Sunday, May 24, 2015

Memorial Day Weekend on the Boat

It's Memorial Day weekend but instead of having just a long weekend off, we're having a long week off. =) Started our vacation with a family boat trip on Tennessee River yesterday. Still a month away from summer but it's already hot enough to be out on the water and enjoy the sun. The plan was to see the hot air balloon flight at Point Mallard Park but unfortunately, it was too windy for the hot air balloons to take off. Anyway, it was still a good chillaxing afternoon on the boat, exactly what we needed before starting our 'adventure'. 

March 23 (Sat): Thanks to the parents for taking us out on their nice boat! =)

Took slightly more than an hour on a boat from Ditto Landing to Point Mallard.

Anchored our boats, chilled, sunbathe, fished and had picnic on the boat. Lots of boats and people partying around too!

Beautiful weather!!

GoPro selfies. =) Got back just in time before the sun sets.


On a side note, our garden has been growing fast since the last week we came. Corn, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, carrots, etc. all growing good!

May 19-20: Also drove down to Bham for 2-day training this week.

Our flight is in 20 hours, time to stop procrastinating and really start packing!!

Monday, May 18, 2015

May I Travel...

May has been a pretty busy month so far, traveled some for work and spent the weekends at the garden. One more week of work and I'll be off on a week-long vacation! =) Before I get piled up with photos and videos from the upcoming trip, I shall do a quick update of the first 2 weeks of May. 

May 3 (Sun): Attended hubby's UAH graduation at Von Braun Center. 

Proud of hubby for graduating with Masters in Biological Science!! 

Pool party at the parent's place to celebrate right after the ceremony!!

Great times with family and good food!! 

May 5 (Tues): Drove to Atlanta for a 1-day training. Tried my first Char Koey Teow here...close enough, can't complain. =) 

May 8 (Fri): Went to the parent's place after work to continue our part-time job of being farmers...lol!! Garden is lookin' great and had our first harvest - fresh radishes!!

Celery regrowing project...day 11 and 21. Unfortunately, the outer layers of the celery started rotting and fell off when I moved it to another pot yesterday. Still hoping that it will survive but we'll see how it goes for the next few days. 

May 16 (Sat): Went to the garden yesterday to pull some weeds and looks like everything is growing well! =)

Philly Work Trip

After Houston, I had the opportunity to travel out-of-town again for work and this time, it was Philly. =) Once again, I was privileged to work with a good team of people. Not bad at all to be 'kehlehfeh' and still able to learn a lot. 

Free upgrade to first class...haha! First time ever traveling in first class but honestly nothing special for domestic travels.

My accommodation in downtown Philly for 5 nights. 

Downtown Philly.

I knew I'll have to eat here when I found out about this Penang restaurant in Chinatown. Walked 10 minutes from the hotel as soon as I dropped my bags and ordered Curry Mee and Ice Kacang...yumsss!!! My only complain is that the portion is too big!!

Was wondering why people were dressed up as random characters on the street, found out from google that there was a comic conference in town...no wonder.


Nice office! Notice the treadmill on the top left photo, you can work and exercise at the same time...lol!

View of the city from the office.

Lunches and dinners for the week at Terakawa Ramen, Giwa, Coventry Deli, Paesano's Philly Style, Parc Brasserie, Le Castagne, and Devon Seafood Grill. How not to gain weight eating like this??

Had to try the famous Philly Cheese Steak before we leave so made a trip to Jim's Steak on the last day of work. To be honest, I'm not a fan. 

Went back to Penang again to stuff myself with all the Malaysian food that I can get before going home. Let me clarify, all these were for 3 meals, I'm not that crazy yet. Tried the sambal petai, chicken dumplings, assam laksa, roti canai, Hainan chicken, and Indian mee goreng...it was all good!!! Service was also very good! =) 

Too much good food during the week...gotta burn off some calories and prep for the upcoming trip! :P

No free upgrade to first class on the way home but still got the 'comfort' seats, gotta enjoy this 'Silver' perk for few more months before it's gone. =P

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Spring's Here!!

Can't believe April is over already, but at least it's finally getting warm here! =) Been so busy at work this past month leaving me with no time to sort out my photos or blog. May is gonna be another hectic (traveling) month so I'd better finish blogging this weekend. =P 

Spring is a good time for photos, beautiful weather and blooming flowers, not a fan of flowers but absolutely love the colors!

Canola fields


Went by hubby's work place just to take photos of these trees. =P


Random flowers at work and grandma's house.

April 18 (Sat): This canola field caught my eye on my way back from Birmingham. Since it's only 10 minutes from our house, I requested hubby to bring me there during the weekend. So pretty!! =) This reminds me of our scarecrow challenge at Pinghu during the Amazing Race, which we didn't even have time to enjoy the scenery. =P

Spring scenery at work...so much green!!


Didn't realize how the tree in front of our house was until the leaves started growing. Did some yard work and trimmed the 'bush' but apparently we didn't do a good job...lol!!

Enough of flowers, not time to see what we've been feasting on this past month...
April 3 (Fri): Date night with hubby at Chili's after returning from Houston.


April 11 (Sat): Visit to grandma's means yummy home-cooked food!
May 2 (Sat): Char-grilled steak at grandma's to celebrate hubby's graduation. =)

April 12 (Sun): Kebab cookout at the parent's after farming. =)


April 19 (Sun): Dinner at Red Robin's with the family after movie.
May 1 (Fri): KFC treat for grandma and dad, my first KFC here after 5 months. =P

May 1 (Fri): TGIF breakfast and lunch at work to wrap up our work for the 1st qtr.

Dinners for the month by chef Khai...lol!!

Weekend activities...
April 4 (Sat): Time to start working on our organic garden. Thanks to the parent's for getting the land and seeds ready. 

Farming 101 taught by the parents. =P As it was too muddy, we only planted corn, potatoes, and green beans on the first week. Then it rained so much for the next 2 weeks and unfortunately, only the corn survived. =.=

April 11 (Sat): Went for a charity fashion show at the Ledges with Anna.

April 12 (Sun): Up early to cheer on SIL for her half marathon. Brought the doggies to keep us entertained while waiting for the race to finish.

Minmin!! 

Poochie!!

April 12 (Sun): Garden shopping with the family before starting round 2 of farming. 

Successfully planted all the seeds and plants we had in 3 hours. #familyteamwork We've got broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, squash, radish, tomato, cucumber, dill,  honeydew, watermelon, etc. planted in the garden. I'll be updating on the progress of our garden on this blog. =)

The doggies being funny while we were cooking out.

Another random experiment that I just started last week after reading about regrowing celery. Here's the progress after 3, 6 and 7 days.