At Papenburg Again !

The weather today is very good, Sun shines and blue skies! Amazingly welcoming weather upon my return. 20C celcius in end of October at Papenburg, this is a bit incredible compared to last year we had snow on October 24!

Well, the town is still the same, the bank and post office is still in the same location, same staff personnel, you can not expect changes in 5 weeks of your absence, do you?

I went to Ems Centre to do dry cleaning and bump into the Rock Star Colleague, and we had lunch together.

I shared some of my holiday experiences, he told me about his on board vacation, we talk a little about my ex-company and gossip as usual.

I am glad I am counting down to go home soon and I am an outsider now when talking of his office stuff.

Work and job is not the main thing in life, there are plenty at home waiting for me, one of them would be a little sip of my father's Louis XIII!!!

The afternoon wind blew some leaves into the apartment I stay. Papenburg does not have beautiful Fall colours like the US Mid-west states I just visited. So, a sunny October day is something you just really need to appreciate and hold on to....

Arriving back in Germany !

The flight was surprisingly full and security was tight compare to the British Airway flight which was leaving to London in the next gate. All passengers were checked, the airline shore staffs were not friendly to the Indian Passengers but selected smiles showing to non-Indian passengers only.

I board the train hoping to get a few free seats in order to rest, but could not even manage to move after the passengers flood in to the air craft. The most annoying thing was the little kid sitting behind me was kicking and pushing my seat despite few warnings given prior to flight even taking off.

I was not able to rest well hence decided to put up the headphone to watch movie “Mr & Mrs Smith”. Movie was lousy but the most amusing thing I found behind the scene from the movie was about Vince Vough who played Brad Pitt’s partner who has now become Jennifer Aniston’s “best” friend where Mrs Smith (Angelina Jodie) is now hoping to be real Mrs Pitt pulak; what a small world! OK, after failing to entertain by AIR India’s entertainment system and have no cabin light at all to read my book, could not sleep because of the unstable seat from kicking boy, I guess I have to find some kind of entertainment from the movie until I was too tired and fall asleep.

Meal on board was not too bad, but I was hungry. Three muffins I took from Wendy’s kitchen best filled my stomach space for this 8 hours flight.

Flying from different time zones plus adjusting the winter time on the same day, I was a bit lost when the cabin supervisor announced that we had arrived Frankfurt airport at 1015am. What train shall I catch to go back to Papenburg then?

The captain then alerted us to view A380 Air Bus which was about to take off shortly upon arrival. I could see its tail from my window seat and it is really huge compare other planes which is moving around the airport in the same time.

After 5 weeks vacation in English speaking land, it is good to return to Europe and start changing my language skill (although I do not speak fluent German) to Deutsch. In fact, for some reason I felt good and happy to land in Germany again

I am fortunate to be able to stay freely in Papenburg before I fly home again in 2 weeks time! I just need to organize my left over stuff, still holidaying in certain extends, still has a short Paris trip to do, still will go to Hamburg to visit my friends before I get my One Way Ticket home.

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About Air India : The only thing I am happy with Air India was its take off and landing which was surprisingly professional and perfectly conducted. Otherwise, I still prefer Malaysian Airline In-flight Service.

Chicago - Frankfurt

So fast !! It is time to leave US and flying back to Germany again!

After 5 weeks holiday in Midwest (+ Virginia and Washington D.C. as bonus); I packed my belongings and ready to go!!

Flight is at 1900 on Air India (what a choice?!) I will go to Milwaukee airport and catch a coach to O'hare International Airport of Chicago.

It has been a great pleasure having an experience staying over with my friends in different cities and states.

Lots of memories and lots of good experiences in the luggage where I have to keep them tight and bring them back to Malaysia with me.

I will stay put in Germany for a couple of day and do a short Paris trip (Nov 3-7); then visit some friends in Hamburg, then ready to go home with ONE Way ticket.

The sky is beautiful and the sun is shining although temperature is low! I am not really sure about the Germany weather but things will be definitely alright when I arrive tomorrow!

Happy Halloween! and... Happy Birthday to Wendy!

Thanks again to all my friends who had me with them in my USA holiday!

Bus Route 15

I decided to take a bus to see Milwaukee closer after realized that Wendy will be too occupied taking care of her twins than bringing me around.

After consult Tim about the bus route, I took Bus No 15 from KiknikKiknik(KK) Avenue to Bayshore. My journey started at about 1pm from KK Street. Weather was perfectly good; compare to the shitty Chicago weather few days ago, I was happy to enjoy this sun shine.

Bus fare is USD$ 1.75/- You gotta give exact change, otherwise the bus driver will not give you any change if you pay $2/- unless you want to tip him. As most of the “coin operated” system involve American Quarters (25cents), carrying enough quarters is definitely good especially you are traveling by bus or subway (Milwaukee does not have subway, only Bus routes).

KK road is pretty long and connected to 1st street as well as the Water Avenue when it reached downtown. The main street in downtown area is Wisconsin Avenue. Where you can see the skylines buildings and many commercial district at its surroundings.

Bus 15 goes through the University Wisconsin Milwaukee campus, hence you can see many student commuters taking this bus. The journey to Bayshore was quite relaxing, in fact. It took about 1 hour to reach the end destination, the Bayshore Shopping complex.

After my lunch at Bayshore Shopping Complex, I took the same bus to downtown Wisconsin Avenue, exploring the Riverwalk area.

The stroll along the main street and this bus ride was pretty important to determine is Milwaukee a “Kampung” version or a City version. Undoubtedly, with so many inhabitants (sorry, I do not know how many.) and being the capital city and biggest city of the state, Milwaukee is definitely not so “kampong” like what Wendy has described!!! It is actually very strategic located in Michigan lake and has its own port and close to Chicago (1-1/2 hours) and not so conservative considering a real Mid-West city.

After Sun set, I headed back using the same bus and the journey became very Halloween especially when I walked passed those house decorated with lots of ghost bubble statue and skeleton decorations. It has been a beautiful day and I was very happy with Bus Route 15.

Dim Sum

I intended to have breakfast in the Chinatown after failed to have the soy-bean breakfast in St Louis and happened to see one shop selling my type of breakfast, I decided to skip the Science & Industry Museum but just do Breakfast today!

So, I took the Red Line to Cemark/Chinatown station, but ended up having dim sum in Phoenix restaurant.

After arrived at the shop I wanted to go, I saw nobody and decided to leave and changed my mind immediately after I saw the sign read “Phoenix” restaurant few shop before this one. Phoenix is a restaurant selling mainly dim sum and has appeared as recommended Chinese restaurant in few travel guides.

Although it is quite difficult to order Dim Sum alone, my search for good Chinese breakfast had led me to this restaurant and had this very good dim sum that I desired for weeks!

It was not disappointed at all, I had the chicken feet in homemade sauce, beef stomach in ginger, pan fried white carrot cake, shrimp dumpling and fried vegetable dumpling. Besides, I had also ordered some other choices brought back to Milwaukee for Wendy and her mom.

When I arrived at Chicago Union Station for my Amtrak Train at 1230, I was actually about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. I then waited at the waiting room and was reading the 25cent magazine about celebrity gossip (Brad Pitt crying on the phone talking to Angelina Jodie) when I heard the lady besides me started to search for funny smell. I overheard her complaining to her friend about some odd smell and could not figure out what was that. The Dim Sum smell in my to-go bag was indeed strong. She described to her friend the smell was like "old left over McDonald meal" which made her sick!

I did not react nor explain anything. Sorry, this is great Chinese Dim Sum, can't compare with the McD left over burger at all!!! As the train has started to embark passengers, I brought my Dim Sum and match to the train could not bother what smell the Dim Sum has widely spread but could imagine Wendy's and her mom's smiling face when eating these Dim Sum at home....

Birthday......

It's my birthday, AGAIN!!

Oh, I can't believe is my Birthday again!! yes, Again!! How many more birthday to be celebrated oversea?

I guess the feeling is complicated and I will tell you more how I felt later!

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I was born in the Year of Dog. Just days before my birthday, my sister HT had already sent me the horoscope forecast for 2006 which is the Year of Dog. Ehhhheemmmm….. What is the forecast then? I supposed one have to read at least 3-4 versions to justify how true they are.

I always read the horoscope forecast for fun, but sometime do have a glimpse of fear IF there were less positive comment. Anyway…

I did not plan to have my birthday in Chicago, alone. When discussing my trip with May, we kind of chatting about spending this day in Green Bay. But things changed when our traveling moods swing by the fall colours. I supposed I was holidaying and not rushing behind the clock; that’s the ways to go.

It was not about : because my birthday, therefore I went to Chicago. It was more about : because I went to Chicago, and it was my birthday too, instead.

I often sent reminder or hint messages to my friends about my birthday was around the corner and “hey – you got to do something to cheer me up” that kind of thing. But this year, being out of internet access and far away from home and no more office work station attached to, I have a quiet birthday instead.

Day started with a desire of good breakfast in a 5 star hotel. But, the wish did not come true as I was a bit late and left hostel only at 10am after replying a couple of greeting sms. I decided to have coffee and muffin at Starbuck in the nearby bookshop and wrote some postcard.

Next, I walked north of State Street and turned East to Wacker Drive, crossing a bridge on Chicago river to “Magnificent Mile” area. First, admire the Wrigley Building, then up North to Water Tower, John Hancock Center and Drake Hotel. Not to forget also, this area is in fact large shopping area for designers brand and expensive stuff. Although I very much like a special present for myself, but did not really get anything at the end of the day.

Lunch was just a simple Tuscany salad with extra cheese. Thereafter, I decided to walked back to the Loop area after getting quite bored.

Then, I took an Elevator-train to Chinatown for some Chinese grocery for Wendy. Still not getting any real birthday mood…Perhaps a Nasi Lemak to substitute a birthday cake will spicy me up a bit?

I therefore went to “Penang” restaurant; with enough cash in my wallet this time , I still did not have the stomach to stuff all favourite food.

I thought of going to the Jazz Club to spend the evening, but the White Sox was playing the Houston Astro in the World Series Baseball game at Houston-Texas tonight. If they won, they will be the champion of the World Series.

When I arrived back in the hostel, the library TV was already crowded with the Sox’s fans. I joined them for the game and it was fun to witness the victory of Chicago White Sox team, on my birthday evening!! At least now, I could say that “Chicago White Sox won the 2005 World Series Baseball Championship on my birthday”!!

At the end of the day, I just had plain day and nothing much exciting although I was at Chicago. I guess I was a bit boring to celebrat my birthday alone in foreign city. I supposed one can have many choices to spend the day if they want. I just chose the simple and boring way….alone.

Birthday feeling was complicated this year because of a beginning of new phase of life and the future changes that I could not foresee yet. Quitting my first job that I had worked for 10 years in single company, changing my lifestyle from European exposures back to Asia customs, drinking more Ice Coffee instead of Wine etc : these will definitely put a full stop somewhere in a chapter of my life.

Crossing continents and flying miles to realize current priorities or may be even I have not figured out clearly what occur to be good or bad yet; I decided to keep it plain and low profile.


I just hope that my birthday wishes will come true very soon… God bless me!

The Art Institute of Chicago

This is my favourite museum in Chicago!!

Although the Field Museum was really good and although I did not make a trip South to visit the Science and Industry Museum to compare, although I can not really compare science to arts; but this is definitely my favorite of the Chicago museum!!

First of all, it was FREE on Tuesday!! I actually planned to get there as soon as the door open (1030am); but I was strolling along the Michigan Avenue and found the Millenium Park so incredibly charming under the morning sun, I delay my visit to noon.



In addition, the photography exhibition of Terry Evans in the park was beautifully charming about Chicago and Cook County; made me stayed a little bit longer than expected. Besides, the music pavilion and the outdoor sculpture were so modern blending in this modern green park, also made me felt terribly pleased to be here!

Well, I was prepared to describe more on the Art Institute but the Millenium Park did attract me a lot! I can imagine how wonderful during Summer time!

OK, now... The Art Institute of Chicago... many famous Impressionist artwork collection, plenty of Claude Monet, many Post Impressionist as well as early century European paintings.



My personal favourite is the "Acrobats at the Circus Fernando"(1879) by the Renoir!! By the way, Georges Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte"(1884) where the paintings were made from the dots of colours, is one of the important collection of this museum (where his theory "pointilism" influenced other painters thereafter).

This museum house more than 30,000 works from around the world and it is the largest in the Midwest and one of the best in USA.

I enjoyed the Asian Art as well as the American collections. But, not on the modern arts, still prefer the Impressionist and 17th, 18th & 19th century European paintings. Too bad, there are too much to do and see in one day! After two and half hour in the museum and feeling hungry, I left for food.

So, I wandered around again...Oh, another thing you ought to do when walking around Chicago downtown is : enjoying the different architectural building that created the city's skyline and its amazing views. For example, the "Sears Tower", once the tallest in the world, and many other more.

I went to Navy Pier in the evening, catching an Imax show at 1710, then walking passed the Halloween-to-be zombie, tried looking from the other side of the lake to see Chicago night view strikes through the dark while people started to get in nearby sport bar to watch White Sox played Houston Astros before the Sox became the World Series champion.

When you started to wonder.. the night still young or the winter daylight is short, you know for sure that you have keep really warm walking in this Windy city, especially Navy Pier! It was terribly cold!

Chicago Field Museum & Shedd Aquarium

Field Museum is definitely a highlight of Chicago visit and a fascinating place to spend a day (especially on a rainy day!) One of the best natural museum in USA.

John G. Shedd Aquarium... may be I am an advanced diver (I wonder since when..?) and I did expect more than I saw, hence a bit disappointed about this one.

OK. Both museums are located in the same area where it was defined as the Museum Campus. There is another museum called "Adler Planetarium" which have all the planets related works.

Visit to Field Museum was really good especially the largest T-rex skeleton is preserved and best kept for viewing in the central lobby. Besides, the anthropology studies and collections are really details and I love the Maori house and other ethnic related works.

One of the Malaysian collection I found was a pair of 1920 Malay Bride Sandal in the collectio featuring the development of shoes, displaying from around the globe.

The Wild Reef in the Shedd Aquarium are among the most interesting places that I enjoyed. The Penguins viewing were through a thick glass comparing to the close contact I had in St Louis Zoo. I was not quite delighted about viewing one of my favourite animal in such water tank condition. Anyway....

The rain kept me spent more time in the Museum than expected. But, the view from the Museum Campus was fantastic. You can see the downtown skyline, although with grey cloudy sky! ;-(

I headed to Chinatown for food, enjoyed the Penang Restaurant's "Popiah" and "Sambal Belacan Fried Rice" before I realised I did not have much cash in my pocket to pay!

Well, I broke my glasses in the morning and have no cash at the end of the day. I supposed this was just to make sure I remember this Chicago day! :-)

Amtrak to Chicago

Wendy was fully occupied with the babies. With her mother over here to assist and Tim to help after is work, the baby sitting is still a 24 hours job!

We dropped the idea of driving to Chicago while Tim and another possible helper staying home with the babies. So, with Wendy's information, I decided to take a train by AMTRAK to Chicago from Milwaukee!

After living in Germany for some years and having used the excellent train network and quality of the Deutsche Bahn, I do not have any expectation of USA train network system.

If you remember one of the episodes of "Sex and the City" where Carrie and Samantha riding on a train from East to West.. that was something I want to elaborate about the train ride in US, I guess.

From the queue in the station until you board the train, it was so different from the European culture, oh, as well as the Asian style, I should say! But, it was not too bad in the train itself, very comfortable and the seat is big! Punctuality... I have some doubts in the beginning after the train delayed 5 minutes departure without announcement. But it was alright after all! I supposed I was too German in the train ride and could not even tolerate for 5 minutes delay!

I actually would not want to comment so much since the journey time was only 1 hour 32 minutes and I was taking a 30 minutes nap!! hahaa...

However, I reached Chicago as planned by Amtrak which was good enough!!

Racine

Racine is the place where Wendy's office is.

But, since she is now working from home, she purposely drove me and her mom to Racine to visit this little town.

Racine made me thought of Dover, England! Small, lake or sea front, industrial office, grey and simple.

We then went to Kohl for a little bit of shopping before went home.

Wendy bought me and her mom dinner at Chef Chang Asian Fusion Restaurant, meanwhile give me a treat for my upcoming birthday... Food was good as well as restaurant ambience; lots of eat-in customers although the menu is actually simple cooking which are more American Chinese Food.

Milwaukee Art Museum

Introduction to the Milwaukee Art Museum : Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava of Spain, the museum structure is known for its "Burke Brise Soleil", or sunshade which gently and silently rolls up against the backdrop of Lake Michigan.

Wendy dropped me off at museum area and I was very impressed of this stunning building and its designs! The architectural is amazingly creative and present and very futuristic look yet artistic atmosphere to hold plenty of the arts collection in the city!

Lake front view give the museum a powerful identity to become the city's new icon and the fountain area in front of the museum creating the leisure park and recreational yet modern feel to the entire area.

I love the museum from first sight! Until I went inside the building, it gave me more wonderful impression and love the entire architectural without judging the collection of the arts!

Well, I was a bit late to enter the museum at 1430, not able to do so much in details, I pick the modern art collection I like and disregard the abstract corner. The Rembrandt exhibition is on going and that was this Gallery Night on the day I visit, therefore I did not see how the sunshade "rolls up gently or silently"!

After the Museum, I walked by the Lake front (one of the Greatest Lakes - Lake Michigan) enjoying the Veteran Park's fall colours. I the reached "Altera Cafe" where they serve excellent coffee in this old 1890++ building which was once .."something"..(can't remember what was that! sorry)...

Anyway, it was a good day and my judgment whether Milwaukee is a "kampung" or city is definitely leaning to the city side!

Hey Wendy, you have to re-define what is "Kampung" lah!

Wendy's version of "kampung" Milwaukee

May drove me from Green Bay to Milwaukee today to Wendy's version of "Kampung Milwaukee".

I am going to stay with Wendy for few days who had delivered twin-baby-boys in July!

Milwaukee is Wisconsin's capital city, I am sure I will be able to check this city out a bit despite Wendy's busy schedule working from home and taking care of her babies; and to decide is this a "Kampung" (village) or a "Bandar" (city)...

NBA : Milwaukee Bucks VS Detroit Pistons

....not able to see the American Football game in Green Bay, instead we watched the NBA basketball game at the Resch Centre...

I thought it is always a good idea to experience how this once Champion team, the Green Bay Packer, plays in home stadium at Green Bay; but too bad when I was there, the Packers were out of town.

The NBA game on Wednesday evening was Milwaukee Bucks vs Detroit Pistons. It started at 7pm, we had quick dinner at the Italian restaurant, Olive Garden, parked the car at Chris's work place and went to the indoor stadium next door.

The atmosphere was really good and happening; we missed the national song singing but was on time for the pom pom girls to cheer start the game.

Both teams have their supporter flooded the stadium and it was really fun to be there to cheer for the player and favourite team and see the live performance. NBA, you know..! hahaaa...

We got ourselves a $8 ticket, which was not bad at all! I was pleased with the seat because of an entertaining Bucks supporter in front of us. He was a real Bucks fan and cheer for his favourite player all the time, high five with other people when a good shot was made. "Go T.J., Go... !" that was how he cheers for T.J. Ford whom we thought was quite cool in the Milwaukee Bucks team although some other first pick player seems to be other supporters favourite.

The best part of the game for the audience was during the time out or the interval section where the cheer group will come out and dance, or the band will play for 2 minute during the time out, or the gift throwing time where the home team (or Milwaukee Bucks in this case) mascot will give away T-shirts, tokesn etc.

Milwaukee Bucks won with the score over 100 points! We waited to see the entire game to enjoy the maximum feels of this NBA basketball match. It was a real exciting evening and fun to be at Resch Centre to enjoy!!

After all, it was not a bad choice to have NBA game instead of American Football.

Fall Colours @ Door County

Definitely a beautiful day to remember and enjoy vibrant fall colours!!

....Door County ~ Long noted for ranking near the top for tart cherry production in the United States.... 250 miles of shorelinemakes it home to numerous marinas....

What else can you expect in Door County in autumn season? Gorgeous Fall colours for sure!

We drove up to Sturgeon Bay and kick off our adventures to Door County for the purpose to enjoy the Fall/Autumn colours.

No regret and there is nothing you can describe except the beautiful pictures.

P/S : Just hang in there, I shall upload these beautiful pictures when my hard disk work !!

Green Bay

Weather was too risky to go to Door County in order to enjoy Fall colours as planned. Instead, we stayed back in Green Bay and did some sight seeing in town.

Pancake as Brunch was huge and it took us 3 meal to finish single piece. We went across the street to see old McDonald Arch that has become historical site of Green Bay. This McD big "M" was built in 1950+ but was kept by the owner instead of demolished for new "M" replacement along the business movement, therefore it is quite a piece of memory.

We went to Neville Public Museum, but nothing exciting except history of Green Bay and how the community formed.

Came home for a quick snack : Beef Satay, Peanut Sauce and "Nasi Ketupak". Very Malaysian! Love it!

We then headed to the Botanical Garden where we enjoyed green very much. It is a nice garden to stroll with either a book or sandwich picnic for half of a day. Plenty of information and plants knowledge to learn. Pretty impressive.

Dinner : what else if not May's cooking? Oh, we had Taco finally! After missing "Taco Bell" on the road to Virginia state, May fulfill my taco desire....

In Her Shoes..

This is so far the best movie of Cameron Diaz, I think.

I like this movie! Very touching and thought CD was great at her role, so does other supporting roles.

If you have not seen this movie, go to the nearer cinema now....

OshKosh Prime Outlet

May and I went to OshKosh Prime Outlet to shop today. Big damage! Although compare to some departmental stores, these outlet malls are not cheaper, I enjoyed it!

Before we left home, we bought the POWER BALL lottery, which is about 300 millions in the draw. Hoping that we could at least get some luck to purchase further in other Prime Outlet, unfortunately we were not that lucky.

I guess dinner at Applebee Restaurant and a hot tub bath did make it up after a long day walking and shopping around!

A History of Violence & Elizabetown

I told May I wanna watch movies today!! That's why today's activity is movie watching.

I have about 30 minutes before the 2.15pm show, we went to KOHL's and I managed to grab some bargain items in less than 20 minutes. Guys, I am a pro-buyer!

We returned to watch Viggo Mortensen's "A History of Violence". Thought this movie will not be the same if you would have watched it in Msia (what else if not the Msian censorship board). I like this movie, VM is very good, so does the actress (Maria something..?!) who played his wife. Ed Harris only have about 30 minutes (?!) in this film but his appearance is stunning to make VM's role more convincing.

We decided to watch 2 movies in the row and chose the "Elizabetown" not solely because of Kirsten Durst or Orlando Bloom but the showing time met our request.

Well, I guess the only thing I like about "Elizabetown" was its soundtrack and the Map KD did for OB. Besides, the road trip and my recent 15 hours road trip kind of bring me closer to the movie. Other than that, I would only give a 5 out of 10, it is just not outstanding.

We then went to "Cold Stone" ice cream store on the way home and picked up strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. That was yummy and competitive to Cincinnati's The Greatest Ice Cream. I guess, after all Wisconsin is America's Dairystate, ice cream should be good too!!

St Louis -> Chicago -> Green Bay

PA and I were chatting all night long, catching up stories and sharing our experiences, adventures, jokes and details in life until I could not get up early enough to continue today.

The Sun was shining, this was the last morning in St Louis, we did not even have a tea or beer in her back yard deck. Her sons have started to like me but it was also time to leave.

We went to HK's office to pick up card and also say goodbye to her husband. We then went to Sam's club for her Friday party grocery. No time for breakfast and lunch, bagels on the way to airport. Time passed really quick and it was time to say goodbye to PY now.

I am not sure when I will see PY again, but I am sure when I see her next, her sons will be two handsome grown up kids already.

My flight to Chicago was on time at 1325. May and Chris will be meeting up with me at O'hare airport although I was arriving at Midway. We managed to get back to May's house after 3 hours drive from Chicago. Guess what May had prepared for dinner? "Nyonya Archa" that I missed in Washington D.C.!!! Yahoo!! I am going to put on more weight for the next couple of days staying with May. This is very positive. Thanks May!

Many occasions on the same day

En Liang drove from Kansas City to visit me and PY today! I have not seen EL for about 5 years and it was really great for her to come all the way 4 hours journey to spend a night in St Louis.

We were all invited to Sue Ching's place for Steamboat dinner tonight. Today is also PY's birthday!! Many occasions on the same day, indeed.

The hotpot dinner was quite different from what I had in London on the Mid-Autumn day. SC did the steamboat in very Taiwanese style. I love the appetizer more than the hot pot and definitely enjoyed the company very much.

This was certainly a special day we could do together in foreign land having a hotpot that symbolise union and happy occasions.

I was really happy to see EL in the meantime celebrating PY's birthday in SC's place!

Pui Yan : Happy Birthday again!
En Liang : thanks for the efforts, I will visit you at Kansas City next time!

Laundry day?

Oh, what did I do today?

This was the question I asked myself after a tiring journey.

I guess, besides the laundry, eating and drinking, that's about it!

Sometimes, you really just need to do nothing if you are on holiday but putting on weight.

The fact is, when I looked at my picture from Cincinnati to St Louis to Virginia, I bet my parents will have a huge "WOW" reaction when they see me later.

Oh boy!

Route 64 WEST

Another traveling day...

15 hours journey from East to West, Virginia state to Missouri State, Richmond city to St Louis city, 0525 to 2045, Eastern time to Pacific time zone.

Virginia -> West Virginia -> Kentucky -> Indiana -> Illinois -> Missouri : crossing 6 states on the road, returning with maple syrup from WV as only souvenirs.

Total distance approximately 840 miles; I drove for 100 miles when giving HK afternoon break in Kentucy state.

Fast food meal on the road as usual. Lunch was Arby Burger; dinner was Pasta.

Scenery was quite good compare to the eastbound journey 5 days ago because the trees have started turning fall colours although have not reached its peak in certain areas.

Exhausted upon arrival at PY's house, but excited too because EL is coming to visit from Kansas City tomorrow.

Richmond Downtown

Did not do much today. Just went to Richmond Downtown for a little bit of sightseeing and have Vietnamese Lunch in the afternoon.

Richmond is pretty nice location in the east side of US. I even thought of looking for a job in Richmond!! No kidding! But, the priority now is going home first, then think of job location later.

We had dinner in a Chinese Restaurant in the evening. We actually went for a little survey before HK picked one. We are just fussy about Chinese food when dine in US-Chinese Restaurant. This restaurant is pretty reasonable and good.

We put a full stop on our Virginia trip after some crazy jokes at WM's apartment about www.guanyimma.com from the Singapore movie. It was hilarious and we had so much fun laughing about this movie. It was a great evening and WM is real funny!

Washington D.C.

We left Richmond for Washington D.C. today. Weather was not excellent to do sightseeing trip in D.C. Raining cats and dogs, affecting our mood, of course.

It took us about 1 hour 50 minutes to reach D.C., went straight to the Capitol to get a tour ticket. My tour started at 12.20pm; the rest of them went to the Air & Space museum avoiding outdoor activities due to the rain. I hate to be in heavy rain and walking around as real tourist, hence started to wait at the security tent from 11.30am onwards.

The Tour Service Coordinator kept asking us our nationality to show off his multi-language talent. He told us he knew about 58 different languages and he could even greet me in Bahasa Malaysia, I was impressed though.

Tour begin on time after security process formality completed. We marched in to the main building and our guide Rebecca started to give us briefing and introduction of the Capitol building.

It was quite impressive, the only thing is it was short and tourist are not allowed to many places. Some of its paintings are pretty neat, I like the ceiling too.

Rain continued to pour, I met up with Trician and gang in the museum and have the very expensive "no choice late lunch" of McDonald Nuggets.

We decided to leave after seeing the rain slowed down and drove through the monuments and White House doing a bit of sight seeing tour under the unsatisfying weather. Among the sites, I was able to cover 2nd World War Monument, Lincoln Monument, Vietnam War Monument, Korean War Monument, Jefferson Memorial and Washingon Monument.



Then, we went to 18 street for Malaysian Cruisine dinner! The other purpose of this trip is to have Malaysian food for Trician and gang who were dying for local Malaysian food. I was not particular about having Malaysian food in D.C. but the Curry Laksa was really good and everyone enjoy the dinner very much. By the way, the restaurant is "Kopitiam"; I thought they have a branch in London, but this is the only restaurant in the states.

Although day trip to Washington D.C. in rainy day was not fun but it was really good to have a glimpse of each site after all. It wasn't a bad idea to do a 2 hours journey from Richmond for day trip after a good Malaysian meal, I am sure everybody was happy after that dinner.

Rain, Rain, Rain...

Another raining day in Richmond! Weather forecast was accurate, we could not do much but indoor shopping.

It was pretty good for relaxing rainy day to recover from our long journey and heaty body that need much rest before we head for Washington D.C. tomorrow.

I always thought that eating porridge in raining day will make you more hungry, but our "century egg + meat" porridge was really good to warm us out in the evening!

Virginia Beach

Weather forecast was good today! We decided to go to Virginia Beach!

I was not feeling good, physically, can't stand the heat by the beach.

But, Virginia Beach was pretty nice, although I think South Beach at Miami is more happening and busier. Virginia Beach was not busy on a weekday but still there were people surfing and sun bathing under 84F temperature!!

We went to Norfolk Hampton Road Naval Museum after Virginia Beach, went up to USS Wisconsin Battleship to visit.

On the way back to Richmond, we stopped by at Williamburg outlet mall for 45 minutes to shop. We then went to have Vietnamese noodle for dinner after a long day.

Route 64 EAST

Finally, we arrived Richmond City of Virginia State after a 15 hours car drive from St Louis of Missouri.

Route 64 EAST, this was the way we drove and here we are in PY's brother apartment at Richmond. I am glad that we are still one piece after a long journey.

It was not hard to drive in this Highway, you just need to keep track of your speed limit. I drove two segments in between HK's rest time, that was fine.

The trees along the way started to change colours, they shall be very pretty by the time we return. But tonight, a good night sleep is pretty much required.

Virginia Beach and Washington D.C. are two of the cities in our list to visit. Weather forecast will not be that great tomorrow, but we hope we can achieve our visiting vision after this long car drive.

Dinner at Tachibana Japanese Restaurant

Venue : St Louis, Chesterfield, Tachibana Japanese Restaurant
Date : October 4, 2005 Tuesday
Time : 7.30 pm

1 new friend - knowing through PY
1 guy from Michigan visiting this new friend
1 mission to complete for my new friend
Several comments about Michigan guy
Plenty of Sushi and Sashimi
Food was excellent

Review... : Private & Confidential

St Louis Gateway Arch

Today is my sightseeing day in St Louis.

Two main site to visit : (1) The Gateway Arch and (2) Budweiser brewery.


The Gateway Arch....
Very impressive landmark, overseeing the Missouri River and standing in front of the River bank as an important icon of the city. This is center piece of the 91-acre Jefferson National Memorial, 630-foot stainless steel Gateway Arch, one of St Louis proud skylines. Built between 1963-1965, designed by architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; established to interpret the story of America's century of westward expansion.

I took the tram that carries visitors to the top of the Gateway Arch from South gate. The tram is very unique and futuristic look in small compartment which consists of eight five-passenger capsules that climb a track up and down the legs of the arch. The trip to the top takes 4 minutes and return to shore is only 3 minutes.

Because of the curve, you have to be very careful balancing yourself in the small space when you are on the top of the Arch. Views from both City end and River end are magnificient. Although I like the city view better, I think the river view has its unique attraction too.

There is a museum elaborating the history of the westward expansion in the basement of the Arch as well.

You could not find any other place in St Louis downtown that offering such a beautiful combination of architectual, cultural, history influences, humanity landmark but the Gateway Arch. I enjoyed this place very much. Oh, the picnic lunch with PY and her 2 sons under the Arch was great too, especially I was having the Hong Kong pastry "poh-loh-pau"....

Anheuser-Busch Budweiser Brewery....
Well, how to say... eheemmm, because I visited the BECKS brewery before, therefore this FOC tour in Budweiser brewery was not really exciting compare to my Becks visit in Bremen, Germany.

The bonus was, we got the chance to test 2 glasses of FOC beers of any kind from the bar. I had "Michelob Golden Draft" (because I asked for something strong) and shared PY's "Michelob Amber Bock". Both are good, but I still prefer German beers for some reasons.

Oh, you need to be 21 years and above in order to consume alcohol in the States. Although I was not asked to show my ID this time, hey guys, trust me...I was asked to show my ID each time when orderding alcohol in America ever since I started visited the country 3 years ago! It is really a BIG compliment for me!! hahahaa...

St Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Red

HK's brother managed to get us some last minute tickets for the baseball game in the Busch Stadium today. This was the last game of the regular season where St Louis Cardinals play the Cincinnati Red. Normal ticket is US $27 each but because we got it from 'other' sources, it cost us US$40/- each.

The game marked another important moment because it was held in the Busch Stadium in St Louis Downtown and it is going to be last event held where the home team is playing at regular season before this stadium demolished. New stadium which is under construction beside the location is going to replace this landmark where the Cardinals team and its fans have observed evey ups and downs moments of STL baseball home team.

Our seats were at 356A, row 22. This was the 2nd row from top of the stadium but they were alright because the view was magnificient especially the home base was just right in front of us.

Atmosphere in the stadium was warmed with enthusiatic crowd cheering for their supporting team. I just came from Cincinnati 2 days ago and it was fun to watch these two cities I was just visited playing in this historical stadium.

Although I do not know much about Baseball, I felt excited to be present and witnessed this sport event in real time at stadium.

Cincinnati Red was leading after 3 straight home run in set 3. We were not so happy about the performance of the RED Cardinals until Reggie Sanders picked up a home run and more points started to get in gradually by Cardinals.

With the final score of 7-5, STL Cardinals won with a meaningful closing in the game. Unfortunately, we did not stay until it ended because of PY's two little kids that watching the games with us need a nap. Therefore, we missed the stadium celebration and the fireworks.

Everybody received a certificate with the attendance on Oct 2, 2005 witnessed this game to mark the end of an era of Busch Stadium....

Columbus -> St Louis

Leaving Cincinnati today for St Louis, Missouri.

I waited for Stephanie at Mount Adams for Ellie's play in the morning. Wandering under the early fall Sun and Starbucks coffee did wake me up a bit besides the chilly breeze.

Went back to collect my luggage and drop by at the school field for Ellie's soccer game before heading to Columbus airport.

Time to say goodbye, meaning opportunity to meet sometime somewhere again! I enjoyed my stay with Stephanie and really have easy domestic time together with her. Thanks again, Stephanie!

Flight to St Louis was on time, I got up the Southwest Airline plane that heading Southwest.

PY + HK and their sons arrived few minutes after my arrival. It was really great to see her again after years!

My stay in St Louis started just after I turned my watch to Central Time.

Welcome to St Louis, Missouri!