This is going to be a LONG post considering that every event was new and memorable and we had, like, 10 days of interesting thing to experience and write about. Be patient ya? Pictures will come in a separate post (^_^)
Oh, since we did not have internet access once we checked out from Neigi's apartment into Hyatt at Boston till we return again, I had no way of jotting down my thoughts. I did try by putting my thoughts in point form at the hotels but..it was all in pieces with several additional comments made by Mr Liow. I'll likely be putting the events down in point form. hee. Thought penned in italics will be deemed thoughts contributed by Mr Liow and I have nothing to do with those comments ah.
29th Aug 2008 (Fri)
- Flight to NYC on American Airlines at about 0900hrs (Tucson Time, 15hrs behind Singapore Time): We had to pay USD$15 to check luggage in and food was available for a price on board. This was something new to me. hee.
- Reached at about 2200hrs (NY time, exactly 12 hrs behind Singapore Time)
- Had dinner in a Hongkong restaurant coz Mr Liow was craving for Hor Fun. Food such as Beef Hor Fun, Prawn Mee Soup, Roast Duck + Char Siew Combi palatte and bubble tea with booba (pearl) tasted heavenly
- AN did not poop for the whole of the day.
30th Aug 2008 (Sat)
- Tanger Factory outlet shopping: Mr Liow bought a Coach wallet & 2 bags for me, a cardholder & key holder for himself. I saw MAC in The Cosmetic Store at outlet price, to my great surprise, so I grabbed. Nothing much tho. Bought only 2 paint pots.
The place was packed with people coz of the long holidays and it was tiring coz we forgot the pram and there were no trolleys we could put AN on, till Neigi found someone pushing one and was offered that same baby trolley coz they were leaving the outlets.
- Dinner at Cheesecake Factory and waited for an hour before we are served. Food was good, service - so so.
- AN no poop again (getting worried).
31th Aug (Sun)
- Lunch at a Hongkong food place recommended by Neigi. Food was good in my opinion, esp the porridge.
(I can't remember if I was the originator of this sentence coz Mr Liow & Neigi took over once AN started screaming for me when I was halfway through but here goes..) Most of us have char siew noodle but turn out the best is the porridge.
- Statue of Liberty tour:
The queue was long, one thing that we observed for the day is that there are more Indian visitor than the rest of the races, looks very much like india invasion, 1 of them even try to cut queue like that always do in their country but got chase off by Mr Liow.. too bad go back to their country (contents confirmed nt by me. I'm not that mean ;p)
AN was in a foul mood. She screamed on the ferry all the way from Statue of Liberty back to NYC. There were many interesting at the park but because Adrielle was in a bad mood, we had to make each tour fast. Terrible temper *sigh*
- Went to collect our rented vehicle at Thrifty, it was the last vehicle left and thank God its a mini-van, mr liow actually got an offer of paying for just a full size vehicle for a mini-van, the price is half the price... muahaha, its cool having privilege with military identity in America. (Comments by Mr Liow, obviously *duh*)
- Met up Long Fa, a 'long lost' team mate of more than 10 years. He had been working overseas for more than 10 years and is currently staying in Manhatten. The 'New Yokers' (Neigi and Long Fa) took us to Central Park (supposedly famous and part of many Hollywood movies) for a walk and the guys had a good time of catching up in the garden while I followed AN around as she approached people (mainly babies) to make friends with.
- Dined at a Malaysian restaurant. As usual, Mr Liow was dying to have Asian food, so we ordered very Singaporean food, like Fried Hokkien Mee, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Vegetable Curry, Hor Fun and even Iced Chendol which didn't turn out to be very much like Iced Chendol that we remember.
- Hang out at Longfa’s place, his place is very small and expensive, and that is because he stays very near the time square district which is about 10 minute walk from his apartment.
Walked around Times Square. (By Mr Liow)
I didn’t like NYC as much as I thought I’ve always liked. NY drivers are exaggeratingly impatient. The moment the traffic light turned green, someone would sound his horn. It was as if everyone had their palms right on their horns to avoid missing the opportunity to sound their horn once they see the green light.
- AN pooped, thank God!
1st Sept (Mon) - Boston
- Drove to Boston (4hrs drive? Neigi/ Mr Liow/ HZ, please confirm?)
- Checked into Hyatt hotel with a fantastic view and a balcony (as requested by Neigi). Neigi was wondering where he had to sleep for the night when we saw a 'stray' bed standing next to the wall beside our room. hehe. It was naughty of us but we 'borrowed' the bed for the night.
- Weather in Boston was fantastic as well, be it in the day or night!
- Visited Harvard University and took pictures around campus as we walked. While Neigi was posing for a pictures with the statue of their founder (John Harvard, I think..pardon my ignorance but AN really had me with her tantrums), Ivy overheard a sacarstic comment made by a childish Harvard student. I handed Neigi AN's baby book to pose with (supposedly a pretend-cert). A student didn't find it funny and commented that they are studying for the real cert and that we bring shame to them, or something to that extent. Neigi, then commented that if she was so capable, they could compare payslips. Seriously, kids....
- Had dinner at a high end seafood restaurant: Kingfisher in Quinccy Market
AN was in another foul mood carried forward from day before. A fellow diner and her company kept looking at us while AN screamed away. Ultimate embarrassment made by AN in public. Thought she was irritated by all the racket but she actually walked over, gave me a pat on my shoulders and assured me that “it does get easier” with a smile. Was touched by her words and simple gesture.
- Boston-ers come across as being more tolerant than NY-kers on general be it towards fellow drivers or people with kids.
- This is a general comment given that we stayed in Boston for only a night. I find Boston rather scenic with nice buildings and park (with park animals that I've not had chance to meet in Tucson..probably never will..)
- AN did not poop again.
2nd Sept (Tues)
- Aquarium visit
- Left Boston and the guys took turns to drive a long distance to Toronto (300over miles)
- Came across an outlet on our way and spent about 2 hours shopping. Better shopping experience given that this Outlet is so hidden.
- Reached Niagara Falls in Toronto near midnight (or was it past midnight?) and checked into Hilton Hotel. 1st hotel with a decent bed for Neigi who always had to wonder where he'd have to sleep next. We had a suite with 2 rooms and a shared bathroom. The suite came with Fallview (from our room)
- AN pooped.
3rd Sept (Wed)
- Niagara Falls visit!
Oohhh, I LOVE Niagara Falls! The splashes were lovely, the falls (both the Horseshoe view and American view) were spectacular, even the shops in the area near Hilton was interesting! Let the pictures speak for themselves.
We took the ferry ride (Maid of the Mist). AN was still in her foul mood but slept through part of our Niagara Falls walk *phew*. She woke up just when we were about to board the ferry ride and I expected her to be grumpy, which she did turn out to be. The ferry would take us VERY near the falls and everyone would be wet, so everyone was given a waterproof outfit each. AN didn't want to put hers on, so when it started to 'shower', she got frightened and Mr Liow took her to the lower deck on the ferry. He then missed out on the view up close.
At that point, I was seriously wishing AN was just a bad dream that never did happen to us *sob*
-We had dinner at Skylon, a 30 over level high restaurant (or more?? It seemed too tall to be only 30 over levels tall...anyway). We had seats overlooking the falls from a bird's eyeview. MAGNIFICENT! It's just so amazing la!
- AN started to throw tantrums soon after we started eating. I really appreciated the help from the rest (Ivy, Neigi, Hong Zhong) who took turns to help carry or push her around. Mr Liow took over the responsibility of pacifying her when he realised that I've been pushed past my limits by the little horror, another terrifying wonder of the world.. :(
- Back to enjoy the hotel stay before we leave to DC the next day. Oh, I've not mentioned that Hilton actually gave us Crabtree & Evelyn's range of La Source toiletries.
I'd love to return to again someday. I really love the falls, and Hilton. hee.
- AN no poop
4th Sept (Thurs)
- Checked out and left for Washington. Another long drive back, probably an even longer drive than the one from Boston to Toronto.
- GPS took us throughout small roads and Neigi was the driver for most parts of the journey. It must have been taxing on him coz the roads were narrow and winy. There were, on several occassions, when he had to make the decision to overtake the slow moving vehicles ahead of us and hopefully not crash into oncoming traffic. hehe. It was scary but surprisingly exhilarating.
- We had dinner at Cracker Barrel which Neigi had been mentioning since we set off for Boston. Cracker Barrel can only be found near highways so if we weren't travelling, it would have to be a trip made on purpose to dine there.
Food was good and not too costly. In fact, it was probably the largest-portioned and lowest-priced meal we've had that far.
- Mr Liow took over once we hit highway.
- We reached Extended Stay Inn in Washington late at night, or was it past midnight again? Time for bed. This time, we did not find any 'stray' beds, nor were there more than 2 beds in the room. Neigi had to sleep on an airbed this time round. Poor thing. hee.
- AN no poop
5th Sept (Fri)
- Had lunch (more like brunch) at Cafe Asia in Washington. AN was surprisingly well-behaved this time. At least she wasn't screaming like she did whenever she felt foul the last few days.
-The guys parked and slotted coins into the parking meter but on both tries, the meter showed no indications that we've paid. So, Neigi, with the instructions shown on the meter, called the operator, got a 'citation number' and time we parked, placed a note of the information on the car, and then off we went for lunch.
When we returned, there was a summon! We decided to take a video of the faulty meter and make an appeal but when we put a coin into the same meter, it worked. *??* huh? I've not done it yet but I'll be writing in to appeal. Even if we are to be turned down, at least we tried, right? So lousy one..
- Took a long afternoon walk at the memorial park. AN slipped into a nasty mood again but this time I believe it could be due to the hot weather. I did not realise it till yesterday but I was sunburnt. hehe.
- We decided to dine in our hotel room this time round and went around grocery shopping since we had a stove and microwave (we even had utensils and crockeries) in the room. Neigi volunteered to cook, but we realised that since supermarkets here also sell pre-prepared food that all we had to do was heat up before we eat, we decided to get cooked food instead.
I enjoyed that dinner :)
- AN no poop
6th Sept (Sat)
- The guys had to return the rented car by 1200hrs in NYC so we had to leave Washington as early as we could. We checked out at about 5am and drove back.
-Reached back at Neigi's apartment at about 10am and started packing coz Mr Liow and I (with AN) would be leaving for home the next day while Neigi, Hongzhong and Ivy continue to Florida for the next 4 days.
- After the car was returned, Neigi brought us to New Jersey (an hour's drive?) to shop. Mr Liow wanted Abercrombie stuff and there was an outlet there. Mr Liow hardly spends on himself but he did this time round.
He should coz I wonder where the nearest Abercrombie outlet is, which is near Tucson. Maybe even nowhere near. And during the few other outlet visits, Mr Liow got a couple of Polo Ralph sweaters for the approaching cooler climate (which I am hoping will come soonest possible!)
- Ta bao dinner back from a chinese restaurant to dine in again at his apartment. It was raining heavily and traffic was slow. The trip back was again, tiring for Neigi but this time no one could help coz it was his turf and no one knew their way around better than he did. Poor thing. hehe. Thanks for ferrying us around bro!
- AN no poop
7th Sept (Sun)
Another early day coz our flight was scheduled to fly at 6.45am.
Negi drove us there and we reached at about 5.30am. Mr Liow went to check us in while AN and I queued for baggage drop. The queue wasn't extremely long but it started to move slow when some passengers had problems checking their bags in.
By the time we reached the counter, the lady said "You are late" and without explaining anything, she instructed a colleague to take us to "Resolution". Mr Liow and I looked at each other bewildered. It was only abt 6am and the flight was at 6.45am. How could we be late??
The lady at Resolution was attending to another couple who were also supposedly 'late'. They were supposed to be on the same flight as us and in their case, as with ours, they got to the counter at 6.05am and the system wasn't able to check their bags in anymore.
We waited a long time for the supervisor to come see if he could overwrite the system but when he came, he didn't even attempt to do anything to help except to open another counter to help the increasing number of impatient people about to miss their flight.
They did not admit it but it was obvious there was something wrong with their system that morning. We were 'late' like that couple and everyone else behind us would also be since the lines were all so long!
The solution for us was to take the 2nd next flight which would depart from another airport about 15mins away from JFK airport so MR Liow and I decided to rush there by cab instead of wait for the shuttle that comes who-knows-how-not-often?
All in all, we were delayed for about 2 hours. Thank God we managed to get on both flights back to Tucson.
AN has not pooped for 5 days!
Oh, since we did not have internet access once we checked out from Neigi's apartment into Hyatt at Boston till we return again, I had no way of jotting down my thoughts. I did try by putting my thoughts in point form at the hotels but..it was all in pieces with several additional comments made by Mr Liow. I'll likely be putting the events down in point form. hee. Thought penned in italics will be deemed thoughts contributed by Mr Liow and I have nothing to do with those comments ah.
29th Aug 2008 (Fri)
- Flight to NYC on American Airlines at about 0900hrs (Tucson Time, 15hrs behind Singapore Time): We had to pay USD$15 to check luggage in and food was available for a price on board. This was something new to me. hee.
- Reached at about 2200hrs (NY time, exactly 12 hrs behind Singapore Time)
- Had dinner in a Hongkong restaurant coz Mr Liow was craving for Hor Fun. Food such as Beef Hor Fun, Prawn Mee Soup, Roast Duck + Char Siew Combi palatte and bubble tea with booba (pearl) tasted heavenly
- AN did not poop for the whole of the day.
30th Aug 2008 (Sat)
- Tanger Factory outlet shopping: Mr Liow bought a Coach wallet & 2 bags for me, a cardholder & key holder for himself. I saw MAC in The Cosmetic Store at outlet price, to my great surprise, so I grabbed. Nothing much tho. Bought only 2 paint pots.
The place was packed with people coz of the long holidays and it was tiring coz we forgot the pram and there were no trolleys we could put AN on, till Neigi found someone pushing one and was offered that same baby trolley coz they were leaving the outlets.
- Dinner at Cheesecake Factory and waited for an hour before we are served. Food was good, service - so so.
- AN no poop again (getting worried).
31th Aug (Sun)
- Lunch at a Hongkong food place recommended by Neigi. Food was good in my opinion, esp the porridge.
(I can't remember if I was the originator of this sentence coz Mr Liow & Neigi took over once AN started screaming for me when I was halfway through but here goes..) Most of us have char siew noodle but turn out the best is the porridge.
- Statue of Liberty tour:
The queue was long, one thing that we observed for the day is that there are more Indian visitor than the rest of the races, looks very much like india invasion, 1 of them even try to cut queue like that always do in their country but got chase off by Mr Liow.. too bad go back to their country (contents confirmed nt by me. I'm not that mean ;p)
AN was in a foul mood. She screamed on the ferry all the way from Statue of Liberty back to NYC. There were many interesting at the park but because Adrielle was in a bad mood, we had to make each tour fast. Terrible temper *sigh*
- Went to collect our rented vehicle at Thrifty, it was the last vehicle left and thank God its a mini-van, mr liow actually got an offer of paying for just a full size vehicle for a mini-van, the price is half the price... muahaha, its cool having privilege with military identity in America. (Comments by Mr Liow, obviously *duh*)
- Met up Long Fa, a 'long lost' team mate of more than 10 years. He had been working overseas for more than 10 years and is currently staying in Manhatten. The 'New Yokers' (Neigi and Long Fa) took us to Central Park (supposedly famous and part of many Hollywood movies) for a walk and the guys had a good time of catching up in the garden while I followed AN around as she approached people (mainly babies) to make friends with.
- Dined at a Malaysian restaurant. As usual, Mr Liow was dying to have Asian food, so we ordered very Singaporean food, like Fried Hokkien Mee, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Vegetable Curry, Hor Fun and even Iced Chendol which didn't turn out to be very much like Iced Chendol that we remember.
- Hang out at Longfa’s place, his place is very small and expensive, and that is because he stays very near the time square district which is about 10 minute walk from his apartment.
Walked around Times Square. (By Mr Liow)
I didn’t like NYC as much as I thought I’ve always liked. NY drivers are exaggeratingly impatient. The moment the traffic light turned green, someone would sound his horn. It was as if everyone had their palms right on their horns to avoid missing the opportunity to sound their horn once they see the green light.
- AN pooped, thank God!
1st Sept (Mon) - Boston
- Drove to Boston (4hrs drive? Neigi/ Mr Liow/ HZ, please confirm?)
- Checked into Hyatt hotel with a fantastic view and a balcony (as requested by Neigi). Neigi was wondering where he had to sleep for the night when we saw a 'stray' bed standing next to the wall beside our room. hehe. It was naughty of us but we 'borrowed' the bed for the night.
- Weather in Boston was fantastic as well, be it in the day or night!
- Visited Harvard University and took pictures around campus as we walked. While Neigi was posing for a pictures with the statue of their founder (John Harvard, I think..pardon my ignorance but AN really had me with her tantrums), Ivy overheard a sacarstic comment made by a childish Harvard student. I handed Neigi AN's baby book to pose with (supposedly a pretend-cert). A student didn't find it funny and commented that they are studying for the real cert and that we bring shame to them, or something to that extent. Neigi, then commented that if she was so capable, they could compare payslips. Seriously, kids....
- Had dinner at a high end seafood restaurant: Kingfisher in Quinccy Market
AN was in another foul mood carried forward from day before. A fellow diner and her company kept looking at us while AN screamed away. Ultimate embarrassment made by AN in public. Thought she was irritated by all the racket but she actually walked over, gave me a pat on my shoulders and assured me that “it does get easier” with a smile. Was touched by her words and simple gesture.
- Boston-ers come across as being more tolerant than NY-kers on general be it towards fellow drivers or people with kids.
- This is a general comment given that we stayed in Boston for only a night. I find Boston rather scenic with nice buildings and park (with park animals that I've not had chance to meet in Tucson..probably never will..)
- AN did not poop again.
2nd Sept (Tues)
- Aquarium visit
- Left Boston and the guys took turns to drive a long distance to Toronto (300over miles)
- Came across an outlet on our way and spent about 2 hours shopping. Better shopping experience given that this Outlet is so hidden.
- Reached Niagara Falls in Toronto near midnight (or was it past midnight?) and checked into Hilton Hotel. 1st hotel with a decent bed for Neigi who always had to wonder where he'd have to sleep next. We had a suite with 2 rooms and a shared bathroom. The suite came with Fallview (from our room)
- AN pooped.
3rd Sept (Wed)
- Niagara Falls visit!
Oohhh, I LOVE Niagara Falls! The splashes were lovely, the falls (both the Horseshoe view and American view) were spectacular, even the shops in the area near Hilton was interesting! Let the pictures speak for themselves.
We took the ferry ride (Maid of the Mist). AN was still in her foul mood but slept through part of our Niagara Falls walk *phew*. She woke up just when we were about to board the ferry ride and I expected her to be grumpy, which she did turn out to be. The ferry would take us VERY near the falls and everyone would be wet, so everyone was given a waterproof outfit each. AN didn't want to put hers on, so when it started to 'shower', she got frightened and Mr Liow took her to the lower deck on the ferry. He then missed out on the view up close.
At that point, I was seriously wishing AN was just a bad dream that never did happen to us *sob*
-We had dinner at Skylon, a 30 over level high restaurant (or more?? It seemed too tall to be only 30 over levels tall...anyway). We had seats overlooking the falls from a bird's eyeview. MAGNIFICENT! It's just so amazing la!
- AN started to throw tantrums soon after we started eating. I really appreciated the help from the rest (Ivy, Neigi, Hong Zhong) who took turns to help carry or push her around. Mr Liow took over the responsibility of pacifying her when he realised that I've been pushed past my limits by the little horror, another terrifying wonder of the world.. :(
- Back to enjoy the hotel stay before we leave to DC the next day. Oh, I've not mentioned that Hilton actually gave us Crabtree & Evelyn's range of La Source toiletries.
I'd love to return to again someday. I really love the falls, and Hilton. hee.
- AN no poop
4th Sept (Thurs)
- Checked out and left for Washington. Another long drive back, probably an even longer drive than the one from Boston to Toronto.
- GPS took us throughout small roads and Neigi was the driver for most parts of the journey. It must have been taxing on him coz the roads were narrow and winy. There were, on several occassions, when he had to make the decision to overtake the slow moving vehicles ahead of us and hopefully not crash into oncoming traffic. hehe. It was scary but surprisingly exhilarating.
- We had dinner at Cracker Barrel which Neigi had been mentioning since we set off for Boston. Cracker Barrel can only be found near highways so if we weren't travelling, it would have to be a trip made on purpose to dine there.
Food was good and not too costly. In fact, it was probably the largest-portioned and lowest-priced meal we've had that far.
- Mr Liow took over once we hit highway.
- We reached Extended Stay Inn in Washington late at night, or was it past midnight again? Time for bed. This time, we did not find any 'stray' beds, nor were there more than 2 beds in the room. Neigi had to sleep on an airbed this time round. Poor thing. hee.
- AN no poop
5th Sept (Fri)
- Had lunch (more like brunch) at Cafe Asia in Washington. AN was surprisingly well-behaved this time. At least she wasn't screaming like she did whenever she felt foul the last few days.
-The guys parked and slotted coins into the parking meter but on both tries, the meter showed no indications that we've paid. So, Neigi, with the instructions shown on the meter, called the operator, got a 'citation number' and time we parked, placed a note of the information on the car, and then off we went for lunch.
When we returned, there was a summon! We decided to take a video of the faulty meter and make an appeal but when we put a coin into the same meter, it worked. *??* huh? I've not done it yet but I'll be writing in to appeal. Even if we are to be turned down, at least we tried, right? So lousy one..
- Took a long afternoon walk at the memorial park. AN slipped into a nasty mood again but this time I believe it could be due to the hot weather. I did not realise it till yesterday but I was sunburnt. hehe.
- We decided to dine in our hotel room this time round and went around grocery shopping since we had a stove and microwave (we even had utensils and crockeries) in the room. Neigi volunteered to cook, but we realised that since supermarkets here also sell pre-prepared food that all we had to do was heat up before we eat, we decided to get cooked food instead.
I enjoyed that dinner :)
- AN no poop
6th Sept (Sat)
- The guys had to return the rented car by 1200hrs in NYC so we had to leave Washington as early as we could. We checked out at about 5am and drove back.
-Reached back at Neigi's apartment at about 10am and started packing coz Mr Liow and I (with AN) would be leaving for home the next day while Neigi, Hongzhong and Ivy continue to Florida for the next 4 days.
- After the car was returned, Neigi brought us to New Jersey (an hour's drive?) to shop. Mr Liow wanted Abercrombie stuff and there was an outlet there. Mr Liow hardly spends on himself but he did this time round.
He should coz I wonder where the nearest Abercrombie outlet is, which is near Tucson. Maybe even nowhere near. And during the few other outlet visits, Mr Liow got a couple of Polo Ralph sweaters for the approaching cooler climate (which I am hoping will come soonest possible!)
- Ta bao dinner back from a chinese restaurant to dine in again at his apartment. It was raining heavily and traffic was slow. The trip back was again, tiring for Neigi but this time no one could help coz it was his turf and no one knew their way around better than he did. Poor thing. hehe. Thanks for ferrying us around bro!
- AN no poop
7th Sept (Sun)
Another early day coz our flight was scheduled to fly at 6.45am.
Negi drove us there and we reached at about 5.30am. Mr Liow went to check us in while AN and I queued for baggage drop. The queue wasn't extremely long but it started to move slow when some passengers had problems checking their bags in.
By the time we reached the counter, the lady said "You are late" and without explaining anything, she instructed a colleague to take us to "Resolution". Mr Liow and I looked at each other bewildered. It was only abt 6am and the flight was at 6.45am. How could we be late??
The lady at Resolution was attending to another couple who were also supposedly 'late'. They were supposed to be on the same flight as us and in their case, as with ours, they got to the counter at 6.05am and the system wasn't able to check their bags in anymore.
We waited a long time for the supervisor to come see if he could overwrite the system but when he came, he didn't even attempt to do anything to help except to open another counter to help the increasing number of impatient people about to miss their flight.
They did not admit it but it was obvious there was something wrong with their system that morning. We were 'late' like that couple and everyone else behind us would also be since the lines were all so long!
The solution for us was to take the 2nd next flight which would depart from another airport about 15mins away from JFK airport so MR Liow and I decided to rush there by cab instead of wait for the shuttle that comes who-knows-how-not-often?
All in all, we were delayed for about 2 hours. Thank God we managed to get on both flights back to Tucson.
AN has not pooped for 5 days!
~THE END~
2 comments:
lol...wow what an adventure.....
traffic.... of course honk... :P
haah! alamak, you are another new yorker!
Post a Comment