before the memories start fading..

"In New York, concrete jungle where things are made of..." every time i hear that song my lips unknowingly form the words in accordance to the song. i guess, in various aspects, i miss US. it wasn't cotton candy land, where everything is puffy and sweet, but i had the liberty i always wanted, the opportunity to see the moon from the other side of the world, and perhaps most of it all, a small escapade from reality.

It's been two months, vivid memories of exploring new york flashes by once in a while, but i'm afraid one day it'll be blurry with missing details.. thus the post. scribbling the very best of new york in point form, with selected pictures out of the thousands sitting in my hard drive::-

#1 the gushing feeling stirred standing in the middle of times square with various animated neon lights brightly lit everywhere at the junction of Broadway and 7th Av. it is so ever lively, tourists spotted from all around the world holding cameras clicking away trying to capture themselves at times square, little booths selling I ♥ NY shirts and Sabrett can be spotted at every corner, couples meeting up at cafes having a good time with coffee and pastries, children bugging parents to buy all the toys they ever wished for from the largest Toys'R'us, NYPD with their horses/cute mini vehicles scattered everywhere, tourists walking out from M&M's/Hershey's world with bags of overpriced chocolates, broadway enthusiast queuing in line to get cheap broadway tickets at tkts, and if you're lucky enough you can spot the Naked Cowboy/Cowgirl... in simpler words, i love how walking in times square made me feel.

#2 skyline view of Manhattan at night from the 86th floor of the Empire State building. Very breathtaking indeed, if it wasn't for the unbearable cold at such a high altitude, i would have stayed there for a very long time, wishing upon a star.

#3 took a long stroll across Brooklyn bridge with a caramel frappe in hand. too bad the picture isn't symmetrical enough for my liking although it's the best out of the lot, le sigh.

#4 so before departing to the US I was talking to this friend of mine after watching My Sassy Girl to plant a time capsule in Central Park. i would have done it if i had tools with me. anyway, first picture above was taken was at the Mall, where movie scenes are always filmed. second picture depicts a happy me after spotting John Lennon's imagine memorial in the middle of Strawberry Park.

#5 holding the city pass and doing the tourist must-do checklist: visiting the statue of liberty and battery park. perfect place to see NYC from a distance though. if it was night the night lights would have been so pretty.

#6 we went on a museum streak of visiting all the museums on Museum Mile/5th Av. Fooled around in most of the museums for entertainment's sake because dinosaur artifacts and history isn't our kind of thing, above being the classic example.

#7 halal food at 3 in the morning after spending the night dancing away in the city that never sleeps, and on another occasion a house party with beer pong and cards with beer overdose. I officially suck in the american classic game of beer pong. and halal with extra white sauce is the best food to have in the early morning... speaking of which, I kinda miss it now.

#8 sitting outside Gershwin theatre waiting for lucky lottery winners to be announced, but we weren't lucky enough. ); the first thing i'm going to do if i head back to NY again is to watch Wicked, with or without lottery.

#9 Phantom of the Opera Broadway!!

I've waited since forever! and it was phenomenal, as the sign says, it was made better when we got center orchestra seats at a reduced price. the musical pieces were stuck in my head for a good one month.

#10 sneak peek of the infamous chandelier.
A little on the broadway streak we also watched Next to Normal when four of us got lottery tickets! Sigh still can't get over how cute one of the actor, Kyle Dean Massey is.

#11 Korean food @ Korean Street. Speaking of which, I have cravings for those beef!!
Anyone with me this coming weekend?


#12 Grand Central.

#13 Avocado with salmon and tempura. Awesome stuff.
Had sushi twice in New York, weird but we were very much sick of cheeseburgers and fries.


#14 More museum visits. Guggenheim, if correctly recalled, was one of James Bond's shooting scene. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth. Loads and loads of paintings. I tried to appreciate! :p


#15 on 86th St. Waiting to go uptown.


#16 Mojito!! I love how the States have bottled up mixed drinks.
Lemonade, Mojito, Smirnoff... i love them all.
♥

#17 you know you're in Times Square when you see more yellow cabs in comparison with cars on the street.


#18 We stepped foot on Theodore Roosevelt Park too!
and took our infamous feet shot.


#19 Starbucks love. We had it every other day.
It's only proper to have Starbucks in New York.
Esp when Frappes are half off. (:


#20 the museum of natural history.
things to do: act like a dinosaur beside one.
ok fine i'll definitely be more amused if i was 10 years younger.


#21 but I guess it was worth a visit. to know what's actually inside.


#22 and do stupid things like this when you see: semai of Malaysia.
i still don't get what semai means.


#23 Woodside Av, our place of stay for 8 days.


#24 LOVE. we randomly walked into it.
Such joy. I loved, still loving and will never give up on love. (:


#25 Subway. it was pretty much freezing half the time we were in NYC so scrambling down underground was nice to get some warmth. (:


#26 the NYPDs.


#27 ok last picture of museumss.


#28 play it well, and i'll fall head over heels.
:p

#29 Rockefeller Center.
Too crowded, but pretty.
Too bad it wasn't Christmas, if not the Christmas tree would be standing high over here.

#30 last dinner in NY at Serendipity 3, upper east side. It has one of the coziest interior ever, and an array of good deserts, but their Frozen Hot Chocolate is the best ever chocolate drink i've tasted. So smooth, with flakes and fresh cream, it was love at first sight.

... and i can remember the night where we took the subway all the way to Flushing for good ol' Pho, shopping on Soho streets... so this was my New York experience. so, who'd like to join me in my Eurotrip next year?

credits to deviantart


God restores.
All the time.

♥

Can we pretend that airplanes
In the night sky
Are like shooting stars
I could really use a wish right now

the working chapter

i finally understood what Monday blues feels like. it's not dreading for work, more like pulling yourself together to function responsibly after a weekend of letting loose. and the weekends are that good. that worth to sleep a little less to have that lil' bit more fun. work a little harder during weekdays to party a little harder on weekends. ahh, my blissful weekend was filled with everything else but work. breaking the rules of being Cinderella. being back in rangers once again, seeing them grow to become such a noisy cute bunch. caught two movies on the big screen. overspent on shopping. dim sum breakfast, har gao!. beers and wine. football. spending quality time with people in general. working life isn't that bad after all, although i badly miss the freedom of being a student, especially when half your friends are still enjoying that particular freedom. oh well, strength to persevere.

but the best cure to Monday blues is when a certain someone decides to have lunch with you, even though it's a 1 hour short lunch. with goodies. (: definitely made my day a better one.



pop me a little happiness wouldn't you?

and so i will.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain -

life in US part II

winter, in florida,was delightfully cooling. it took awhile to accustomed ourselves to the chilly weather, but eventually it felt nice getting around in that weather. sips of hot chocolate warms up the body on cold winter nights, and palm-hugging the mug transferred some warmth to frozen fingers. the apartment's heater was constantly turned on for a warm toasty bed to snuggle in. dressing up in layers was one of the fun part, especially putting on scarfs! occasionally the sun decides to quit the hide and seek game, revealing its full glory for a nice beautiful day. grocery shopping, if i hadn't mentioned before, was a delight. frozen pizza going for a dollar, cakes so sinfully good... i could just walk in a grocery store to turn a sad face to a gleaming one. really.

so yes, although we worked our butt off, we had our fair share of fun. pictures::

#1 our make-shift chinese new year celebration. there were hardly any asians in town so we barely had chinese. Sold my soul to work on cny eve, but came back in time to join a gathering with loads of home-cook chinese dishes. i can still remember how good those pork ribs made by Nina, this girl from China. so. goood.

#2 in search of chinese food again. decided to visit asia fest. the char siew pau tasted so weird. and americanized asian food is heavily modified. but they had some taekwando performances and this golden buddha statue in the middle of the fest. that lil' bit of asian culture i guess.

#3 AWESOME FOOD!! omg looking at this picture itself is making me drool.
care to make an all american breakfast for me?

#4 FREE PANCAKE DAY. ok it wasn't all that awesome. but still it was free. totally drenched the pancakes in heavy doses of maple syrup i'm pretty sure it's diabetic.

#5 Matt.

#6 bowling! (:
i can't bowl for nuts, but at the very least i didn't get last place so hurrah.


#7 pizza buffet at Cici's. $3.99 for unlimited pizzas. awesome deal. their cinnamon rolls. are to die for. like seriously.


#8 americanizing ourselves. had tons of american breakfasts.


#9 baked chocolate chip muffins. ok i cheated all i did was buy Betty Crocker Muffin Mix, add water and egg, put it in the oven and tadaaa!


#10 British Pub. i loved the interior design. and how cozy bars in US can be.


#11 had one two many strawberry shortcakes. lots of strawberries, lots of whipped cream.. not to mention at a fraction of the price compared to here.


#12 St. Paddy's Day!!
all things green and irish beer. ;p
all so jolly and happy.


#13 Hector! at Dolly's for the last breakfast together.
i hate farewells.


#14 more crazy parties. (:


#15 share the loveeeeeee.


#16 Easter Sunday.
Perks of working in Publix. We're allowed to grab leftovers from the bakery!
we had cheese danishes, chocolate chip cookies, apple pies, all sorts of bread, biscuits, cheesecakes... i think we went a lil' too crazy.
totally couldn't finish more than half the food.


#17 Shopping at the outlet mall.
Joy joy joy! ;p


#18 spent easter evening watching sunset by the beach.
I <3> off days.

#19 sneak peek of my room.
it was pretty nice. (;


#20 walk in closet.


#21 ladies night! open barrrr.
mm cran-vodka.


#22 Kat's bday celebration.


#23 sesame chicken with pork fried rice and egg roll.


#24 blissful me.

ok updates on hold.

***

summer, in malaysia, on the other hand, is dreadfully hot. nothing has really changed. except for the fact my room is really pink now. and i no longer share it with my sis. change of status from a student to a working adult. oh, the most drastic change being the change from within. as for now, i'm glad for mamak sessions, and random salsa classes. cinnabon being the cherry of the icing. ;p

things I miss, and crave

I think I need some now.

life in US part I

so, my updates are a lil' outdated. but i've finally stopped procrastinating, sharing experiences on US because right now I'm missing it. Life in US. It's like having a taste of a forbidden big juicy apple in comparison with that normal apple you have in hand. living the American dream for that little bit. or maybe just escaping reality for a short moment. no matter how you put it in words, it was one of the best escapades of my life. Bonita Springs, was the opposite of all I imagined. a quaint lil' town filled with retired community, with no proper public transportation system, it wasn't the best option ever. adaptation did it's job, and having the beach 5 minutes drive away from your apartment isn't all that bad really.

#1 Starting out was never easy. But we managed. We pulled through. and Bonita Beach Road is where our apartment was. The heart of Bonita Springs.

#2 starting our 9km journey of walking to Walmart. yes we were pretty insane, but we made it. and it was a big accomplishment.

#3 Shopping! and dressing up in layers for winter cuz it was so coldd. now that I'm back it's so hot here.

#4 home, for three months. living independently honestly ain't that bad. apart from the house chores, i actually embrace the idea of living as a bachelorette.


#5 Mode of transportation. Never in my life have I biked this much within the short span of three months. Insane.

#6 Shopping at my workplace. Whee.

#7 Never in my life I've cooked so much too. But I have secretly started to like cooking, and grocery shopping, and all things related. Being domesticated isn't all that bad, after all the infamous quote goes the way to a man's heart is through his tummy, ain't it?

#8 clad up in winter attires visiting the beach. it was freezing cold!


#9 Movie and Ice cream nights. having ice cream straight from the tub on bed can be pretty pampering. ;p


#10 cheap beers. chill out sessions.
I love Budweiser, esp when it cost less than 1 buck. ;p


#11 Night lights from the pier.perhaps one of the things I miss the most of Bonita is the sea breeze, and the sound of waves crashing up.


#12 Bonding with J1s over beer. My colleagues! it was funny how we had trouble communicating due to language barrier, all of them speak spanish as their first language. i do miss them though. we did have fun times despite the barrier we had.


#13 most of the J1s. (:

three months of living a bachelorette's life. of attending parties having to hide in the closet at the end when the police came, to cycling, to meeting new friends, and experiencing a totally different culture... i'm glad I signed up for the program.

more snail (wail) updates on US coming!