat as I miss outside food. Hehe... We went to TGIF Restaurant for dinner. I ordered a Jack Daniels Flat Iron Steak with fries, while CT ordered grilled chicken breasts with spices and sauce...which was very nice. The service was not as good as compared to other restaurants as it was slow and there were too many people so much so that the waitress looked kind of distracted.

After dinner, we went to Walmart to shop for the hurricane victims. Last week in church, we picked up this grocery list to buy for the victims and pack it into a pail which we can buy all stuff from Walmart. It was a long list, consisting of canned food stuff, baby powder,wipes,peanut butter, dish towels, first aid stuff, toiletries etc...and a bible..

I tell you...it was T.O.U.G.H!! Getting the stuff in a huge huge supermarket made me dizzy..I told CT that my eyes were aching from trying to find the stuff..but as we were striking off the list one by one after picking it up from the shelf, it was so rewarding..and satisfying..The tough part was because we needed to get the exact brand and weight of the item..so, it was quite straining on the eye to find it.

After one hour plus of shopping finally, we went home so happy and excited to pass the stuff to the hurricane victims.

We reached home at 930pm and packed everything in the pail and wrote a short message in the bible to whoever who receives this pail of goodies...I felt very happy.

Then, we watched our VCDs and boy, it was late before we slept..it was 12 plus am already..yawn..

What a day!

Survivor..

This morning, woke up with CT and had breakfast with him before he went to work. CT prefers me to have breakfast with him instead of me going back to sleep and having breakfast after I wake up. So, after he left, I did not go back to sleep and read my emails, watch the news in the morning. Time passed very slowly when it is so early in the morning.

Anyway, at about 10am plus, Gek Teng came over and we spent time together at my apartment. We were watching TV together and talking at the same time. After she left, I reheated my food for lunch. Ate real fast cos I was starving since I had breakfast so early.

Today, CT came back and went off to play tennis with his guy colleagues. He told me there were about 5 of them who played and they took turns to play doubles. I was preparing dinner for him and watching "Smallville". After that, CT was still not back at 7pm..so I watched the first episode of "Survivor" in Guatemala. After watching the first episode, it seems this time round, the competition and conditions are tougher than other Survivor series because just in today's episode, all the guys in one tribe started vomiting and fell ill because of dehydration and one almost went into seizure as his eyes rolled back.. The women in the tribe held it up by treating the guys and massaging their muscles, giving them water..etc.. It was strange.

Their first challenge was a hike to their campsite which was alsmot 20km away! It was tough as the night came and they could not walk further as the forest was dense. So, they just slept where they were with no shelter. Woke up with wild monkeys on top of them..They even had to transport their food supplies given to them at the start of the race..so it was tough. One guy had a branch fell on his arm and the branch had lots of torns which pierced his skin..so this women in his tribe who is a nurse, had to pluck out the torns and he was bleeding as the torns came out. Poor guy. He was the first to start vomitting..and the nurse said it was probably due to the pain in his arm.

Guatemala is an ancient civilisation place. It is in between Mexico and Belize...near El Salvador. The survivors had to live like the past during the Maya Civilisations (1st millenium AD). Lots of ruins there and national forests. Lakes are infested with crocs. What a challenge. This time round, they invited 2 survivors back who participated before to each be in a tribe to be a competitor as well, but mainly is to share their experiences and skills with their tribe members.
Boy, it was interesting.

CT came back at 7:30pm when it was dark. I cooked papaya soup tonight. I loved that soup which my mum used to cook for me. So, when I saw a papaya in Asian mart, I quickly grabbed it to cook the soup. It has to be unriped papaya-green. I added dried ikan bilis, peanuts, Chinese wolf-berries (gei zi), pork ribs and cut unriped papaya. It tasted very nice..I am glad it was successful. I gave some to Gek Teng as in the morning when she came over, she could not make out how papaya soup would taste like when I told her that I could cook that for dinner.

Tonight, made banana milkshake. I added Orange Juice to it as that is how "Orange Julius" does to their milkshakes...and it tastes like it. Yummy. Teck Meng, CT's colleague bought for me a blender which I am so thankful for. Right from the start, I always wanted a blender but we hesitated and thought even when we buy, we would not be able to use it in S'pore because of the diff voltage. So, we did not buy. And just last week, Teck Meng gave us a new blender. We were shocked. He said to repay us for the meals that we have given him...because we invited him over for dinner a few times and recently I cooked "Apple Crisp" dessert and gave him..so that was why he bought us a blender.

We were touched and kept telling him that he did not have to do that...but anyway, we accepted since he also has a blender..so we cannot possibly reject. I learnt about giving from Teck Meng and it just makes me realised giving someone something is not all about money..

Went walmart

Today, did not go out. Stayed at home with my storybook, Computer and TV. Good enough. Saw my usual TV programmes like Oprah. Today's show was quite interesting. It was about people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD),a psychiatric problem that causes people to be preoccupied with imagined or very slight physical defects. They will see themselves as imperfect and so, they will take like 5-6 hours to get ready to go out or do a lot of plastic surgeries to perfect their face...but in reality, they look very pretty or handsome already without having to go through any surgery.

3 of the people suffering from BDD appeared in Oprah show and boy, they look very good...but one of them had lots of money, so she went for plastic surgery 28 times and she is 28 years old! She looks very plastic now. They showed her initial face and she looks much better than now. Oprah said Michael Jackson prob had the same illness. It is psychological. Because of this problem, it has changed their whole lives.

Oprah shows really allowed me to open my eyes to see the many things that happens in people's lives and gives me a greater awareness and understanding of them.

Usually, from 3 pm, I would watch this show called, "Date my Mom". It is a reality show about this guy dating 3 moms to see from their moms, which daughter to pick for a date..SO, the guy actually gets more info about their daughter by dating the mums. Quite interesting. They are not allowed to see their daughters at all..so sometimes, they make wrong choices and ended up choosing someone who does not look nice..haha. After this show, I would watch "Room Raiders". It is another reality show about a guy choosing 3 girls based on their rooms. The producer would hide all photos of the person and you only get to choose the girl by looking through her room and see what she is like from the room and vice versa. So sometimes, it is a girl choosing 3 guys and they would go through their rooms.

I like to see the shows because it makes me understand why people choose their partners and what they look out for. After that, it would be 4pm, and I would watch Oprah show, then "Who wants to be a millionaire" from 5pm-6pm. I realised how smart Americans are....most of them win at least US$32 000. After that, I would watch "Smallville"- the young version of superman when he is still in college. Very interesting bizzare stories...

Then, it would be dinner time and then, we would wash the dishes together, clean the table and after CT does his usual stuff-check email, read newspaper online etc, we would the watch the VCD together.

The VCD we are watching is a swordsman HK show..very nice. It is getting so exciting that I wish I can slot in another disc after watching one but I cant cos it is our bed time already. SO we only limit one disc per day..and if weekends got time, we would watch 2.

But tonight, after dinner, we went Walmart shopping. I needed to buy more food stuff to cook as my resources were depleting. I enjoy grocery shopping anytime more than normal clothes shopping. :)

BY the way, sometime funny me and CT did last night before we slept. We talked on the phone. I used my care bear soft toy to act as a phone and we pretend to talk to each other like we were dating last time. CT mentioned over the "phone" that he would date me out tomorrow. I said," yeah yeah..to walmart right?" hehe.. He said he would fly down from Singapore to US to date me out.. haha..big talk. But I had fun as I feel that after we get married, we should still be dating in that sense..going out for movies, etc..and not just stay at home and cook..

We have been talking a lot more these few nights and I enjoy it. :)

Dad improving

I have been reading my mum's mails about my dad's condition improving and that he might be able to go back hom in 3-4 weeks time. Feeling very happy when I heard it. My dad has come a long way and I am sure he would love to go home and try to do "normal" things again.. I pray he would be able to eat properly as I am sure there are lots of food he would love to eat.

Recently few weeks back, I sent a birthday card to my dad and my mum read it out to him. Mum told me that he was crying and then, my mum cried as well. I know my dad misses me as I missed him a lot too. I do feel like going home to see him but it is not as simple as getting a cab or something like that...Just pray my dad would continue to have joy of the Lord in him and be strong.

Today, I made "Ling Yong" cooling drink. I made some and brought it over for Gek Teng and Kok Fong. The weather has been very hot lately, so I thought it would help to make such a drink.

Yesterday, did not do much except to rearrange my pictures and just rested at home. Oh..I cooked salt-roasted chicken last night and CT loved it and the chicken was crispy after I put in the oven.

Tonight, me and CT went to a Lawyer's secretary place. We got the same lawyer who is handling my dad's accident case and he referred us to his secretary. We needed to get a lawyer to see CT sign some papers-his dad's estate papers. So, tonight, we drove to the secretary's place to sign in front of her and she would sign and chop the papers.

I was hesitant in going as she lived very near the golf course...where the accident happened. However, I was glad we did not have to go over any railway tracks. It was so dark when we drove as some parts, there were no street lights at all and if there were, it was too dim. Somemore, we are not sure of roads..But all in all, we managed to find her house which was so big and nice! When we drove into her estate, it felt like going into a Christmas Town where you just imagine big houses litted up..built of red bricks with big pillars.

Anyway, she was very nice. Met her husband as well and realised her husband works near CT's company. We talked for a while and she asked me how my dad is doing and I said he is improving..She said she would let the lawyer know as he had been asking. They seem very genuinely concerned..so different from what I perceived lawyers to be.

The signing of papers took only like one min and I said,"That's it??" Then the secretary said, "Yeah, all that driving to this place for a min." Haha..But I was real glad to have met them as they are very friendly and their house is nice.

Caught a movie

This morning, went church. It was bible study first. There were only 5 of us in the class. The leader spoke on relationships and parenting...but more on relationships. He talked about 1 Corinthians 13 on love...what love is. It is a wonderful passage for all us to learn and treat others.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.."

~1 Corinthians 13:4-8

After bible study, went for service. Today's topic was on honoring our heroes in our lives. The pastor invited his hero on stage. It is this guy who fought in the Iraq war and was captured and how he was tortured. The guy spoke and said that whatever difficulties we face in our loves, God will never leave us and His promises stand. He also said that it is not about us, but about God and His glory. He said that admist all his troubles, he still praise God! What a testimony.

Reminds me of the accident my family faced...that is not about our sufferings and how much inconvenience it has caused..It is all about God..Because all that has happened is always for His glory and creates opportunity for people to know Him...that is Him showing grace and allowing people to come to Him.

It is the same with the Hurricane Katrina. Our pastor told us about how this hurricane has caused a spiritual awakening in USA and how more people are coming to Christ through this.

During service, they asked for volunteers to be in the "Task Force Hope" mission to help in the Hurricane. So, after service, me and CT signed up in the booth. We signed up to help in the states of Louisiana, New Orleans and Mississippi. I told CT that I would love to go down and minister to the people and bring them joy. So, we signed up as on-site missions. We also took this sheet of paper for us to go Walmart to buy goods for the families and put them all in the bucket. We can also purchase bible from Walmart and supposed to place it on top when we send to the families.

I felt so excited as I can imagine the joy of the people receiving the goods-canned stuff, toiletries etc..and the hope of them accepting Christ.

After service, we rushed to Springdale Cinema to catch a movie. I wanted to watch this movie called ,"Crash". It was US$2 per person..about S$3 plus. Cheap because it is an old movie and the dvd is out already. But I do not wish to buy the DVD,so I would rather watch in the cinema.

I wanted to watch this show because Oprah recommended it and after reading the reviews, it sounds really good. I love shows that teaches me something and open my eyes to reality.

"Crash" deals with racial and ethnic struggles in southern California. It gave me a great glimpse into the complicated lives of average, everyday people. It is abou a Brentwood housewife and her DA husband. A Persian storeowner. Two police detectives, who are also lovers. A black television director and his wife. A Mexican locksmith. Two car-jackers. A rookie cop. A middle-aged Korean couple. They all live in Los Angeles. And, in the next 36 hours, they will all collide.

I was surprised Sandra Bullock is in this movie as I always remember her as Miss Congeniality and how funny she was. To see her so serious in this movie, really makes it strange.

After the movie, we left the theatre gloomy as the movie talks about how people are- filled with anger, prejudices etc.. It leaves you to conclude on your own. I love the show because of how intensed it was and how technically well-done it was.

After the show, we went to exchange our car as the theatre was near Avis. So, they had a car available and we took it. We drive the same model car before- Ford Taurus 3.0L. However, the difference is that the seats are leather now and the colour is dark green, which CT insisted it looked grey..So, I concluded it was greyish green. Ha..

Went home to watch the US Open Tennis Men's Finals- Agassi Vs Federer. Of course, I was cheering for Agassi as he is the oldest player to make it to the finals but I knew Federer would win because it is the number 1 player...and yup, he did eventually. He played so well..aced in his services...

Had a great day today..

To Skelding house...

Today, it was another eventful day. In the morning, we woke up at 7am, ate breakfast and CT called Avis to see if there were any cars to change as our car has the engine light on. However, they said there were no cars available as the Red Cross and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) people all rented the cars for their relief work.

After calling, we went to join Teck Meng and Chee How (CT's colleagues) to help the Red Cross to seperate the food and stuff for the victims. However, we could not find the place which they described. Chee How gave me directions yesterday, but there was no sign and we could not find the place. So after searching and going round 3 times, we gave up.

Went to Walmart for grocery shopping. Then went back to look for the Red Cross site to help..but still couldnt. So, went home. CT and I decided to play tennis. So we did under the sun. Now, burnt! I won CT the first set 6-2, then second set..we played until 5-3, I told CT I cannot take it already... I was breathless and felt like fainting with bright spots in my vision. Haha..I felt so weak! So we stopped. He was leading the second set. I was exhausted!

Went home, bathed and then went to Asian mart to buy veggies. Then, cooked lunch. Made fried rice. Added chinese sausages, silver fish, egg. CT enjoyed the fried rice. We watched Tennis US Open the whole day. First watched the men's semi-finals. Agassi was playing against Robby Ginepri. Robby is not so experienced, so he lost to Agassi. But it was a good match. After that, it was Roger Federer against Hewitt. I like Hewitt cos he is cuter...haha..but Federer is the number 1 player..so of course, he won. Federer returns his ball very quick and strong.

I watched this match at CT's boss-Bill house. We were invited to his place from 3pm onwards. We reached there and started watching. Haha..anti-social. But there were not many colleagues there yet...so we watched.

After a while, CT left and he did not come back. Shortly later, I went to join Bill's wife, Cathy to help her out in cooking. Cathy once took me around Mobile and we had lunch together. So, when we arrived at their place tonight, she greeted me with so much enthusiasm and keep telling me how happy she was that I am here. CT's colleagues were quite shocked by her enthusiasm cos I guess they did not know I knew her beforehand already.

So, I spent the time talking to Cathy while she was grilling the chicken breasts and salmon. Bill and Cathy would be coming to Singapore for at least a year as Bill is posted there to work. So, I told her how excited I am for her to come over. After a while, Bill came and asked both of us- "Guess who is playing the drums?" He added on to say," Dawn would know.." Then I realised, it was my husband!! hehe..

CT loves to play drums and I have always enjoyed listening to him play as it is very entertaining. I feel he is very talented in that area especially watching him play tonight. Teck Meng also came down and told me," Hey, your husband playing drums. U never go up and see ah? He very sad ah.." The drum sets and guitar instruments is above the garage (second level)..away from the main house. So, CT and his other colleague were jamming...

I talked to Cathy a little more, before I saw CT coming down. He was perspiring so much even with the air con on. He told me to join him..so I left Cathy and went to see him play. CT's colleague, Aberdeen was playing the bass guitar. Some of his colleagues were in the room watching them play. They were all so impressed with CT for playing so well.

I was definitely proud of him..as always. However, CT always has this humble attitude about him..he does not think of himself as good. I keep telling him that he is so smart and so talented in drums but he thinks he is just average.

Anyway, we took the electric guitar from Tim's room (Cathy's son) and decided to jam with electric guitar as well. Anthony took over the bass, while Aberdeen played the electric.

After that, we went down for dinner. There were so much food. I guess Cathy was afraid not enough as there were a lot of people. After dinner, guess what we did? Yup, we went back to the room to jam. I played the electric and drums for fun.

Then, we went down to take a picture together as someone came up to tell us to go down.

Sitting in front is Cathy and Bill. They have a big house with a 15m swimming pool. So, the kids were enjoying themselves swimming. After this picture was taken, the guys shock the champagne bottle and spurt out the champagne all on us! Some was sparkling juice...so it was a little sticky. yucks.

After that, we stayed downstairs in the kitchen and living room. We had a great time.

Went home to watch the women's finals but it was not exciting as it seemed one-sided. After that, watched my HK VCD, then went to sleep. Could not sleep as I was still excited over our jamming session. I told CT that he played so well that I cannot sleep. Ha..I even told him he can turn to become professional drummer and quit his job. He said I was crazy. :)

Had dinner at Bette & Doug's place

For the past 2 days, did not do much except to vacuum the house, clean toilets and sinks, usual email and TV. Have not went to Gek Teng's house for some time as I guess I feel lazy to visit her and I'm happy being alone at home. However, I chatted with her through internet and she told me she has not been feeling well. She had headache and had been resting in bed. No wonder she has not contacted me for 2 days as usually, we would at least say hi through internet if we are both lazy to go to each other's apartment.

Anyway, today, she finally chatted with me and asked if I wanted to go check our mailbox together. So, we did and we chatted as we walked to get our mail. She asked me if I was going out for dinner today...I told her I would be going a friend's place. Usually on Fridays, everyone eats out since there is no work the next day..but me and CT have not done so since we came back from Singapore. We only eat out on weekends now.

So tonight, we arranged with Bette and Doug to go their place for dinner. We met Bette and Doug when my parents were in hospital. I feel it was God's appointment for us to meet as it felt so surreal when I think about how we met each other.

Before I came to Mobile, my mum actually gave me Bette's contact as my mum got her contact from "Bible Study Fellowship" (BSF) database. My mum is involved in BSF in Singapore and she got a contact for BSF in Mobile and encouraged me to go for BSF since I have so much time in Mobile. So, my mum got hold from their database and asked me to contact Bette for more info on how to do BSF in Mobile. So, I emailed her and have never met up with her until one day, when my bro and Pam came..we were all in the car and going off from my dad's hospital to visit mum, she came to our car and asked if we knew Margaret Ling. I guess she knows my mum's name cos Singapore BSF somehow contacted MobileBSF to ask them to pray for my parents. SO, she came down to hospital to visit mum.

Anyway, to cut long story short...I finally met up with Bette and they have been a great blessing to my family-giving us music CDs and a CD player for my dad to listen. So, when I was back in Singapore, my mum actually bought some stuff for them to thank them and I brought it to them today and pass it.

They are a very sweet couple who has been married for 28 years. They were from New York and was moved to Mobile for Doug's work since his company, Integrity music headquarters is here. Integrity is a Christian music company. They were a great host. We had spaghetti (brocolli with chicken) and bread roll for dinner. Simple and good.

Ended off with dessert. Americans have sweet tooth..so they must have desserts. Ever since I came here, I have developed a little of a sweet tooth myself...only a little. :)

Ok, before we left, we took a picture together. Here is their house and them! Their house is huge..like a mansion. But they said that the land here is really cheap..not that they are rich. Now, only left 2 of them in such a big house as their kids all moved out already. Their dining room actually overlooks the swimming pool. But it was quite dark for me to take any pictures.

CT off to work again

This morning, still woke up in a holiday mood...So after make breakfast for CT and after he left, I went back to Zzzzz. Woke up at about 8 plus am. Did the laundry and checked my email since I have not done so for so many days.

Today, during the Oprah show, she featured on the hurricane. She was actually on site at New Orleans and Mississippi to film and interview the people as well as celebrities. There were celebrities like Julia Roberts, Matthew Mcconaughey talking to the evacuees as they hear their problems and sorrows. For some, they were just thankful that they are alive. Oprah also showed Chris Tuck, the comedian in Houston with the people. The celebrities were just hugging them and they were already so happy. They also showed the kids in the shelters enjoying themselves doing art work.

One part of the show showed a woman singing praises to God. The interviewer asked " In the midst of this, you are still praising God?" She answered, "Yes, of course!" And then, she continued singing. What great testimony. It shows that with God, we do have peace even catastrophes and accidents happen.

So, Oprah Winfrey show was the highlight for me today. Other than that, watched my other usual reality shows on TV. Cooked dinner for CT- fish soup with carrots, tomatoes and salted veggies. He seemed to like it as he almost finished everything before asking me whether I need it for my tomorrow's lunch. Also cooked egg with salted radish and fried luncheon meat.


I have place many more pictures on the web already. So, just look on the right column under Links and click on US Trip photos.. Do take a look at the Florida pictures.

Last day in Florida

This morning, woke up at about 8 plus am. Our hotel do not have complimentary breakfast but Kok Fong's hotel has. So, they have been bringing us their breakfast for us. It was only cinnamon sugar bun and some chocolate bars. They gave us too many yesterday, so we heated up the buns and ate this morning.

After our breakfast, we went downstairs to swim. We needed to make use of the facilities since we paid for it. We swam for about an hour. CT was playing in the pool doing somersaults. It was fun playing with him in the pool. We also have a jacuzzi next to pool but there were people inside, so we did not go in.

After swimming, we bathed, got changed and went downstairs to play arcade. Took some pictures of the hotel too.

Here are some pictures of my hotel in Kissimmee-which is just next to Orlando. The first few pictures are taken from my hotel room. We had a good view-facing the beach volleyball area and can see swimming pool as well.


















































We can also view our services using the room TV to see the hotel charges to our account. We can also use the TV to check out. Quite cool..

After checking out at 1130am, we made our way back to the rental car company to return our car and took the bus shuttle to the airport. Our flight was 335pm. We were at the airport at noon. We went for lunch at a foodcourt and I had asian food- chicken teriyaki noodles while CT and Kok Fong had burger and fries. Haha..Guys are more simple and straight forward. They just buy something to fill up their stomachs, looking for good price...while me and Gek Teng chose Asian food which costs double than theirs.

After lunch, we walked around to the different shops. I love Orlando International Airport as it is very interesting and looks modern with lots of clear glass. Hyatt Hotel is actually inside the airport as you see the hotel rooms in the airport..so it was quite strange but cool cos it will be so convenient for guests.

The airport has Borders bookstore, 2 Disney stores, Universal studio, Sea World shops... So, I visited them to see.

Since the airport is mostly clear glass, it seems very bright which looks nice.

Visited Disney shop and decided to try on the interesting hats.. :)

Doesn't CT look like goofy with his buck teeth?? haha..

After that, we reached our gate at about 3pm which was in the basement as we needed to walk to our plane.

It was a small plane with only one aisle-2 seats on one side and 1 seat on the other side.

We took a straight flight from Orlando back to Mobile. It took us one hour, 8 mins. Very quick flight. But there is hardly anything to do as I have read their magazines already. So, all I did was sleep and woke up to eat peanuts and drink.

Though Orlando was fun, but it was tiring. So, I was glad to be back resting my legs.

However, once we touched down, we went Walmart for supermarketing as before we left, there was still no frozen food for sale. Glad there are now and so, we bought to stock up our fridge again.

After that, CT wanted to play tennis. So, I played with him with aching legs..I won one set of 5 games, while he won the other set. He wanted to play somemore, but I told him my legs were aching and I was having a headache. So, we stopped and went home.

Made mixed veggies with mayonaise as we bought fried chicken from Walmart. So, we had that for dinner. I cooked mushroom soup as well. Fried Chicken here is cheap...costs only 4 bucks for 8 piece chicken...and the size of chicken is bigger than Singapore's.

At night, we watched our VCD...the one which my bro bought for me for my birthday. Quite funny but the chinese can be quite cheem.

Magic Kingdom

Our last park is Magic Kingdom. Chose this as the last park is because there will be fireworks and parade at night here in Magic Kingdom and I feel the night lights for this park would be the prettiest because of the cinderella castle.

So, when we reached, we walked to the castle to see the "Cinderellabration" where we see the crowning of Cinderella. They showed all the Disney couples like Snow white and her prince charming, Aladdin and wife etc..




we walked to take Splash Mountain. It is a ride where the log will travel in the water and suddenly there will be a 5-storey drop. So, I got a little wet. I used to find all these rides more interesting..but now, I do not find it as exciting already. Guess I have outgrown it.

After the ride, we took the steam train to another part of Magic Kingdom to take another thrilling ride called Space Mountain. We all went for the most thrilling ones. Space Mountain is a rollercoaster in the dark. It was fun but like I said, it was not as fun as I used to take it.

At Magic Kingdom, not many thrilling rides. More for kids. So, we walked and went to those stops with height limit. So, we went to this stop called "Stitch's Great Escape". It is about Lilo and stitch where Stitch disappears and they all of a sudden, you hear stitch whispering in your ear and breathing. Then, he burps and you can smell chilli cheese dog smell..It smells like maggi mee. Ha.. Then, Stitch will drool and you suddenly feel spurts of water on you...to create effect. Quite fun but there was this small kid that keeps crying..cos I think she is scared.

After that, we bought turkey leg for dinner. It is big enough to get me and CT full..Here is CT enjoying his smoked turkey leg.

After that, we went to ride another roller coaster ride, called, " Big Thunder Mountain Railroad". It was not scary at all. Anyway, after that, we took the steam train back to the main gate to take the lights of the stores.

The parade starts at 9pm and we reached back to the main gate at 830pm. I went inside Disney shops to take a look and bought some notepad which I collect. I used to buy when I was in Disney many years ago..and I found it useful especially when I write notes to my students as they find the pictures cute.

Then, I went out to the streets to take the night lights. It is very beautiful and it was brightly litted up. Many people were sitted along the pavements for the parade to start. I could not find a good spot as it was filled with people everywhere.

I finally found a spot behind many people. The parade started and disney characters came in floats with very colourful lights. It was a 30-min parade with all disney characters like pluto, donald duck, mickey, minnie, ariel the mermaid with king neptune, bambi, 3 little pigs, etc.. Very cute.. I managed to catch a picture from the back of the crowd.

After the parade, the fireworks was going to start at 10pm. So we waited and decided to go in search of another good spot to see the fireworks. So, we stood almost in the middle of the road in front of the castle to take good shots of the fireworks. It was very crowded..The streets were crowded like Chinese New Year.

The fireworks was very nice as the displayed it according to Disney music...and different themes. So, the castle will also change colour according to the theme and music.

Show you some more pictures of the spectacular fireworks!

After the fireworks, we went to the entrance to meet up with Kok Fong and wife. But before that, I spotted Mickey waving good bye to the everyone..so I managed to catch a shot of Mickey Mouse waving and talking to the people.

I enjoyed the parade and fireworks very much. What a spectacular evening! Went back to hotel having leg sores from all the walking but it was a great day.

Thank God for good weather...as the weather forecast said it would rain and with thunderstorms.Instead, it was so sunny.