Back on the Little Red Dot

After 18 hours on the plane, I'm now back in Singapore. As the plane was taking off, I kept looking out the window, looking for familiar sights & landmarks of the Big Apple. I couldn't see very much & everything looked pretty much the same at night, except for the Empire State Building's lights - blue & white to celebrate Hanukkah.

It's now back to reality - no more waking up at 10am & lazing around doing nothing. No more walking around & going in & out of shops & stores to feast the eyes. No more hanging around my brother for daily dose of crap. No more senseless channel surfing for meaningless trash on TV.

I love New York!

Farewell, New York!

I cannot believe it! 23 days in New York all gone by in a flash. It seemed like forever before I came over & before I even know it, I'm going back home :(

It's been wonderful being in New York & being able to be with my family. We had a good time in Washington DC & really rocked ourselves off in Florida besides spending all our time in NYC. I cannot be more thankful for these few weeks although I wish I could stop time (maybe more money will be good...hee hee!).

I'll definitely come back to New York sometime in the future. To chill out, be part of the Big Apple where the world meets & get lost in the madding crowd - that's the New York I know & will always know.


Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

Yada yada..

I'm so glad that the family went to Florida. My brother's just brilliant to have thought of that because my parents were originally planning to go to Las Vegas, which would have left me somewhat bored without the thrill of the rides. What's more important was that everyone in the family was happy - my parents got to take the mild rides & watch performances that left them raving, my brother & me finally got the chance to be taken to Disneyland by our parents (better late than never!)...and we all got something from shopping at the outlet stores.

'tis true that a girl can never have enough of shoes. Every trip that I make to New York, I have to get at least a pair of shoes. This time, I got 3 pairs - a Stuart Weitzman & 2 pairs from Cole Hann (my best victory in Florida). If I had got them at full price, they would have cost me a total of US$489 (still cheaper than a pair of Manolos :p). I paid less than US$100 for them. They aren't exactly very fanciful shoes but so very functional - for work, basically. By the way, they are full leather :)

L to R: Stuart Weitzman (US$31.02), Cole Haan (US$31.98 & US$34.51)

Anyway, the strike by the transport workers finally came to an end after crippling the transport system in New York for 3 days. Everyone is relieved. It has cost the city lots of money & not to mention, a lot of inconvenience to New Yorkers. Just spoke with a friend who lives in Queens, that he had to walk 20 blocks (about 2km plus) from his place to get a bus into Manhattan & walk another 30 blocks to his office building...all that in the cold! Crazy!

Seriously, I think the strike is a big joke & perhaps, something that is overdue considering that the MTA & the TWU have not really met each other eye to eye over issues for a while. But really, at the end of the day, the TWU is made to look stupid. With a US$1m per day of strike fine in the face & with that little in the kitty, it's such a joke. The president of the union still has to face charges in court & really, I think Michael Bloomberg (mayor of NYC) is right - to slap more fines than throw him into jail or he'll look like some martyr.

At the end of the day, it's still money talks. If it were me, I would sack all the workers & re-hire others who lost their jobs. If they want their jobs back, they just jolly well have to settle with what I'm giving them. Consider this - the workers can demand all they want, knowing that they're on the losing end but if I put on their table $100 a day to cut their crap of a strike, I can bet you that all their demands will go under & they'll just march back to work, making their president of the union look like an idiot. Hey, you can't really depend on loyalty. It's all the about the money, gangsta!

I've yada-yadaed enough. I'm leaving New York in less than a week. Will spend the last few days here well.

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

Mission: Epcot

Epcot was fantastic! It's a place for thrills & rides of your life. But the Qs for the rides were ridiculously long. The first ride we went on today was 'Soarin'', the supposed number one ride in DisneyWorld. We didn't get the FastPass*1 because it would mean that we could only get on that ride at 4pm. So we stood in the queue for 1 hour to go on a ride that would last us only 5 minutes. Ridiculous? Well, it was a ride well worth it. We sat on this piece of engineering & when all systems go, it took us above the skies of California, from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe to Malibu Beach & orange farms. It felt like we were really flying above these places. It was totally awesome! What added to the fun was that we could actually smell oranges as we flew over the orange farm. I'm glad that we didn't get to smell the polluted air when we flew over the crowded city roads :) My Dad was very pleased with the ride.

My brother & me went to ride on Mission: Space - what an experience! We were in an enclosed capsule that was as similar to a space shuttle & we were supposed to be on a mission to Mars. It's no computer game, dudes! We felt the impact/feeling of take-off, going from 0mph to 6,000mph in 60 sec, G-force & turbulence in zero gravity. The posters & warnings made it sound scary because all who were prone to motion sickeness, had high blood pressure & whatever physical problems were told to not ride in this. Well, I suppose that it was for their own good because seriously, in as fun as it was, if you fell into any of the categories mentioned, it would have been a ride from hell. Certainly a favourite ride!

Next, we went on to watch the Kodak 3D film, 'Honey, I Shrunk the Audience'. It was so real! Can't describe it, except that it had me totally freaked when 1,000 mice were supposed to have been released. AAARGGHH!!

Remember Crush? The turtle from Finding Nemo? There was an interactive show with him. Well, really, the voice came from someone who could see everything that's going on in the audience through a camera. The children in there absolutely loved it & so did the adults. For the kids, it was a favourite character & for the adults, well, Crush was absolutely corny.

We took a walk around the World Showcase & as the name implies, there was a section in the park where they had little buildings & structures from countries all over the world, such as the Eiffel Tower, phone booths you'd find in England, the Temple of Heaven from China, etc. It was quite hard to take pictures because there were too many people walking around. We stayed to watch the Candlelight Procession concert & that lasted nearly an hour. It was basically an orchestra & choir doing Christmas songs & all. It's supposed to be a Disney tradition since Disneyland started this programme for Christmas in 1958.


The final ride for the day was Spaceship Earth, a ride through time. A very simple ride but when it first opened back in the 80s, it was a ride beyond its time.

I'm sorry if it sounded as though I'm telling granny tales but I was just really trying to recall & verbalise what I did at Epcot today.

Will be going back to New York tomorrow evening so Mum wants to do some shopping. I ain't saying 'no' to that :)

Luv,
~MiL~
Orlando, Florida

*Fastpass= It's basically a ticket that gets you through the long Qs at rides. How this works is that you insert your admission ticket to the park into one of the Fastpass distribution machines at the entrance of the rides & it will state a time where you come back for the ride. So when you come in at the designated time, which could be as quick as 5 min to 5 hours later, you just zoom by everyone who's lining up in the Q. Neat!

I'm 5 again!

I'm now in Orlando, Florida. Spent the day at Disney-MGM & Magic Kingdom. It was so much fun & I felt like a kid again. Told Mum that if I really were 5, I would be jumping up & down, insisting that I be bought the Cinderella dress or the fairy accessories. In the end, I got myself a Minnie Mouse hairband. All I need is the polka dot dress, yellow shoes & the white mittens :)

The first ride my brother & me went to was the Star Tours, which is basically some Star Wars thingy. I mean, how could I, a Star Wars fan, miss anything that's Star Wars? It was us strapped onto our seats & it was flight simulation as though we were on the X-wing flying in the galaxy. It was pretty cool & I liked the feeling of travelling light years. Couldn't take any pictures though.

We went on to walk around the park & found ourselves on this ride that took us through great movie moments that included effects from Aliens, Indiana Jones, Wizard of Oz, etc. They were basically wax figures that could move about & there were visual & sound effects to enhance the experience. That was pretty cool too.

I really liked the Muppet Show. It's a 3D animation & the effects were excellent. I mean, the things really popped out & you feel as though it was coming for you. Great for the kids though :)

On to Magic Kingdom, that's where all the Walt Disney characters came to life. We watched the Disney characters parade & it was awesome! They featured most of their characters, from Mickey to the baddies like Cruella D'evil to cutsie characters like the mice from Cinderella. Just as the kids were fascinated, I was too. Afterall, I'm supposed to be 5 again today :)

My friend, Mickey!

Some other characters

I shall update more when I'm less sleepy. Am off to Dreamland!

Luv,
~MiL~
Orlando, Florida

Walk on, New York!

The last few days have been exciting for all New Yorkers. The MTA & the transit workers in New York have not come to any agreement at all in their talks. The workers (under the strength of the Transit Workers Union) are threatening to go on strike, paralysing the public transport network in New York City. Many contingency plans are up, from car pools to extra ferry charters to re-routing of tunnel traffic into Manhattan, the news channels are calculating the distance & time it would take to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge & all. Going on strike is fun eh? Think about how much money would be lost...something to the tune of US$400million per day?

Anyway, I've been walking a lot in New York. I've not been consistent at the gym but I've been walking & walking. I've been walking hmmm....30 blocks, from Union Square on 14th Street back to 44th Street along 3rd Avenue..I don't know why also. By the way, the Kiehls flagship store is on 3rd Avenue. If anyone back in Singapore wants anything from Kiehls, please drop me an email. The stuff probably is cheaper here, I think! So yes, I've been walking.

Attended some New York Singapore Association Christmas party with my folks. It's this gathering of Singaporeans for what else but food. Mum was one of the organisers so she engaged child labour (read: my brother & me) to carry stuff, clean up, etc etc for her. Was busy eating & talking..so sorry, no pictures. But anyway, we borrowed the premises of the Norwegian Seaman Church up on 52nd Street & catered Singaporean/Malaysian food like satay, fried rice, dry mee siam. I mean...how Singaporean can we get right? The people who attended were mostly hmmm...high-flyers working in MNC, GLC or some diplomat posted here. We had a special piano performance by a girl who's studying in Julliard Music School. Gawsh!! I'm impressed!!

Will be in Orlando, Florida for the next few days. Will keep this space updated.

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

FBI - Full body inspection

Within a week, my skin started getting dry despite the use of moisturisers. Within a week, I got pimples as well. I thought pimples appear on oily skin but with my skin as dry as the Sahara, I get pimples!! What's this supposed to be??!

Anyway, for aesthetic reasons, I'm just doing a tell, no show of myself. So upsetting that my face is so dry & taut. So today, I slapped on 2 layers of moisterisers - a base layer (rich lotion) & a top coat (water-based lotion). So far, it's OK only because I'm not outside yet.

The legs are drying up so badly despite the use of lotions & creams..they look like crocodile skin because it's rough & scaly...help help help!! Did someone recommend Khiel's lotion? I don't know man but with dry skin, it brings on itches & red patches, which means that I cannot shave or wax my legs (good thing I'm in jeans all the time) - I'll look a mess when I get back to Singapore. Eeeeks!

As for the weight...hmmm...I'm still fitting into my clothes. Surprisingly, Mum's not cooking as much as she usually would. My brother said he went on the South Beach Diet & lost 6 pounds in 10 days so I think my Mum's going on it as well.

It's just cold in New York now. Next snowfall coming in 24 hours or less.

Till then..

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

Washington DC

Hello! I just got back from Washington DC late on Monday night (Tuesday morning for all you in Singapore). Am only updating this 12 hours later.

It was an interesting trip to the capital, except that it was a bore to be on the road for 4 hours (at least the toilet in the bus didn't stink!) We were greeted with nice sunshine on Saturday & it was crowded everywhere, full of tourists like myself checking out the great icons & monuments of the USA. Like my brother said, it's like some Hollywood movie (the political types, like Manchurian Candidate, Farenheit 9/11, etc) & we were imagining the opening scenes to some movies where the camera zooms across these structures in the opening scenes. Heh hehe!!

Capitol Hill

The Abraham Lincoln Memorial was ermm....let's put it this way. Abe was undergoing a face-lift so he wasn't able to pose for a picture. Hur!! And I walked a mile across from the Capitol Hill to find that out! Thanks!!!

That's the National Monument behind me

OK, here's a better picture of the National Monument (to honour all the troops who died in conflicts the US had a hand in..which is nearly everything?! :p)

We checked out the Arlington Cemetery on Sunday morning. It's the resting place of veterans, troops whose remains have been uncovered ("The Unknown Soldier"), national icons like John F Kennedy, those who died in the Challenger shuttle explosion back in 1986 & even those who died in the Pentagon (which is just across the road) when terrorists crashed the jet into the building on 911. It's a place of peace & quiet & rightly so. The marblestones are all neatly arranged in rows & no matter how you look at it, they are always nice & straight so as to resemble the formation of soldiers in their marching contingents. I didn't take too many photos of the place because I want to respect the resting place of those who are laid there.

A memorial stone to remember those who gave their lives to the war in the Pacific in WW2

In true Chan Family style (or rather, my Mum's), we all headed to the mall at Pentagon City & spent the rest of the afternoon there. It wasn't exactly the most fruitful, which is good since I didn't spend a lot of money there. Got myself a purple mesh Nike backpack & a book from Borders. The backpack was a steal from Marshalls because it only cost US$14.99 & the usual price seen elsewhere was US$30!! Hee hee hee!! And again, true to Chan Family style, we had dinner at Chinatown.

On Monday, my brother & me decided to check out the Museum of Natural History but before that, we had to 'pay our respects' at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - The White House.

Something major was taking place in the White House that day because the areas surrounding it were barricaded & there were members of the press, lots of cameras in the area. A-ha! President George W. Bush was due to give a press conference/speech on the plans for Iraq after their general elections. And we saw the most amazing thing!

That's the closest we got to the most powerful man on earth - he was in his Marine 2 landing into the White House for the press conference.

My brother & me spent the longest time in the Museum of Natural History - a place where it contains things we both love - dinosaur stuff, mammals stuff, geological stuff like earthquakes, volcanoes, space. I love the stones & gems section...all the crystals, rare stones, precious stones & *drum roll* The Hope Diamond! It's the gem of gems..45 carats, surrounded by other diamonds & even the chain is diamond...AARRRGGHH!!! I want!! Even saw the ear rings worn by Marie-Antionette & the diamond necklace plus diamond crown worn by Napoleon's wife (sorry - no photos!) AARRGGHH!!! I WANT THEM ALL!!

We wanted to check out the Spy Museum but it costs US$14 to get in. If you must know, all the museums in DC under the Smithsonian Institution are free entry places..hehe! That's why, to pay 14 bucks to check out spy stuff wasn't worth it. We had Popeye's chicken for lunch & bitched a lot... :D

And the wheels of the bus went round & round until we got back to New York City in 1 piece - thank God!

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

Winter wonderland

The big snowstorm hit the north-east on Friday. New York City was not spared & snow was falling for about 5 hours to give it about 4inches of snow & up to 6 inches in Central Park. The sky cleared by noon & gave way to sunshine after the gloom of the storm clouds. I went with Mum & her friend to Central Park to take a walk in the late morning right after the snowstorm. A beautiful winter wonderland awaited us.

Snow angel (see the wings my arms made?)

First snowman made with Mum

Haha! Reminds me of skiing/snowboarding

Hur hur! Pretty snow? Maybe not, on the roads. SLUSH!!

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

P/S: Can someone please tell me how to adjust my sidebar - it's gone all the way down the page & I have not adjusted any of my settings or whatsoever. Thank you! :)

Getting around the Big Apple

Getting around New York City isn't all that difficult once you have become familiar with how the grid system works. It's really easy & you soon get the hang of it.

Basically, the city is divided into big roads that run north-south of Manhattan & smaller streets that run east-west of Manhattan. All the roads & streets go in one direction, except for some of them. They go in the same direction in alternate avenues/streets. For example, First Avenue, Third Avenue & Madison Avenue go north, while Second Avenue, Lexington Avenue & Fifth Avenue go south. On major roads like Park Avenue & Broadway(only after Columbus Circle), traffic goes in both directions. Likewise for the streets, the odd-numbered streets go west-wards while the even-numbered streets go east-wards. And one more thing, the streets that start east going towards the west are named E 44th Street, for example but when the street runs across 5th Avenue, it becomes W 44th Street.

Manhattan

Knowing little things like this make getting your bearings & location correct much easier. So when you get lost & ask for directions, instead of people telling you turn left, go straight & then turn right & walk 127 steps ahead..blah blah blah. ************************************************************************************
I spent the afternoon in the Met Museum. It was crowded as usual but I guess the big attraction was the Vincent Van Gogh's collection on display. It was amazing to see all his pieces of work, from his pencil shading to his colours, including his prep work for his major works that were displayed alongside the masterpiece.

The snowstorm is headed north-east but it has hit places like Pittsburgh & Chicago, where a plane crashed into a fence of an inersection at the airport. Although it may not snow as much in New York City, I can't imagine what it will look like. I just hope that my brother's flight doesn't get delayed or cancelled because of the weather.

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

A fruitful day

Not that I hate spending time with Mum but really, I got a lot more done without her around. I did a lot of shopping today.

So what did I get today? Officially, I got 4 items from Macy's: a lace top, a blue top with a tie-behind ribbon, a Paul Frank tee & a pair of three-quarter pants. Total cost: S$53.61

Unofficially, I got 2 other accessories from Macy's: a pair of gold-plated ear-rings by Nine West & a red beaded necklace with ribbon that puts the thingy together. Total cost: US$34.68

Why officially & unofficially? You see, officially means bought together with Mum. Macy's had a 2-day sale yesterday & today. So apart from the given discount, Mum had this coupon that entitled us to another 11%. For example, she got a pair of DKNY jeans at 75% off but with the coupon, she got the jeans 86% off the normal price. Is that good or what? So unofficially means after I split up from shopping with Mum, I went off on my own but on my way out of Macy's, I couldn't help it but drop by the accessories section (I mean, who could resist all the pretty things calling out?). I didn't have a phone to get my Mum (and even if I did, she probably wouldn't be able to hear the phone ring) - yeah, I got the accessories without the extra 11%. Still, I think it's a good buy for the accessories.

I walked down 34th Street to Old Navy. It was too crowded & also the things didn't really interest me since most of it was winter stuff. Actually, one of the things I wanted to do at the store was to use the washroom, which was located in the bargain basement. Danger!!! I was too distracted by the many things that I forgot about using the washroom. In the end, I got myself a little white bag that cost only US$5.12 (with tax). It's a satin-like material bag & its lining is fleece (polyester). Very pretty little thing :)

Moving on, I found myself in Times Square. That place is just full of energy. People, people everywhere (actually, there are people everywhere in New York City). Bright lights & more bright lights that even the word 'Subway' at the entrance of the subway is illuminated. Sorry for the bad picture but it was SOO windy when I was taking it & my hands were shivering from the cold.

I bought a Twister (US$9.95) set from Toys R Us at Times Square. It's such a cute place & certainly every kid's dream come true. There's a huge Barbie doll house in there & a gigantic in-store ferris wheel that takes up the height of the entire place (about 3 storeys).

From there, I headed home because I planned to go to the gym plus it was getting dark. Got myself a nice soy mocha from Starbucks & walked through Grand Central Terminal, where there are many retail shops. So where there are shops, there you will find Milly Me weaving in & out but this time, not aimlessly. I went looking for a pair of mittens that had removable covers (for mobility - that's where the fingers are wrapped when the cover comes off) for Mum because she's been looking around for a pair. The lady at Tie Rack told me that they only have it as a set in green, pink & white stripes - certainly not anything Mum would wear. However, the lady was nice enough to tell me of another store that sold such stuff that was in another part of Grand Central Terminal. On my way to that shop, I passed by Swatch & checked out the store when I saw 'up to 40% off selected watches' plastered on the window. I saw a really nice white watch that was originally priced at US$55. The guy at the shop said that it was the last piece & without hesitation, I took it & I paid only US$39.02 (with tax) for it. Even Mum loves it. Hurray! :)

Now that I was happy with the watch, I continued looking for Mum's mittens & tadah...I found it some shops down from Swatch. It's a Kangol & it's black - certainly something she would wear & I got myself a pair of brown ear muffs that would double up as a hair band for me.

My 'fruits' for the day

I'm not quite thinking about the damage done to wallet because I think I got my stuff at pretty good prices. And I'm so proud of myself that I spent 45min at the gym! :)

It's been a fantastic day!!

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

I feel like a kid all over again

The picture on the left is the view I got from my room when I woke up this morning - grey. There were little sprinklings of snow on the buildings because it snowed a little the night before. Check out the picture on the right - snow on our window in the living room. Snow, in fact, a snowstorm was forecasted for the morning but it didn't happen, just light flurries. Visibility has been bad though. I usually get a good view of Lower Manhattan from the living room but I couldn't see anything past Midtown. The bad visibility began the night before but it was a lot worse last night.

I spent all of today walking with my Mum. I felt like a kid all over again because I tagged behind her. Mum was shopping for her latest hobby - beading. I had to follow her around to the shops on 37 Street off 5th Avenue where there were wholesalers of all the beading material. It was interesting for the first 5 minutes but imagine going into 5 shops looking at the same things when you don't really want to be there because there are many more other things to see. Remember the time when you were 7 when you had to follow your mum everywhere when she went shopping? Most of the time, you were bored but you had no choice because. So yes, that's exactly what I did today - follow Mum.

But I treated Mum to lunch at TGIFridays where we had really yummy fajitas & we were bitching about the mum & daughter combo on the table next to us - they were really huge & the girl seemed like she was 10 but she was bigger than me. Mum kept commenting on the portions they were having, like how much fries & how much ribs they were eating & how they finished every single thing on their plate. Hur hur! That's why I appreciate speaking in dialect with my Mum :)

The Christmas decorations are wonderful as ever. Rockefeller Center's yearly feature of the hugest Christmas tree is the highlight in New York City because everyone goes there to have a look & take the obligatory picture. The tree stands at about hmmm...4 storeys high & it seems that each year, someone will donate the tree to this place. I can imagine how many families actually grow the tree in their yard for ?? years before the tree gets chopped down & decorated to be displayed at Rockefeller Center.

Just one of the many window displays at Bloomingdales

It's amazing how people Q up to look at these window displays of department stores at Christmas. Each store has a different theme, like fairy tales, Arabian Nights, fairy land, etc. The Q gets rather insane at places like Saks at Fifth Avenue & at Lord & Taylor. But looking at how elaborate & pretty the decorations are, I can understand why. Even when it's cold & colder, people still Q. I haven't seen anything like people Q-ing to check out the decorations on Orchard Road :)

After a long tired day of feeling like a kid, I came back home to watch the Amazing Race. A disappointing season, I must say, especially when the travel takes places mainly in the USA, except for 2 legs that took place in Panama. But what got me interested after that was the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show after the Amazing Race. Mum & me actually saw the big advert for the show at the store in Herald Square.

Arrrgghhh!! I was sitting in front of the TV waiting to capture this for the blog

It was an amazing fashion display, I must say. It's not about oggling at there bodies but really, the outfits, however little, were fantastic. Imagine, diamond-studded lingerie, angel wings, etc. So pretty!! I also liked the bit where the camera went behind the stage where all the crazy preparations were taking place. It made me appreciate the kind of effort & co-ordination that goes into making these women look so good. (Hur hur, like watching them airbrush the bottoms of these models :p)

The divine Giselle

I was whining to my Dad how is it that people can be so tall & skinny. He said that there are lots of people who are like that. How unfair! I know - I will spend an hour in the gym everyday from tomorrow onwards *snort*

The living room - sorry about the lighting

It's time to sleep now - it's tiring being a kid, you know?

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City

"Thank you for flying Singapore Airlines, a member of Star Alliance"

I'm finally in the crunch of the Big Apple! 18 hours on the plane went by. I was varying between 2 modes - sleeping, semi-awake & restless. How I survived it, I don't know. All I remember was a pretty fat chap (probably in his 60s) snoring at the top of his lungs/pharynx. That was painful, especially when I could still hear him above my ear phones.

Because of the state that I was in, I had short attention span so I didn't catch any films though I had so many to choose from. I ended up watching short documentaries on travel destinations (which was good) & Fashionscene & of course, Sex and the City. But really, it was awful being in that semi-awake & restless state because I wasn't sleeping & at the same time, too tired to be thinking or watching anything that required brain power. I only kept looking at this & counting down.

This is the route I took. Not a very clear picture since I took it off the monitor in the seat in front of me.

Yaayyy!! We made progress from this, that's why I'm here :)

It's pretty cold here & snow is forecasted within the next 24 hours. Making plans for the next few weeks with my family. My Dad says we'll go to Washington DC this weekend & probably head for Las Vegas either next week or the week after. How exciting!!

So yeah, the adventure begins on Tuesday 6 December.

This is the bed I'll be sleeping on for the next few weeks

I love my closet!

Luv,
~MiL~
New York City