I heard that some of you wanted to know the result of my vegetarian diet. Well, it wasn't as "cleansing" experience as I thought. The first 3 days was wonderful, we ate at home and had homemade cooking. After that, it went all wrong. We over ate! We went to try vegetarian Indian food. We had dosa and other dishes for the first time. It was good, but it was also a lot of potatoes and starch (and saturated fat from the coconut!)! We were quite stuffed. The following days, we had a lot of curries and also went to Sweet Tomatoes (a salad and soup buffet). Needless to say, we over ate for the remainder 7 days of our 11 days of diet! I have to say, that's not exactly what I expected from the diet!
For conclusion, I believe it is fairly easy to be non-strict vegetarian here in Silicon Valley. Supermarkets have great selections and many restaurants offer vegetarian alternatives. However, it becomes very tricky when you go out with non-vegetarian friends. Especially if they want to go for pho (vietnamese food) or Chinese food. It is definitely challenging when you want to have cheap fast food! One time, we had to fill on potato wedges at Safeway for quick lunch! So, finally, I don't see a need of going vegetarian again in the near future. As far as I am concerned, it's only healthier if you eat at home or at fancier restaurant.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Going Vegetarian
On Monday, I started a vegetarian diet. DH and I are going vegetarian for 10 days just for an experiment. It has nothing to do with religions and believes. I still believe we are not at the bottom of the food chain, so it is merely for fun! I wanted to cut all animal products, but I think I should start slowly, so I'm allowing myself to milk products and eggs, so that I can eat cakes and cookies :D.
The purpose of this experiment is to verify how difficult it is to be vegetarian in our society and if the vegetarian diet gives noticeable physical difference. Today is Day 4, the first 3 days weren't bad. I find myself eating a lot of veggie soup with noodles or pasta. Our friend T. is participating in our experiment and he says he's been eating more carbs than ever: he stuffs himself with lots of bread and rice! I think the most challenging is for T. and DH to say no to free meat at work!
After 3.5 days of vegetarianism, I do feel a physical difference. I don't feel as stuffed, almost wanting to eat something. I definitely have more water intake from all those veggies and fruits. On the other hand, T. feels more stuffed than before from eating all those refined carbs! I wonder if I would lose weight or body fat percentage... Oh... I must mention that on Monday, we also started the National Body Challenge, therefore, we started exercising on Monday, maybe that would affect our weight and percentage body fat too. Anyway, I don't say no to losing some fat and weight... :D
The purpose of this experiment is to verify how difficult it is to be vegetarian in our society and if the vegetarian diet gives noticeable physical difference. Today is Day 4, the first 3 days weren't bad. I find myself eating a lot of veggie soup with noodles or pasta. Our friend T. is participating in our experiment and he says he's been eating more carbs than ever: he stuffs himself with lots of bread and rice! I think the most challenging is for T. and DH to say no to free meat at work!
After 3.5 days of vegetarianism, I do feel a physical difference. I don't feel as stuffed, almost wanting to eat something. I definitely have more water intake from all those veggies and fruits. On the other hand, T. feels more stuffed than before from eating all those refined carbs! I wonder if I would lose weight or body fat percentage... Oh... I must mention that on Monday, we also started the National Body Challenge, therefore, we started exercising on Monday, maybe that would affect our weight and percentage body fat too. Anyway, I don't say no to losing some fat and weight... :D
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Hawaii at End of Month!
Remember I mentioned going to Honolulu, HI at the end of this month? Yup, we are going for $100 in "taxes", that includes flight for 2 and two night hotel in Waikiki.
We received the trip info on New Year's eve. It is confirmed and we flying with NorthWest Airlines. Yay! That means we can collect WorldPerks points! (NWA's frequent flyer program).
Honestly speaking, WoldPerks points are quite useless to us. Before our marriage, DH and I had a long distance relationship for 6 years. During those 6 years, I have mostly flown across the continent with NWA because they were the cheapest, but also because they had and evening flight landing in SJC. Until now, I have collected roughly 43000 points. Unlike for Star Alliance airlines partners, I have never been able to redeem a flight with WorldPerks. They claim flights within Canada-USA start at 25000 points, but in real life, all I have seen cost more than my 43000 points! I tried to redeem them for hotel nights, but there's no such option... Then how to get rid of them or use them?
DH really wants to go see volcano in Big Island, HI. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it: we are going to be in Hawaii for only 2.5 days, I don't want to be rushing or spend too much on a "free" trip. He tried to convinced me to book for flight to Hilo. It would cost us $220 (that's $49/way + tax).
Finally, we found a solution that saves money and helps get rid of points! We went to Honolulu, HI for our honeymoon by Hawaiian Airlines. We joined their frequent flyer program to get $10 off the price of the flight and collected 4000+ points in 2006. Then, we participated in some surveys and joined their mailing list for some bonus points, which brought us to above 5000 points, enough for 1-way inter-island flight! I have one account and DH have another one, that makes it enough for 1 round trip from Honolulu to Hilo! Then, I remember my mom has 11000 points in WorldPerks, which is not going to take her anywhere... She has only flown once with NWA and collected 5000+ points in 2002. To keep her membership active, I have helped her find bonus points and in 5 years, I pumped her up to 11000 points! NWA and Hawaiian Airlines are partners, that means another round trip inter-island flight!! Which her permission, I redeemed 10000 points for a second inter-island flight and it is only costing us $5 in taxes.
Here is a summary of our trip so far:
$100 + 2($5) = $110 in total taxes
includes: 2 flights from SFO to HNL, 2-night hotel, 2 flights from HNL to ITO.
Did you know...
That you don't need to take taxi or shuttle from HNL airport to Waikiki beach? There are several public buses you can take. For instance, bus 20 would take you directly from HNL to Waikiki and would cost you only $2. The average tourists wouldn't know and would pay $15 for shuttle or even $30 for taxi! That's what we did last time and it didn't even saved us time due to multiple drop offs at different hotels. So, public bus that is!
Since we are going to the airport twice in this trip, it would cost us a total of $16 in public transportation. We also booked a car at Hilo airport (ITO)'s Dollar Rent A Car for our day trip, the estimate total is $30.15. Therefore our new subtotal would be: $156.15 for the trip.
Let's see if we can keep this entire trip under $400. :)
View Larger Map
We received the trip info on New Year's eve. It is confirmed and we flying with NorthWest Airlines. Yay! That means we can collect WorldPerks points! (NWA's frequent flyer program).
Honestly speaking, WoldPerks points are quite useless to us. Before our marriage, DH and I had a long distance relationship for 6 years. During those 6 years, I have mostly flown across the continent with NWA because they were the cheapest, but also because they had and evening flight landing in SJC. Until now, I have collected roughly 43000 points. Unlike for Star Alliance airlines partners, I have never been able to redeem a flight with WorldPerks. They claim flights within Canada-USA start at 25000 points, but in real life, all I have seen cost more than my 43000 points! I tried to redeem them for hotel nights, but there's no such option... Then how to get rid of them or use them?
DH really wants to go see volcano in Big Island, HI. I wasn't too enthusiastic about it: we are going to be in Hawaii for only 2.5 days, I don't want to be rushing or spend too much on a "free" trip. He tried to convinced me to book for flight to Hilo. It would cost us $220 (that's $49/way + tax).
Finally, we found a solution that saves money and helps get rid of points! We went to Honolulu, HI for our honeymoon by Hawaiian Airlines. We joined their frequent flyer program to get $10 off the price of the flight and collected 4000+ points in 2006. Then, we participated in some surveys and joined their mailing list for some bonus points, which brought us to above 5000 points, enough for 1-way inter-island flight! I have one account and DH have another one, that makes it enough for 1 round trip from Honolulu to Hilo! Then, I remember my mom has 11000 points in WorldPerks, which is not going to take her anywhere... She has only flown once with NWA and collected 5000+ points in 2002. To keep her membership active, I have helped her find bonus points and in 5 years, I pumped her up to 11000 points! NWA and Hawaiian Airlines are partners, that means another round trip inter-island flight!! Which her permission, I redeemed 10000 points for a second inter-island flight and it is only costing us $5 in taxes.
Here is a summary of our trip so far:
$100 + 2($5) = $110 in total taxes
includes: 2 flights from SFO to HNL, 2-night hotel, 2 flights from HNL to ITO.
Did you know...
That you don't need to take taxi or shuttle from HNL airport to Waikiki beach? There are several public buses you can take. For instance, bus 20 would take you directly from HNL to Waikiki and would cost you only $2. The average tourists wouldn't know and would pay $15 for shuttle or even $30 for taxi! That's what we did last time and it didn't even saved us time due to multiple drop offs at different hotels. So, public bus that is!
Since we are going to the airport twice in this trip, it would cost us a total of $16 in public transportation. We also booked a car at Hilo airport (ITO)'s Dollar Rent A Car for our day trip, the estimate total is $30.15. Therefore our new subtotal would be: $156.15 for the trip.
Let's see if we can keep this entire trip under $400. :)
View Larger Map
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Trip Expenses
When I go on trip, I would mark down all my expenses. I like to know how much I spend for future reference. It makes it easier to budget for the next time. After computing my expense for this last trip to China, to my biggest surprise, I found out that we spent less than one thousand dollars during our journey. If we add up the cost of the tour and every miscellaneous expenses, the total spent on this trip is US$3,243.68 for the two of us! (I used the rates of US$1 = RMB¥7.30 and US$1 = HK$7.60) and I budgeted $5000!
The biggest portion of trip was the tour, which cost $1209 (per person), then we had to add $35 (per person) for Saturday return flight. Visa to mainland China was $45 for dual entry for us (for the American passport, it is flat rate of $100). Therefore, before leaving, we spent $2578.
Yes! That means... we only spend $665.68 during the trip!! and that includes 7 days that is not part of the tour, ie. eat and stay at our own expense! Hehe, we were very lucky and blessed, my relative took care of our extra night lodging in Guangzhou and we stayed with my good friend in Hong Kong. I wanted to spend more, I wanted to go crazy clothing shopping, but bad timing I guess... I really don't like this season's style and plus, it wasn't sale season either. Too bad for me, but DH is very happy he got 3 pairs of cheap pants and 1 sweater (all 4 items for RMB¥200, about US$26.32).
Finally, as my friend said, we are so under budget that we can use that money for a mini-getaway :D :D. Our next trip: Honolulu, HI at the end of January!! (This one is from attending one of those timeshare presentations: flight + 2 nights hotel for two in Waikiki, we paid $100 in "taxes").
The biggest portion of trip was the tour, which cost $1209 (per person), then we had to add $35 (per person) for Saturday return flight. Visa to mainland China was $45 for dual entry for us (for the American passport, it is flat rate of $100). Therefore, before leaving, we spent $2578.
Yes! That means... we only spend $665.68 during the trip!! and that includes 7 days that is not part of the tour, ie. eat and stay at our own expense! Hehe, we were very lucky and blessed, my relative took care of our extra night lodging in Guangzhou and we stayed with my good friend in Hong Kong. I wanted to spend more, I wanted to go crazy clothing shopping, but bad timing I guess... I really don't like this season's style and plus, it wasn't sale season either. Too bad for me, but DH is very happy he got 3 pairs of cheap pants and 1 sweater (all 4 items for RMB¥200, about US$26.32).
Finally, as my friend said, we are so under budget that we can use that money for a mini-getaway :D :D. Our next trip: Honolulu, HI at the end of January!! (This one is from attending one of those timeshare presentations: flight + 2 nights hotel for two in Waikiki, we paid $100 in "taxes").
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Back from China!
It's been about a week and a half that I've been back from my trip to China. We joined a tour and went to Beijing, Nanjing, Wuxi, Sozhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou and finally Guangzhou where the tour was dismissed. Then we made our way to Hong Kong and flew back to San Francisco from there.
The trip was good. My main concern was DH getting a culture shock with the food. Not only he didn't complain and ate a lot, but he also didn't get sick! What a relief. Well, we visited big cities, it should be much safer than visiting say Xian or other remote areas.
In preparation for the Olympics, the Beijing National Stadium (or the Bird's Nest) was already there, we drove by and could have a look. It was either a very foggy or smoggy day, we couldn't see well. Streets in big cities were clean and I noticed significant reduction in number of people spitting (almost none!). I have to give them credit, every time I go back to China, I can see significant improvement: they evolve at very quick pace!
When we got to Guangzhou where the tour was dismissed, we finally got to eat food other than "tour-package-deal" meals. DH was very pleased. Guangzhou is known for good food. We met up with my relatives and they took care of taking us out. We tried local specialties like free-range chicken, fresh fish balls, dumplings with fish-meat wrapper, wild caught shrimps, and even pigeon! We stayed in Guangzhou for 2 nights and then took the train to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was charming. It was great for walkers! For 2 days in a row, we walked 21,000 steps per day! (Daily target is 10,000 steps). We were proud to show our friends and relatives what we walked.
On the first day, we walked from Central to the escalators to mid-levels, visited the zoo (open to public, free admission!) on the way and then walked to the tram station to go up to Victoria Peak. After seeing the view of the city from high, we walked back from the tram station to Central and finally from Central to Causeway Bay. We stopped on the way for afternoon tea and visited Cisco office in Wan Chai. We met up with DH's cousins in Causeway Bay for dinner.
On the second day, we visited The Hong Kong Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was free admission on Wednesday. We walked North on Nathan Road from there to Mongkok where we shopped and experienced the crowds in Hong Kong. We went as far as Gold Fish Market!
Thursday was a relaxing day, we took it easy and had a day trip to Shenzhen where we indulge ourselves with half a day at a SPA.
Friday was the last full day in Hong Kong. We occupied ourselves with last minute shopping and last minute meeting with friends and relatives.
Saturday morning, we head out early at 7:30am to catch bus E22A from Tseung Kwan O (near Po Lam MTR station) to the airport. It took us 1hr15mins and costed HK$24 per person. The ride and flight were uneventful. We met up with 4 tourmates who took the same flight home. The flight was nice, the flight attendants were courteous. I was tired and slept most of the flight. Never has a trans-Pacific flight seemed so short (about 12hrs)!
The trip was good. My main concern was DH getting a culture shock with the food. Not only he didn't complain and ate a lot, but he also didn't get sick! What a relief. Well, we visited big cities, it should be much safer than visiting say Xian or other remote areas.
In preparation for the Olympics, the Beijing National Stadium (or the Bird's Nest) was already there, we drove by and could have a look. It was either a very foggy or smoggy day, we couldn't see well. Streets in big cities were clean and I noticed significant reduction in number of people spitting (almost none!). I have to give them credit, every time I go back to China, I can see significant improvement: they evolve at very quick pace!
When we got to Guangzhou where the tour was dismissed, we finally got to eat food other than "tour-package-deal" meals. DH was very pleased. Guangzhou is known for good food. We met up with my relatives and they took care of taking us out. We tried local specialties like free-range chicken, fresh fish balls, dumplings with fish-meat wrapper, wild caught shrimps, and even pigeon! We stayed in Guangzhou for 2 nights and then took the train to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was charming. It was great for walkers! For 2 days in a row, we walked 21,000 steps per day! (Daily target is 10,000 steps). We were proud to show our friends and relatives what we walked.
On the first day, we walked from Central to the escalators to mid-levels, visited the zoo (open to public, free admission!) on the way and then walked to the tram station to go up to Victoria Peak. After seeing the view of the city from high, we walked back from the tram station to Central and finally from Central to Causeway Bay. We stopped on the way for afternoon tea and visited Cisco office in Wan Chai. We met up with DH's cousins in Causeway Bay for dinner.
On the second day, we visited The Hong Kong Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was free admission on Wednesday. We walked North on Nathan Road from there to Mongkok where we shopped and experienced the crowds in Hong Kong. We went as far as Gold Fish Market!
Thursday was a relaxing day, we took it easy and had a day trip to Shenzhen where we indulge ourselves with half a day at a SPA.
Friday was the last full day in Hong Kong. We occupied ourselves with last minute shopping and last minute meeting with friends and relatives.
Saturday morning, we head out early at 7:30am to catch bus E22A from Tseung Kwan O (near Po Lam MTR station) to the airport. It took us 1hr15mins and costed HK$24 per person. The ride and flight were uneventful. We met up with 4 tourmates who took the same flight home. The flight was nice, the flight attendants were courteous. I was tired and slept most of the flight. Never has a trans-Pacific flight seemed so short (about 12hrs)!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Hardest Chinese Words
I came across this website that votes for the hardest Chinese word. Very interesting.http://recordcup.com/ranking/287/hardest_chinese_ever.html
This word to the right means "exorcism". I have no idea how to pronounce it!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Yosemite National Park
We went to Yosemite National Park last weekend with a few friends. It was the idea of our friends, I didn't do any research and didn't know what to expect. Yosemite National Park is a wilderness park in the California. It is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you can find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and much more. Despite that at this time of the year, there's not much water to see, we enjoyed the spectacular granite cliffs.
On Saturday, we hiked 2hr20mins to admire the granite cliffs. On Sunday, we did 3hrs20mins to see the sequoias. We also made a stop at Glacier Point for the breathtaking scenery.
http://www.ebuceci.com/pics/travel/Yosemite2007/index.php
On Saturday, we hiked 2hr20mins to admire the granite cliffs. On Sunday, we did 3hrs20mins to see the sequoias. We also made a stop at Glacier Point for the breathtaking scenery.
http://www.ebuceci.com/pics
Monday, October 15, 2007
Cock'n Bull Pub & Eatery in Ottawa, ON
As I have mentioned before, I grew up in a French environment and didn't learn much English until I was 17. I took a 6-week crash ESL summer program at York University in North York, ON before enrolling in an English CEGEP (Quebec's pre-university college). I then did 6 years of studies in English (2 years CEGEP + 4 years of University). English became my preferred language for technical speech, but I did not learn much English outside of school environment.
In 2001, I moved Ottawa for my first job after graduation. Ottawa is a beautiful small city, only 190 km away from Montreal. Being the capital of Canada, it was bilingual though it was located in an English dominant province.
One day, my colleagues and I went out to lunch. They chose a restaurant called "Cock'n Bull Pub & Eatery" not too far from work, on Richmond Road. From the outside, the sign shows a rooster on top of a cow. "Oh, that's right", I thought, "coq is a rooster in French, cock must be the English equivalent." We saw down and looked at the menu. I chose the burger called, "Pig and Bull Burger" - hamburger plus bacon. The waitress came and took our orders. My colleague Darrell ordered the "Cock'n Bull Burger". I opened the menu curious to know what it is... Is it chicken burger plus some beef? I read the description quickly scanning for some chicken, I didn't see... so I asked the waitress out loud, "Where's the cock?" Darrell covered his eyes and my other colleague Cindy kicked me. The waitress laughs and says "Don't worry, I've been asked that question many times."
Yes... I didn't know what cock was in English slang... and how was I supposed to know? They don't teach that in school ;)
In 2001, I moved Ottawa for my first job after graduation. Ottawa is a beautiful small city, only 190 km away from Montreal. Being the capital of Canada, it was bilingual though it was located in an English dominant province.
One day, my colleagues and I went out to lunch. They chose a restaurant called "Cock'n Bull Pub & Eatery" not too far from work, on Richmond Road. From the outside, the sign shows a rooster on top of a cow. "Oh, that's right", I thought, "coq is a rooster in French, cock must be the English equivalent." We saw down and looked at the menu. I chose the burger called, "Pig and Bull Burger" - hamburger plus bacon. The waitress came and took our orders. My colleague Darrell ordered the "Cock'n Bull Burger". I opened the menu curious to know what it is... Is it chicken burger plus some beef? I read the description quickly scanning for some chicken, I didn't see... so I asked the waitress out loud, "Where's the cock?" Darrell covered his eyes and my other colleague Cindy kicked me. The waitress laughs and says "Don't worry, I've been asked that question many times."
Yes... I didn't know what cock was in English slang... and how was I supposed to know? They don't teach that in school ;)
My Blog
Dear sister complains that my blog is boring and that I'm just telling my life story in it. I'm not sure what she's expecting. I found out that I have two new readers... Yay! It appears that I still can attract readers interested in knowing about what I've to say! So, I'll keep on blogging :D
Friday, October 05, 2007
China here we come!
After one whole month of tremendous hunting, we finally found an apartment that we like: well lit, spacious, in a good neighbourhood, and cheap! Now we'll have to move on to the next big shopping item that we neglected: our trip to Asia.
Last weekend, DH and I started hunting for deals to go to Asia. It didn't take too long, we found a tour to China decently priced for $1209. It includes 11-day trip tour with flight on United Airlines. We drove to Burlingame, CA yesterday to get to the travel agency at their opening time of 9am to book the trip. Since it's near DH's workplace in San Bruno, CA and far from home, I spent the day at his office.
It is DH's first trip to Asia. He is so excited he even bought a new camera for the occasion!
Cleaning and Moving!
ah ha! It's Friday already. Sunday is the big day. We are going to sign the lease on Sunday at 11am and then spend the rest of the day cleaning up the place so that it'd be ready for moving in on Monday. :D
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Free Photo!
JC Penney Portraits: Free 8 x 10 Portrait + no sitting fee + additional Portrait Sheets $4 each:
http://www.jcpenneyportraits.com/offers/LNSSFallSurvey.asp
http://www.jcpenneyportraits
Monday, September 24, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Hunting hunting hunting...
It's been 4 weeks since we've been hunting... apartment hunting! It is not easy... It is so stressful... It is so different from back home!
Sister needs a place for October 8th, we started apartment hunting about 4 weeks ago. Back then, we started with showing up at apartment buildings' rental office. Where ever we go they would say October is too far from now, they wouldn't know the availability for October 8th because people only give a 30-day notice. Ok, I wouldn't say we wasted our time since we got to visit a lot of place and got to compare prices.
Finally, September 8th passed and we are within one month of the target moving date. We are getting good at it. Every day, we look for deals on Craigslist.com, compile a list of potential places, call them, and visit them. Now the issue is that the places for rent are usually already vacant, so they want immediate occupancy! Ok, there's no way we can move in within few days of notice! So we lose to all the others are willing to move right away!
Now, there's only two weeks left before having to move. Hopefully the last weekend for hunting. On Saturday, we saw two decent place for $1600. One, we minded a bit for being shady and the landlord forces to charge extra $70 for electricity. The other, I minded it to have only 1 bathroom for that price. Sunday, we saw 3 more apartments. The first one was nice, it has two bedroom and two full bathroom for $1590. Then other two were cheaper: $1350 and $1250 respectively for two bedroom and one bathroom. We put in application for the last two because we wanted to go with cheaper. But that's not the end! There's one more that I want to check out... It would be at better location and even cheaper: $1200. We'll see if we can check it out tomorrow... :)
Stay tuned! Will let you know what would be the conclusion of our hunting!
Sister needs a place for October 8th, we started apartment hunting about 4 weeks ago. Back then, we started with showing up at apartment buildings' rental office. Where ever we go they would say October is too far from now, they wouldn't know the availability for October 8th because people only give a 30-day notice. Ok, I wouldn't say we wasted our time since we got to visit a lot of place and got to compare prices.
Finally, September 8th passed and we are within one month of the target moving date. We are getting good at it. Every day, we look for deals on Craigslist.com, compile a list of potential places, call them, and visit them. Now the issue is that the places for rent are usually already vacant, so they want immediate occupancy! Ok, there's no way we can move in within few days of notice! So we lose to all the others are willing to move right away!
Now, there's only two weeks left before having to move. Hopefully the last weekend for hunting. On Saturday, we saw two decent place for $1600. One, we minded a bit for being shady and the landlord forces to charge extra $70 for electricity. The other, I minded it to have only 1 bathroom for that price. Sunday, we saw 3 more apartments. The first one was nice, it has two bedroom and two full bathroom for $1590. Then other two were cheaper: $1350 and $1250 respectively for two bedroom and one bathroom. We put in application for the last two because we wanted to go with cheaper. But that's not the end! There's one more that I want to check out... It would be at better location and even cheaper: $1200. We'll see if we can check it out tomorrow... :)
Stay tuned! Will let you know what would be the conclusion of our hunting!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Braces... Me???
Finally went to the dentist after being here for a whole year. I'm glad to use my benefits or rather, DH's benefits. Before DH's employer got acquired, we were under DMO plan and the selection of dentists under that plan was... rather not so interesting. In other words, the good ones don't even bother dealing with DMO. I waited until the acquisition finalized. We now have new benefits under this parent-company and it is costing us much cheaper in premiums!! Premiums is the portion that is costing the employee out-of-pocket for the health benefit coverage. We are saving something like $80-$100 for both of us in premiums per month.
It wasn't too hard to pick a dentist with good recommendations. I searched on Yelp.com and just randomly picked one that had good recommendations and close to home. DH and I went together for a preventive cleaning and check-up. Now, Dr. Goh says I have bite alignment problems causing too much pressure on my molars and jaw. A night guard would be a temporary solution, but for permanent solution, I would need braces. Euh... Braces? Me? aiya!!! I'm 30 and married... I really don't want to go through 2+ years of braces unless it's very necessary! *sigh* I wouldn't do it for cosmetic... but now that she brings that up, I do feel my jaw tired sometimes. Ok, I should go get a second opinion from a specialist.
It wasn't too hard to pick a dentist with good recommendations. I searched on Yelp.com and just randomly picked one that had good recommendations and close to home. DH and I went together for a preventive cleaning and check-up. Now, Dr. Goh says I have bite alignment problems causing too much pressure on my molars and jaw. A night guard would be a temporary solution, but for permanent solution, I would need braces. Euh... Braces? Me? aiya!!! I'm 30 and married... I really don't want to go through 2+ years of braces unless it's very necessary! *sigh* I wouldn't do it for cosmetic... but now that she brings that up, I do feel my jaw tired sometimes. Ok, I should go get a second opinion from a specialist.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Welcome to the Bay Area!
On Saturday, we had a welcome party for my sister! The first party I organized since I moved to CA. We had it at her corporate apartment and I made some of my favorite desserts: mango pudding, coconut pudding, water chestnut pudding... and I also cooked French Canadian delicacy pâté chinois. It was fun, we had about 14 guests and we played Apples & Apples. I also surprised my sister with a early birthday cake!! haha... She really didn't expect that!!
Monday, August 13, 2007
I'm still hanging around!
Dear readers,
I don't mean to neglect my blog, but life has been busy since I got back from my trip. For the past few weeks, I have been babysitting 3 days a week to help out my friend until she finds a good nanny. The other two days of week day are just enough for me to catch up with my volunteering work and get back in touch with my network here. Thankfully, my friend just told me that she found a nanny who will start in September, so I don't need to help her out anymore! Yay!
My sister just moved here on Friday the 10th from Chicago. I am definitely part of the reasons why she moved. I feel so blessed... to have family to support me. She is leaving behind 7 years of seniority with her previous employer and her beloved house to be here. She started her first week at her new employer last week. She is loving it! Well, hope this honeymoon phase will last... hehehe
I don't mean to neglect my blog, but life has been busy since I got back from my trip. For the past few weeks, I have been babysitting 3 days a week to help out my friend until she finds a good nanny. The other two days of week day are just enough for me to catch up with my volunteering work and get back in touch with my network here. Thankfully, my friend just told me that she found a nanny who will start in September, so I don't need to help her out anymore! Yay!
My sister just moved here on Friday the 10th from Chicago. I am definitely part of the reasons why she moved. I feel so blessed... to have family to support me. She is leaving behind 7 years of seniority with her previous employer and her beloved house to be here. She started her first week at her new employer last week. She is loving it! Well, hope this honeymoon phase will last... hehehe
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Meditation while Babysitting
I've been helping my friend taking care of her son while she looks for a good full-time nanny. Today is my 7th day babysitting. Baby Nathan is almost 9 month-old and is quite a good boy, that's why I agreed to help since I lose patience with cry babies. But now, he is teething and has been quite fussy since yesterday.
Babysitting made me meditate on motherhood. I'm thinking... A mother goes through 9 months of pregnancy, plus painful and endless hours of labour to give birth to a baby. Then she breastfeeds him. Now can you picture this? It is quite an intimate relationship. Fathers can only imagine, but could never experience. Would they stop and think about the effort a mother puts into a child?
Then a baby is born, from this moment on, a mother spends the rest of her life devoting to him/her. She spends time nurturing, caring, and protecting him/her. She worries... Does he eat? Does he sleep? Is he cold/hot? Does the sun bother him? Is the noise too loud?
I always knew that mother's love is quite something - mother's love is generous, grand, heroic! But why? Have I stopped and think how it is to be a mother?
Nathan is almost 9 months old and his routine is based on 2-hr slots: he plays for 2 hrs, then sleeps for 2 hrs. When he sleeps, I prepare his food and can't step away too far: if he wakes up in the middle of his nap, I have to put him back to sleep, because sleeping helps growth. When he's awake, I can't detach myself from him: he may get hurt while I'm away. I entertain him, feed him, play with him in a very educational way because it helps his growth. Then the routine restarts. That is so much work! And I'm only watching him 1/3 of the day! And I have not been in the picture since the beginning! Well, reality is there is no break for a mother: it is a 24/7 job and it's for the rest of her life!
Now I wonder... What if the child she raised turn out to be a brat? What if the child she has cared of and gave unconditional love to turns out to hate her? How heartbroken can a mother be? How would she feel if her dear son moves away to be with the woman of his life? How would she feel if he turns his back on her to protect another woman?
To all mothers on Earth who choose to love unconditionally: Chapeau!
Babysitting made me meditate on motherhood. I'm thinking... A mother goes through 9 months of pregnancy, plus painful and endless hours of labour to give birth to a baby. Then she breastfeeds him. Now can you picture this? It is quite an intimate relationship. Fathers can only imagine, but could never experience. Would they stop and think about the effort a mother puts into a child?
Then a baby is born, from this moment on, a mother spends the rest of her life devoting to him/her. She spends time nurturing, caring, and protecting him/her. She worries... Does he eat? Does he sleep? Is he cold/hot? Does the sun bother him? Is the noise too loud?
I always knew that mother's love is quite something - mother's love is generous, grand, heroic! But why? Have I stopped and think how it is to be a mother?
Nathan is almost 9 months old and his routine is based on 2-hr slots: he plays for 2 hrs, then sleeps for 2 hrs. When he sleeps, I prepare his food and can't step away too far: if he wakes up in the middle of his nap, I have to put him back to sleep, because sleeping helps growth. When he's awake, I can't detach myself from him: he may get hurt while I'm away. I entertain him, feed him, play with him in a very educational way because it helps his growth. Then the routine restarts. That is so much work! And I'm only watching him 1/3 of the day! And I have not been in the picture since the beginning! Well, reality is there is no break for a mother: it is a 24/7 job and it's for the rest of her life!
Now I wonder... What if the child she raised turn out to be a brat? What if the child she has cared of and gave unconditional love to turns out to hate her? How heartbroken can a mother be? How would she feel if her dear son moves away to be with the woman of his life? How would she feel if he turns his back on her to protect another woman?
To all mothers on Earth who choose to love unconditionally: Chapeau!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Babysitting - Day 5
This is the baby I've been babysitting. :)
He is particularly talkative when I put him in his bouncing saucer, which he also uses as a poo station.
He is particularly talkative when I put him in his bouncing saucer, which he also uses as a poo station.
Friday, July 27, 2007
I'm back to California
It's Friday. I've been back from my trip for about a week and a half. In this past week and a half, I did catch up with things I left off.
On my first day back, I unpacked, cleaned up, and worked on the garden. Yeah, since I don't live alone, the house gets dirty even if I am gone on vacation. I'm not too satisfied with the stove top condition, but I must say, it is much better than when I went away to Chicago for 10 days. I had lectured DH last time, therefore he had promised to scrub the stove top everyday this time.
Our garden has gown a lot in this past month! Our zucchini plants and tomato plants have grown out of control. Back home, tomato plants don't grow much more than half a meter. Needless to say, I didn't expect my two tomato plants in California to grow taller and bigger than me!! I couldn't delay the work on the garden and took 2 hours of my first day back to trim my plants. I'm quite happy to have tones of home grown vegetables!!
Today, I'm helping out a friend and babysitting her 8-month-old baby boy. He is taking a nap right now while I'm catching up with blogging. I'm sure you wonder how my trip went... I'll tell you later!
I'm
On my first day back, I unpacked, cleaned up, and worked on the garden. Yeah, since I don't live alone, the house gets dirty even if I am gone on vacation. I'm not too satisfied with the stove top condition, but I must say, it is much better than when I went away to Chicago for 10 days. I had lectured DH last time, therefore he had promised to scrub the stove top everyday this time.
Our garden has gown a lot in this past month! Our zucchini plants and tomato plants have grown out of control. Back home, tomato plants don't grow much more than half a meter. Needless to say, I didn't expect my two tomato plants in California to grow taller and bigger than me!! I couldn't delay the work on the garden and took 2 hours of my first day back to trim my plants. I'm quite happy to have tones of home grown vegetables!!
Today, I'm helping out a friend and babysitting her 8-month-old baby boy. He is taking a nap right now while I'm catching up with blogging. I'm sure you wonder how my trip went... I'll tell you later!
I'm
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