Sunday, February 15, 2009

Highlights of the holidays (22 Jan - 5 Feb 2009)

Before I lose track of what happened during our days spent together for the past couple of weeks till Andy left for Singapore again, I better note the events down.

22nd Jan 09
Mr Liow, AN and I arrived at Hotel Mayfair in L.A. considerably early and could rest a little before Mr Liow drove us to Penang Malaysia for dinner.

The room was a little small for 5 adults and poor Andy had to sleep on the floor. hehe.

I just have to mention that I drove us for the 1st part of the long road trip ok? hehe. I drove for 45 mins before Mr Liow took over for the next 8 hours.

23rd Jan 09
We met my family at LA airport and were extremely thankful to see all of them have survived the long flight. Mr Liow had been very worried for my parents prior to this.

Brought my parents to Chinatown.

Mr Liow chanced upon a basketball match in session during the evening and the guys decided to go watch it.

24th Jan 09
Visited Universal Studio.

AN was in a MUCH MUCH MUCH better mood this time than she was when my MIL came over. Our guess was coz Universal Studios was less crowded and less sight-stimulating so she was better able to handle her emotions.

Back at the hotel, Andy went for drinks by himself in the pub downstairs and didn't come back soon enough before mum got worried.

I was watching Little Nonya with my ear piece and mum kept asking me questions about making calls from her handphone to Andy's. She wanted to call him but wasn't sure about charges and how to go about doing so. I was too engrossed to notice but got increasingly irritated by her questions (she would ask, get my answer and stop - I thought she fell asleep, then she asked more questions, get my answer, stop and then ask again, and the cycle repeats.). I gave Andy a call finally (mum didn't want to bother me by making me call Andy but she too was worried and couldn't sleep). Took me 3 hours to finish that 1 episode of Little Nonya that night with mum and my yoyo conversation.

Mr Liow overheard our conversation and teased mum in the morning about getting on my nerves the night before. It was funny how he put it across. haha! I wasn't upset at mum, just irritated. Would have made the call for her if I knew she wanted to call Andy mah. So lo-soh.

25th Jan 09
Went shopping at Dessert Hill Outlet (again.)

26th Jan 09
Universal Studios again to complete the journey through the theme park.

I enjoyed myself better this time round coz AN was more willing to follow my parents around while Mr Liow, Andy (my bro) and I went for rides. Adding to that was her much improved appetite and better behaviour.

AN took much lesser time to warm up to my parents. Mum keeps saying she's a baby-magnet. I've never doubted that. hehe.

Had dinner at Penang Malaysia again (the Hor Fun is SLURPILICIOUS!!! Better than most of Singapore's in fact. hehe)

27th Jan 09
Drove to San Diego and checked into Comfort Inn & Suites.

We had a wonderful stay there. Like its name, the room was huge and comfy. Andy had his own king sized sofa bed to sink into and we had ample space to move and sit around.

AN had not pooped for 7 days by then and she struggled when the strong 'feel' came. That was the worst struggle she's had since birth.

I prayed like I did the previous time against her impending flu and by the grace of God, she managed to push out 7 days' of cement-hard poop. She bled quite a lot (heartache....) in the process. Reminded me of childbirth (I'm exaggerating but the amount of blood was enough to make any adult feel sorry for the little anus).

28th Jan 09
Seaworld, San Diego.

Mum bought her 1st digital camera and was so stingy with taking pictures we couldn't help teasing her. hehe. She's still in the 'film' mode and we had to keep reminding her that the new camera can take more than a thousand pictures unlike the antique at home.

29th Jan 09
San Diego Zoo was supposedly one of world's more renowned, I thought. But after the visit, I thought Singapore Zoo also not bad wor.

30th Jan 09
Visited Old Town in San Diego, took an introductory tram ride around the town's attraction.

The more we go around, the more I like San Diego.

It's clean and beautiful! And the ocean view....OMGoodness....No pictures tho. I will definately take more pictures if we do go back again.

31st Jan 09
Drove back to Tucson and got back in time to rest for the night.

1st Feb 09
Brought the family to Davis Monthan and Mr Liow drove around a bit to show them around part of Tucson.

2nd Feb 09
Advance to Las Vegas.

The journey to LV is long and tedious. It's takes about an hour less to reach LV than it took us to reach LA but coz Mr Liow had to drive through terrains (up and down mountains, through windy roads etc), it seemed more taxing on him, and even passengers (poor driver)

Reached Hotel Flamingo finally in the early evening.

We saw terrible reviews on Hotel Flamingo while deciding which hotel to stay in but decided to go ahead by faith coz this hotel's along the 'main attraction' street and is one of the more economical ones.

Thank God (He's been good all the time!) the room was neat and HUGE unlike what some reviewers wrote! True that the interior of the hotel's old but it is at the very least, clean (except for stained carpets at hidden corners) and 'stay-able'.

Andy and the folks went to explore the Casino while Mr Liow took a rest. When we met up at the lobby to venture out for dinner (at Penang Malaysia in LV this time), mum confessed she won USD$400 in that short hour (what she won, she returned back to the casino gradually during our stay. hahahah! Still, it was shiok to have 'won' USD$400 once)

3rd Feb 09
Visited Premium Outlet at LV (where MIL had her thanksgiving haul previously) and papa, for the 1st time in his life, bought himself something branded.

Spent the evening walking down the streets, taking pictures and watching live 'shows' as we walked (clean ones ok?)

The guys went to get us dinner from Penang Malaysia, again.

Andy enjoyed teasing AN (and AN seemed to reciprocate being teased by him).

I couldn't remember what he asked AN to do and AN did as he told, then he asked her to bring that same thing back to him after she did so, he made her put it back into the box she took it out from.

We were all watching for her reaction and started fall off our chairs laughing: AN grudgingly left the item in the box for the last time and giving a black face, walked towards Andy. That look on my baby's face was priceless..haha! She saw us laughing at her and she started laughing too.

Loved to see how she's enjoying having a bigger family than just us and BM.

4th Feb 09
Sight see, take pictures, gamble (what else can we do in LV?)

Had our last dinner at Penang Malaysia before we fast from Singapore/Malaysia tastes till who-knows-when and then took more pictures.

5th Feb 09
Mr Liow drove Andy to the airport early in the morning. That marked the end of our reunion till we leave Tucson in more than a year's time.

It had been a good 2 weeks we spent together. Mum said the same (Mum and Andy had a good chat in the hotel lobby the night before and that was the best conversation they ever had, IF they had ever spoke like that before).

Andy spent some quality time with AN and I was glad to see how AN bonded with my brother.

Mum asked during our drive back to Tucson if we would miss Andy. I do, of course. Mr Liow asked if she does and she said yes. I was glad to hear that. They had not been talking for a period of time, thanks to someone.

We reached Tucson, finally late in the evening. Mr Liow almost fainted by then. hehe. He had been the only driver and drove such long distances. I promise to be able to drive safe enough for him to trust me on long trips.

6th Feb 09
Welcome Baileys and Maen back home!

So, that was the end of our holiday this time.

What a long post....*phew*

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