Obama To The Left, Obama To The Right

Ever since we arrived in the States, the name Obama has been on every lip, around every street corner, in every restaurant and on tv round the clock on the US news channels.

Have you heard of the song by the Ron Clark Academy students titled "You Can Vote However You Like"? Well if you haven't, go have a listen. The kids are wonderfully spontaneous, unpretentious and just really enjoying themselves while singing the song that you can't help but enjoy the song too.

So there is a line in the song that goes Obama to the left, McCain to the right... well right here and right now, it feels a lot like Obama to the left, Obama to the right. Its Obamadom~! Since we got here I have heard the word inauguration so many times, I even hear it in my sleep!

Complains aside, excitement is really in the air for this special day when Obama begins his term in the White House. As we flew into New York, a man on the plane yelled, "How many of you are going for the inauguration? YEAHHHH!!"

Here are some of the pictures from the inauguration in Washington.

Pastor Rick Warren did the opening prayer (Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life)

Joe Biden - Vice President being sworn in

Barack Hussein Obama -44th President being sworn in

With Michelle Obama

The 21 cannon salute

Obama giving his speech

There are high hopes and high expectations for this new president. With Gods grace, we pray he is given the wisdom and humility to run this country the way God would have it.

cheryl

New York, New York!

After a gruelling 10 hour lay over and 5 hour flight, we finally arrived in the city that never sleeps. New York! Can you believe we went a total of 48 hours without proper sleep? Thats a crazy 2 days! Imagine the grumpi-ness Alex had to put up with, with me. Heh heh. Friends who know me know I don't function best without my regular 8 hours of sleep. 6 hours is pushing my limits.

Our experience in New York began when we got into a shuttle for our hotel. It so happens our driver was an ex-cop named Collis. He and Alex struck up a pretty good conversation. He gave us some tips about getting around New York and I take it he took a liking to Alex. I could not keep my eyes open and was nodding off in the shuttle. The shuttle ride took ~40minutes from JFK to Manhattan.


We arrived at our hotel The Wellington and unfortunately was told that all their rooms were full. (At that time I kinda felt like Joseph and Mary - but with me not pregnant of course! - being so tired and not finding a room at the inn) None of their guests had checked out yet and we were told to leave our bags with the bell boy, go for a stroll down Broadway and return later for our room. At this point Alex had to literrally drag me out because I was so tired. :) I got my second wind an hour later though and that helped get me through the following 3 hours.


When we first walked out of the hotel doors, two words came to me. ICE. COLD. But surprisingly it wasn't a complete shocker and I think it was because I have gotten used to the cold in Canberra as well. And NY is just several degrees below Canberra, plus snow.


SNOW! I love snow! Its my first taste of snow and I love it! We had light showers of snow and it is expected to continue over the next two days. There is something really romantic about walking under a light fall of snow, exploring an unknown city, taking in new lights and sounds. Little white specks floating down from the sky is a beautiful sight. I got so excited just seeing the flakes land on my gloves. Snow flakes really have unique shapes and none are the same! Such complicated and minute designs yet they are symmetrical too! So happy... I could just stand and admire each one that falls on me.




So after being 'kicked' out of the hotel, we walked down Broadway towards Times Square. We decided to kill time at the M&M shop. Honestly, I have never been a fan of M&M memorabilia until I walked into this shop. I actually had fun! It was 3 shop floors of everything M!







Check out the many colors of M&M's and the massive dispensing machines! M&Mania!




There was a M&M mood machine in the store and when you stand under it, it will start scanning you and telling you what color M&M you are. Funnily enough, it was actually quite accurate!


M&M to Alex: I think this one has a nutty center! Your M&M is.. PEANUT BUTTER! You are a nutty character..

M&M to Me: I think this one is a little low on M... Your M&M is.. DARK BLUE! You take things pretty seriously but you can also be seriously silly too! (Is this so me or what?)

After that, we headed back to the hotel and got our room. We hit the bed as soon as we got in and had a 3 hour slumber so we would have enough energy to roam the city at night. Later that night we walked to the Apple shop which was located across the street from The Plaza Hotel. The hotel was gorgeous. So regal. So Home Alone. So Bride Wars.. :)


The Apple shop was impressive. Huge space. Many staff on hand dressed in bright light blue to give anyone in need a hand. And all the showpieces worked! For once I actually enjoyed walking into a tech showroom. I loved the atmosphere in the place. The Apple Shop is 24 hours! We fiddled around with the iPhones, iTouch and the iMac. Took some pics on the iMac to send through email to our parents too.

I love, love, love New York. We are already planning our return when we have yet to leave the city! There is only one thing that irks me here. It is the constant stench of petrol/diesel fumes and cigarette smoke. I hate that. Gives me a headache. But other than that, the dirt in this city is not something I'm unfamiliar with and I like night buzz of the place. Maybe its winter that takes the ick away from this place. I guess we'll have to return during warmer weather to see if we feel any different.

I suppose some of you are thinking its odd that I'm blogging during the honeymoon but you see, I tend to forget things really quickly. So me blogging enables me to these experiences down in words while the memories are still fresh. My memory kinda self deletes after 48 hours to make room for new memories :) Part of age catching up I guess.

I have more exciting things to blog but its 12am now. I gotta get my nights rest to fight the chill again tomorrow!

Till later..

cheryl

Day One...

Oh my gosh.. we started eating before we even boarded the plane! We caught a flight from Canberra to Sydney early in the morning and since we had time to kill before boarding the long haul one to US, we met up with Alex's sister for breakfast. We were brought to this quaint little french place called 'Le Pain'. It's a very nice place if you are looking for a quiet breakfast, soft chit chats and having a read of the newspaper before the rest of the city wakes up. We ordered normal stuff, poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, ham and guyere cheese croissant and lattes. Still it was a satisfying breakfast. I like the quiet most of all.

Communal table style of dining

Our latte was served in what looked like a white bowl

Poached eggs on toast and turkey ham with hollandaise sauce

Ham and guyere cheese croissant with a trio of mustard

Belgian Waffle with mixed berries

And now away from Australia!

The trip was a really LOONG one. I guess it was made worse by the fact that it was United Airlines and not SIA. I bet SIA wouldn't feel THAT long. :p I have reasons for my dislike for United. After reading the below, you may very well agree with me! All negative barr one. There are a fair few so I'm listing them down by number.

1. A gentleman sitting in front of us complained to the air stewardess of a cockroach running circles around his feet. Yes, we saw it running too. I was threatening to scream if it came anywhere near me. Definitely did not pay $$ to have a cockroach that close to me.
2. We saw a strip of thick silver sticky tape on the downside of the luggage compartment that runs above the centre seats of the plane. A lady complained to the stewardess of air conditioning water dripping on her head. Yes, we saw it dripping too. How was the problem fixed? The stewardess squeezed a towel into the crack and the poor passenger had a towel hanging above her head the entire journey.
3. Alex had the entire weight of the food cart rammed into the back of his seat.
4. Alex had several pieces of ice dropped over his head while the stewardess was dropping them into a plastic cup for another passenger.
5. Alex had his meal forgotten. The stewardess ran out just as she got to him and then conveniently forgot to serve him.
6. Yes poor Alex.
7. We did not have a personal PTV. Had to stare at a distant, distant screen.
8. On a positive note, the pilot did a fantastic job landing the plane. We did not feel a thing. If we could score him, it would be 100/100.


We landed in LAX at 10am and had a 10 hour stopover before boarding another flight to New York. Because of the long wait, Alex and I decided to head to downtown LA by boarding the LAX Flyaway bus which stops at Union Station. The bus ride was only US 12 return and a short trip of 30 minutes. From Union Station we took the Metro Red Line to Hollywood Boulevard. US 1.25 for a single trip ticket. Plenty of picture taking there!

You know you have arrived in LA when you see these trees

The Union Station - I like the look of this building- Looks better up close

Artwork in Union Station

This was the glasswork on the dome in Union Station

Downtown LA

This was taken at the Hollywood/Vine station. The reels on the ceiling are to represent movie making Hollywood and the tree LA. I like how every station has different forms of art work. Love it!

Arriving at Hollywood Boulevard. We walked the entire strip!

Walking down the Walk of Stars, we took some pics of stars. The icon beneath each name shows the category for which they are given the star. A record for a recording artiste. A film camera for an actor and a mic for a speaker. I like Woody Woodpecker! (Hear the laugh in your head now?) They actually had one for Snow White too. I don't quite get why stars are given to animated characters.. they are not real! None for Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty though. So again, why?

We saw several prominent, renowned buildings.

Then we saw some interesting characters...

A man with many extra plastic, colourful appendages.

The funnyman Charlie Chaplin!

Elmo and Big Bird!

In a town that is renowned for its superficiality and its obsession of obtaining the ultimate acclaim of the golden statue, you can get one of your very own for only USD 8.99! You can award yourself the title of 'Best Daughter', 'Best Mother', 'Best Father' or 'Best Sister'. There is lots to go around. Only thing is, there is no need for an acceptance speech or a jaw dropping outfit

After all that walking and photo taking, we headed back to the airport on the return Flyaway bus. We were to board our plane from Terminal 7. As we passed Terminal 2, it was really shocking to see all passengers turned out of the building under the hot sun with their luggages in tow. ALL passengers...you can just imagine the sea of people we saw.

Even the police showed up to take guard. Alex and I are speculating the cause of this incident. Bomb? Nah.... the crowds would have been shoo-ed to further ground and the barricade set further way. Gunman? Maybe.. cos I saw the guards running inside through my bus window, through the glass doors at the terminal.

Drama, drama, drama even before our trip is to officially start. By the end of the day Alex and I were truly knackered. This is a shot of my sleeping husband on the bus.

We are really jet lagged. I'm updating this from the airport while waiting for our flight to NY. I think we will both be knocked out once we board the plane. So I'm offering my apologies if this blog post is a little disjointed. The weary mind....

Till our trip begins in NY!

cheryl

We're Going on A Journey...

It's honeymoon time! :)

Alex and I are really excited about our honeymoon. Our tickets were bought wayyyy back in January last year and its been a good 6 month wait (since our wedding) for this trip to happen. Technically this is like our 2nd honeymoon, but to us, this is our 'official' honeymoon. We had parents coming along with us on our previous trips so those definitel don't count as a honeymoon.

We leave early tomorrow morning at crazy 5am. A nice car will be coming to pick us up - as Alex puts it, he wants to spare no expense and start our trip on a nice note. Nice sentiment yes, but I'm not keen on having to wake that early. Also today I have been going nuts finalizing our packing and cleaning up the house. I have to leave everything neat and tidy, spick and span before stepping out our front door. So yes, I am exhausted.

But I shall not fret about fatigue for tomorrow is an exciting day! We will be landing in LA, going to New York, then San Francisco, then back to LA followed by Disneyland Anaheim before returning to Australia (I hope Anaheim is better than the one in Hong Kong. I do wish we were going to Florida but oh well, next trip maybe?) All that travelling in 2 weeks! Wheee!

With that said, I shall end this post here. We will be lugging the laptop along for our journey so I will be posting updates here and there, whenever possible. Do come back, have a read and don't forget to drop me a warm hello.

For those celebrating Chinese New Year, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR~!

cheryl

The Incident of Lost Time

My watch has gone 'kaput'. (What is going on with things going kaput around me??)

The title for this entry and the one before is sounding somewhat like an Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel. I can't say I wasn't inspired by them. I have been reading both those authors lately to re-live my youth :) I completed entire collections before I was 16 and now I'm re-reading those I can get my hands on. I love mystery/murder/intrigue/detective stories, especially those which require acute observation and clever deduction skills.

Anyway back to my story here. First it was my mobile. Now the case has gotten a little more complicated with my watch following suit. I must say I have a better track record with watches than I do with mobile phones. This watch has worked faithfully for the past 5 years and 11 months. Just a month short of hitting the 6 year mark.

As you can see from the photo, it is not the mechanism in the watch that failed me but the strap. Unfortunately, there is no Elle watch outlet here for me to purchase another strap as a replacement. So what will I do? I will buy a new watch! ( I can literally hear the ka-ching sound of money in my head - this month is really costing me $$$)

I was working at the lab when I felt some weight fall off my wrist. I moved my arm and saw that the hinge connecting the strap to the face had fallen off. Somehow one little part had gotten loose and instead of having 4 connecting pieces, there were only 3 left. Alex and I spent 10 minutes eye-ing the ground in effort to find the missing connecting piece but found nothing.

The irony of this story is that the battery on the Elle watch died a month ago and I paid to have it changed. A week after that, the battery on my backup Fossil watch died as well. And since I just had the battery on the Elle replaced, I figured.. save the $$ and use only one watch till I return to Malaysia, forget about replacing the battery on the back up. (My backup watch is more rugged looking, thick leather strap, big face - can't wear it with a dressy dress and the Elle watch is more versatile) And now, the Elle strap has snapped and I have no watch. Had I had the ability to look into the future back then (wishful thinking), I would have changed the battery on the Fossil instead of on the Elle.

Oh well... so goes my tale mishaps this week. No more I hope or Alex will start complaining about my ever increasing shopping list in the US! :)

cheryl

The Incident of the Mobile Phone..

My mobile phone has gone 'kaput'.

What's wrong with it?

Just one thing. I cannot be heard through it. I can hear others but others can't hear me. Every other function still works. Everything bar the second most important function. (The first being able to hear the other persons voice)

How did it happen?

I don't really know but Alex and I have come to this conclusion - I had a Lindt chocolate in my handbag. The weather was rather hot on Sunday and (this part is ironic) when my mobile rang, I stuck my hand into the bag to rummage for it. In the process of rummaging, I effectively smeared the chocolate over the insides of the bag. Without me knowing, the chocolate had melted from the heat. When I finally had the phone in my hands, it was sticky and gooey. I cleaned it up and noticed that some of the chocolate had found its way beyond the casing of the mobile phone. However I thought all was still good because its not like I had dropped my mobile into water right? So logically, there shouldn't have been much damage. How wrong I was! We discovered the damage when the phone next rang. No one could hear me!

And as such, it was a case of death by chocolate.

I have never really had much luck (if I may use that word) with mobile phones. If you haven't heard about my mobile tales, let me speak of them now.

MOBILE #1

I was given this mobile by my dad when I was in Uni. This was back in the day when the technology of colored screens had not yet made its way into phones. You know, the days when phone screens were barely 2 inches wide and had a yellow background? I loved this phone because it was small and fitted into my pencil case - which made for easy transportation while running from one lecture to another. (I don't approve of sticking mobile phones into jeans pockets - for ladies that is - this is a whole different topic which I shall not go into here) This mobile also had a shortcut key for smses which back in the day, was considered a rather cool function. Hence, I really loved this mobile.

On one unfortunate afternoon, I made plans to go hiking with some cell group friends. We drove to the base of a hill, parked and started hiking. It was a habit of most hikers to put their wallets and mobile phones under the seat of the car, out of plain sight to avoid having to carry anything on their sweaty bodies. So discreetly, before turning off the engine and getting out of the car, we had left our stuff that way too. However, a friend had a back pack and had to chuck that in the boot of the car. (this I believe was our fail point) After our hike, I got into the car and started it up. Before moving off, I slid my hand under the seat to retrieve my mobile and my purse. To my horror, it was not there! Instantly everyone checked for theirs.. and yup, all of it was taken. That includes the back pack in the boot.

The thief had the nerve to break into the car without breaking anything, took his time to rummage under every seat, open the boot and cleared the bag out. He even locked my car for me!

And that was demise of mobile# 1

MOBILE# 2

After that loss, I decided to upgrade to a Nokia. At that time I had set my eyes on this beautiful silver Nokia with a butterfly looking motif for its buttons. The technology then had moved on and the screen was no longer yellow but blue! I loved this phone too cos it looked so feminine and pretty! It also had a function where one can compose their own ring tones. I did one based on a song which we were singing very frequently in our youth group at church. I had then sent this tune to another friend and soon the tune was then passed on to other people at the church - I heard it ringing and I knew it was my work! (If you are reading this blog and you remember the title of that song, tell me cos I can't remember the title! I can only remember the tune)

To cut the story short, I was on a holiday in Hong Kong and left my phone back in Malaysia because I knew I wouldn't need it with me. I called back home mid way through the holiday to update my family about my tours when I was told that the house was broken into just that morning at 4am. The thief had pried open our kitchen windows, removed the glass panels and broke the wooden frame. The police was called and a report was made.

Guess what they stole? All the mobile phones in the house, including our cordless hand set. I guess the cordless phone was so small that they thought it was a mobile phone too. Absolutely ridiculous (about the cordless phone) and absolutely devastating (that I lost my mobile).

And that was demise of mobile#2

MOBILE #3

This time around, technology had yet again improved and screens now had color! I decided to buy a Sony Ericsson. Remember that I found out about the burglary while in Hong Kong? So I bought my replacement mobile there. It was a flip phone and had wonderful soft buttons. I loved it for smses. This phone also had sufficient memory for me to save mp3's and make them my ring tone. Sony Ericsson phones are known to have very clear and crisp sounds coming from the speakers of their phones and I loved this phone for this very reason.

Unfortunately while their sound quality is top class, the durability of Sony Ericsson phones are a different matter altogether. (This again is a whole other discussion) My flip phone had trouble with the screen after being flipped open one too many times and I arranged for my parents to take it down to the Sony Ericsson service center for fixing.

To cut the story short once more, the car that my parents were in, got broken into. Yes.... AGAIN. This was a different car to the one before though. The mobile phone was not in plain sight. It wasn't even under the seat! It was in the glove compartment. The other variable in this case was my parents had a dvd player in the boot of the car. It was also on its way to a shop to get fixed. The thief swiped that too. My parents had parked to go have lunch. It was when they got to the service outlet that they discovered the phone was missing. Subsequently they discovered the fate of the dvd player too.

And that, was the demise of mobile#3.

I don't have to speak again of mobile#4. The difference this time around, its yet to be stolen! With mobile#4, I decided to go for a minimal function phone. After my 3 losses, I had gathered that mobile phones, with me, tend to get stolen. And each time, the mobile only stayed with me for ~2years. That has been my track record. Even though mobile#4 is still with me - unstolen - the track record seems to be holding true. 2 years.

Sigh.

What should I get next?

cheryl

The Year that was... 2008

Hello...!!

I bet no one expected me to write on the blog huh? Well, now that I have a few moments I thought I better write something so that the credits for this blog are still shared by Cheryl and I. I think I last posted an entry 7 months ago! Firstly, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

2008 started off with excitement and ended with excitement. It started with the excitement of going to Penang for the photoshoot of the year and ended with the fact that I am now a married person (6 months tomorrow) and about to embark on the honeymoon. (Those that want to know, the trip to Penang and Hong Kong with parents is NOT defined as a honeymoon as the parents came along). I am happy with how the year went though there are a few things I might change. Hopefully in 2009, these things will change for the better and I can look forward to an even more exciting journey ahead.

We are soon to head off... Off to the US in a mere 13 days. 9 months worth of whinging and whining is about to end for those around me... (Sorry Jen and co... I know you're all good sports for taking it!) January 17th is not going to be a good day for Cheryl though, because we wake up at about 4.30am and leave Canberra by 6.45 and then have 5 hours in Sydney before leaving for LA and then have about 13 hours in LA before leaving for New York and then FINALLY arriving the next morning at 6.30am. New York for 4 days and then onto San Francisco for 4 and then Los Angeles for 3 before finally finishing up at the greatest place in the world, Disneyland and heading home to Canberra on the 31st. Don't worry I will be stopping at the M&M's shop in New York and also be stopping to see some of the TV shows as well (Martha Stewart and Jeopardy!). But importantly, the busy life of New York, the trams of San Fran and the movie lifestyle of LA are the things I will enjoy most.

Sad bit is, the trip is a tad short. But heck, for airfares that only cost $2K for the two of us, no one is complaining... :) We will head back to the states, this is a promise!

So with that said, I shall end this short post. I have more thoughts, but no where near enough time to write them all... But I hope that 2009 is an even better year. Better for me in all aspects of life.

I have a hunch I will have time to blog from the states but if not, until next time, don't do anything I wouldn't do. :)

Alex.