The month of March starts with a weekend.
On the Friday night I had a very satisfying meal.
On Saturday, I went to 3 different car dealerships, to gather more information and have a test drive. Test drive to me is never fun; I am always nervous when I'm driving "someone else's car", in particular, dealer's car because I don't really know what is my responsibility when accident occurs. At night I had dinner with my old schoolmates, who came to visit us from Seattle. After dinner we watch the a movie "Warlord" 投名狀(bought the DVD from HK). It's definitely one of the best HK movies I have seen lately.
On Sunday morning, I went to Michael's with my friend to choose some wedding stationary. After that we went to the new Kirin restaurant @ the Starlight casino. The renovation is contemporary and the dim sum is as good as usual. During the meal, a server passed by our table and said, "Oh did you get married in the Richmond Kirin? I remembered your wedding video." Wow it's almost two years ago and people actually remember??? Suddenly I had the feeling of being a "celebrity"! haha :D Feels like some celebrity got bumped into by their fans... OK OK... I guess the video is funny, or it's particularly disgusting so people remembered. I hope it's the former one.
My mood change is quite abrupt though. At night I was a bit down, when I think of the start of the work week tomorrow...
Monday, March 3, 2008
My craving for sashimi
I usually dine out during weekends only; however, due to my craving for nice fresh sashimi, I decided to head out for dinner. As a first time visitor, I tried out the heavenly taste tuna, and lots of other nice sashimi/sushi. Since we are sitting on the sushi bar, the chef serves the sushi to us piece by piece. We have spent $88 in total including tip. But it certainly worths it!
More pictures here:
Sushi Hachi
More pictures here:
Sushi Hachi
Friday, February 29, 2008
February 29
It's a special day.
Because it comes every four years.
Nothing really special happened today; however, I do feel like I have accomplished a few things within this month.
I have visited my parents in Hong Kong in the past 2 weeks. Went to the new giant Venetian Hotel in Macau, which I got lost a few times. Never been able to find the shop that I want to visit there.
The ceiling has been fixed, as mentioned in the last blog.
And the wooden fence which got blown down back in November, is fixed as well.
Looking forward to March: to start my diet plan, house cleaning, gardening, and edit my wedding video that got accidentally deleted from my old harddrive, perhaps...try to learn Chinese inputing method as well.
Because it comes every four years.
Nothing really special happened today; however, I do feel like I have accomplished a few things within this month.
I have visited my parents in Hong Kong in the past 2 weeks. Went to the new giant Venetian Hotel in Macau, which I got lost a few times. Never been able to find the shop that I want to visit there.
The ceiling has been fixed, as mentioned in the last blog.
And the wooden fence which got blown down back in November, is fixed as well.
Looking forward to March: to start my diet plan, house cleaning, gardening, and edit my wedding video that got accidentally deleted from my old harddrive, perhaps...try to learn Chinese inputing method as well.
Monday, February 4, 2008
The grand re-opening of my bathroom
After almost a year of closure, my upstair bathroom is finally open again...
Since there was water leakage from the main floor ceiling, we then decided to not use the bathroom until it's fixed. Can't believe it's been a year now. During this time we use the basement washroom instead.
The fixing is not an easy process. It almost goes on for a month. How well the process go, totally depends on how good the plumber is. And I'm really "taking a chance" to ask the handyman who helps out my coworker, to fix my problem.
I guess it's not an easy process for him (the plumber) as well. It took him several attempts to find the leak. Finally, the leak is identified: the water pressure regulator besides the valve to refill the toilet water tank, is leaking every time the toilet is flushed and water is refilled. It's not easy to find because this component is actually hiding inside the wall of the cabinet.
The fixing itself is quick and easy though(just change that component!). Then we continue to use the bathroom for a few days to see if there is extra leakage, before closing the ceiling.
Luckily, that seems to the only leakage and he then came over 4 or 5 times to fix, patch and re-paint the ceiling.
Finally, after the long await, my bathroom is now reopened.
Since there was water leakage from the main floor ceiling, we then decided to not use the bathroom until it's fixed. Can't believe it's been a year now. During this time we use the basement washroom instead.
The fixing is not an easy process. It almost goes on for a month. How well the process go, totally depends on how good the plumber is. And I'm really "taking a chance" to ask the handyman who helps out my coworker, to fix my problem.
I guess it's not an easy process for him (the plumber) as well. It took him several attempts to find the leak. Finally, the leak is identified: the water pressure regulator besides the valve to refill the toilet water tank, is leaking every time the toilet is flushed and water is refilled. It's not easy to find because this component is actually hiding inside the wall of the cabinet.
The fixing itself is quick and easy though(just change that component!). Then we continue to use the bathroom for a few days to see if there is extra leakage, before closing the ceiling.
Luckily, that seems to the only leakage and he then came over 4 or 5 times to fix, patch and re-paint the ceiling.
Finally, after the long await, my bathroom is now reopened.
Monday, December 31, 2007
New Year
I am not gonna call it a new year resolution. But rather, a new year wish list:
Lose 20 lbs,
Be more decisive,
Learn to make better decision.
In general:
Stay healthy,
World peace...
And this is my ultimate dream:
Win lotto jackpot! haha :D
Lose 20 lbs,
Be more decisive,
Learn to make better decision.
In general:
Stay healthy,
World peace...
And this is my ultimate dream:
Win lotto jackpot! haha :D
Happy Holidays!
Las Vegas Trip
Dec 23-27
After getting a promotion, my workload is doubled if not tripled! So we decided to go for a short vacation during the x'mas holiday. We have thought about LA, New York etc...But end up going to Las Vegas because of the price. Where else we can stay in a 6 star hotel with a decent price?
In order to further save $, we have decided to fly from Seattle. We first drove to the Seatac Airport and park at the nearby parking lot: Seatac Parking. Reasonably price (half price compare to park at the airport). There is frequent (and free) shuttle bus to take you to/from the airport. The parking lot itself is fenced and seems quite secure. By flying from Seattle instead of Vancouver we have saved $200/person! Definitely worth to do it again (and of course, my husband doesn't mind driving). Anyway, we arrived at Vegas around 9pm. We walked around the hotel (Mandalay Bay) to get us more familiar with this place and had a quick dinner in the hotel cafe.
X'mas Eve
Today we are going to have lunch with my ex-coworker couple in Paris Hotel. There is free tram that takes us from Mandalay Bay to Excarlibur, which is just right across New York New York. Still, it takes around another half an hour walk to Paris. I am definitely not aware of the cold. I still remembered few years ago when I was in Vegas in December, it's around 10C. Cold but not freezing. This time, it definitely feels colder than Vancouver. Finally we got to Paris Buffet entrance. Oh my...the lineup is way beyond the 90 minute mark! We end up waiting 2.5 hours for the buffet and start our lunch (supposely brunch) at 2pm! And of course, feeling so exhausted, I just keep eating. My eyes roll bigger with the varieties of food and crepe station...And right after I had my last dessert...I started to feel stuffed, overly stuffed. On the way to Wynn, I do bump into my ex-coworker again. AMAZING! I thought walking around would help digesting but even I walk back to the hotel (another 1 hour) I am still feeling stuffed, so stuffed that I can't even sleep well. In the end, I need to throw up a little bit to get rid of the indigestive food. By the time I manage to sleep, it's already around 6am. Henry is not any better, he also feels stuffed but at the same time, he got a little bit fever! We both took some tylenol and rest...
X'mas Day
X'mas day just flies during our sleep. By the time I got up it's already 5pm. "Luckily" there is a Chinese noodle house inside the hotel, I just bought a bowl of congee (it's $11US!!!) and a plate of vegetable (choy sum for $12.95!!). Henry had a little bit share of congee and we still have no energy to go out and explore.
Being stuck at the hotel room for so long, I finally can't resist of paying $11.95 to go online...
Boxing Day
While we started to gain energy little by little, we need to move to another hotel. Today we are leaving Manadlay Bay and stay in Wynn hotel. We took advantage of the buy 2 get 1 free night deal of Mandalay Bay so we stay there for 3 nights (avg $100US/night). The very last night we would like to try the newest 6-star hotel - Wynn. There is special rate for $159US/night. The Wynn receptionist is so nice to allow us to check in at 11am, and also upgrade us to the almost top floor a panoramic view hotel room. Things feel so different in Wynn. As long as we open the door, there is music from the TV screen-saver. Both the TV and phone menu has my name on it. Very personalized service! There are more amenities in Wynn than MB too. In Wynn's hotel room, there are bath robe and very nice quality slipper for guests. And for the first time, I found a bathroom scale inside the washroom! Although, both hotel offer TV inside the washroom.
Since we don't have any great x'mas meal, I decided to pamper myself with the in-room service. I ordered a afternoon tea set and a chicken noodle soup for Henry. Overviewing the Las Vegas Strip area on the 58th floor while having our afternoon tea is definitely breath taking.
After the meal, I have a quick walk to the shopping mall right across the hotel.
Didn't buy anything, though.
We already reserved the O show ticket @ the Ballegio. At first we plan to have dinner buffet at Bellagio then we go to watch the show. Since we are still recovering, we can't have any buffet yet so we decided to have Chinese food again. Too bad there is no Chinese noodle house in Wynn, so we went to the Venetian hotel that I remember had there is a Chinese noodle house. After a short wait in the lineup, we are having congee as our dinner again! Then we decided to take a taxi to Bellagio (although there's only 20 mins walk!). We don't want to get a cold any more! And at that moment, I saw the fine print on my printed ticket: need to get there 1 hour before the show or subject to cancel! Oh it's already 9:25 and the show is starting at 10:30!! The strip is super congested and my heart just beat faster and faster! If the tickets are cancelled that means $275 is gone!!! >_<
If the show is fabulous, the venue itself must be magnificent! The stage is once a pool, then in the next split second the dancer can walk on it. Water's all gone! Amazing! Besides the usual movement, there is also a few diving scenes, which make me think whether the team members are mainly from China? Cirque du Soeli show is never disappointing, it's even better than the first one I have seen (Mystere in Treasure Island). The live music with Er Wu accompaniment is so good too! The 2-hour show is truely great! After the show (already mid-night) we took a few picture in Bellagio and took taxi back to the hotel.
Dec 27
It's time to say goodbye. There is even lineup for checkout. But being a 6-star hotel, Wynn staff is offering free hot chocolate with whipped cream for us...yum~
On the way to airport, the taxi driver (a Black guy) keeps talking about politics which almost bores me to death. You know, I have no interest in AMERICAN politics anyway... But Henry is interested to chit chat with him. Anyway, we are still early for our flight and fortunately, there is free Wi-Fi in LV airport, unlike Seattle or Vancouver...
The flight got delayed 1.5 hour this time (our last flight is on time). It's already 7:30 when we fly back to Seattle. Waited around 20 minutes (1 bus is full) for the shuttle bus, we finally got back to our car. Another 2.5 hours drive back to Vancouver... After we come back, we have congee (again!) in Fung Ming's congee place. I should definitely lose some weight with all these congee meal!
This ends our X'mas vacation: a true relax vacation that we lie down on the hotel room bed almost every day! The hotel definitely worth the price!
Dec 23-27
After getting a promotion, my workload is doubled if not tripled! So we decided to go for a short vacation during the x'mas holiday. We have thought about LA, New York etc...But end up going to Las Vegas because of the price. Where else we can stay in a 6 star hotel with a decent price?
In order to further save $, we have decided to fly from Seattle. We first drove to the Seatac Airport and park at the nearby parking lot: Seatac Parking. Reasonably price (half price compare to park at the airport). There is frequent (and free) shuttle bus to take you to/from the airport. The parking lot itself is fenced and seems quite secure. By flying from Seattle instead of Vancouver we have saved $200/person! Definitely worth to do it again (and of course, my husband doesn't mind driving). Anyway, we arrived at Vegas around 9pm. We walked around the hotel (Mandalay Bay) to get us more familiar with this place and had a quick dinner in the hotel cafe.
X'mas Eve
Today we are going to have lunch with my ex-coworker couple in Paris Hotel. There is free tram that takes us from Mandalay Bay to Excarlibur, which is just right across New York New York. Still, it takes around another half an hour walk to Paris. I am definitely not aware of the cold. I still remembered few years ago when I was in Vegas in December, it's around 10C. Cold but not freezing. This time, it definitely feels colder than Vancouver. Finally we got to Paris Buffet entrance. Oh my...the lineup is way beyond the 90 minute mark! We end up waiting 2.5 hours for the buffet and start our lunch (supposely brunch) at 2pm! And of course, feeling so exhausted, I just keep eating. My eyes roll bigger with the varieties of food and crepe station...And right after I had my last dessert...I started to feel stuffed, overly stuffed. On the way to Wynn, I do bump into my ex-coworker again. AMAZING! I thought walking around would help digesting but even I walk back to the hotel (another 1 hour) I am still feeling stuffed, so stuffed that I can't even sleep well. In the end, I need to throw up a little bit to get rid of the indigestive food. By the time I manage to sleep, it's already around 6am. Henry is not any better, he also feels stuffed but at the same time, he got a little bit fever! We both took some tylenol and rest...
X'mas Day
X'mas day just flies during our sleep. By the time I got up it's already 5pm. "Luckily" there is a Chinese noodle house inside the hotel, I just bought a bowl of congee (it's $11US!!!) and a plate of vegetable (choy sum for $12.95!!). Henry had a little bit share of congee and we still have no energy to go out and explore.
Being stuck at the hotel room for so long, I finally can't resist of paying $11.95 to go online...
Boxing Day
While we started to gain energy little by little, we need to move to another hotel. Today we are leaving Manadlay Bay and stay in Wynn hotel. We took advantage of the buy 2 get 1 free night deal of Mandalay Bay so we stay there for 3 nights (avg $100US/night). The very last night we would like to try the newest 6-star hotel - Wynn. There is special rate for $159US/night. The Wynn receptionist is so nice to allow us to check in at 11am, and also upgrade us to the almost top floor a panoramic view hotel room. Things feel so different in Wynn. As long as we open the door, there is music from the TV screen-saver. Both the TV and phone menu has my name on it. Very personalized service! There are more amenities in Wynn than MB too. In Wynn's hotel room, there are bath robe and very nice quality slipper for guests. And for the first time, I found a bathroom scale inside the washroom! Although, both hotel offer TV inside the washroom.
Since we don't have any great x'mas meal, I decided to pamper myself with the in-room service. I ordered a afternoon tea set and a chicken noodle soup for Henry. Overviewing the Las Vegas Strip area on the 58th floor while having our afternoon tea is definitely breath taking.
After the meal, I have a quick walk to the shopping mall right across the hotel.
Didn't buy anything, though.
We already reserved the O show ticket @ the Ballegio. At first we plan to have dinner buffet at Bellagio then we go to watch the show. Since we are still recovering, we can't have any buffet yet so we decided to have Chinese food again. Too bad there is no Chinese noodle house in Wynn, so we went to the Venetian hotel that I remember had there is a Chinese noodle house. After a short wait in the lineup, we are having congee as our dinner again! Then we decided to take a taxi to Bellagio (although there's only 20 mins walk!). We don't want to get a cold any more! And at that moment, I saw the fine print on my printed ticket: need to get there 1 hour before the show or subject to cancel! Oh it's already 9:25 and the show is starting at 10:30!! The strip is super congested and my heart just beat faster and faster! If the tickets are cancelled that means $275 is gone!!! >_<
If the show is fabulous, the venue itself must be magnificent! The stage is once a pool, then in the next split second the dancer can walk on it. Water's all gone! Amazing! Besides the usual movement, there is also a few diving scenes, which make me think whether the team members are mainly from China? Cirque du Soeli show is never disappointing, it's even better than the first one I have seen (Mystere in Treasure Island). The live music with Er Wu accompaniment is so good too! The 2-hour show is truely great! After the show (already mid-night) we took a few picture in Bellagio and took taxi back to the hotel.
Dec 27
It's time to say goodbye. There is even lineup for checkout. But being a 6-star hotel, Wynn staff is offering free hot chocolate with whipped cream for us...yum~
On the way to airport, the taxi driver (a Black guy) keeps talking about politics which almost bores me to death. You know, I have no interest in AMERICAN politics anyway... But Henry is interested to chit chat with him. Anyway, we are still early for our flight and fortunately, there is free Wi-Fi in LV airport, unlike Seattle or Vancouver...
The flight got delayed 1.5 hour this time (our last flight is on time). It's already 7:30 when we fly back to Seattle. Waited around 20 minutes (1 bus is full) for the shuttle bus, we finally got back to our car. Another 2.5 hours drive back to Vancouver... After we come back, we have congee (again!) in Fung Ming's congee place. I should definitely lose some weight with all these congee meal!
This ends our X'mas vacation: a true relax vacation that we lie down on the hotel room bed almost every day! The hotel definitely worth the price!
 |
| Las Vegas X'mas |
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Time flies...
It's not my intention to not even post one single blog for 3 months.
It's either life goes too plain and not much to talk about, or too many things to talk about which I got so little time left for writing. It's the later case.
Now let's try a quick recall/recap...
Halloween
This is the first Halloween that I have ever considered dress up myself. Of course, there must be some incentive. Whoever gets the best costume within the company will get a ticket to Beckham's soccer game! Being a fan of soccer game (who grew up in HK is not interested in soccer game?) and of course, a fan of the superstar Beckham, I definitely don't want to miss the opportunity of going to the live game FREE!
On the night before, I bought a set of costume from Save On Food. It's not easy to find something that fit (you know, I don't want to dress up as a sexy French maid to work). I decided to choose a witch outfit. It includes a black dress, hat and a belt. The dress fits surpringly well (i.e. the dress that could hide my excess fat! haha)
Although, in the end, I didn't get the best costume award, nor the draw for the ticket, I still feel glad with my first attempt to dress up myself during halloween. I'm feeling more into the local culture now.
Soccer game
I have mentioned that I didn't get the draw for the ticket, nor the prize so I was thinking I won't be able to go to my first live soccer game. But every cloud has a silver lining! I finally got a ticket from a coworker. Beckham is playing in a LA team against the Vancouver team. I doubt myself should I cheer for the Vancouver team or the Beckham team? I bet the 48000 crowd in BC place mostly (if not all) come for Beckham. However, Vancouver team do get a lot of applaude when they are attacking. My seat is not particularly close so most of the time I rely on the binoculars for close shot of Beckham. He did play more than half of the game and I guess that's all mattters, not the final 0-0 score.
Level up!
Basically I do not like to introduce any big changes to my life. Whatever I am comfortable with, I'd like to stay where I am. I don't even want to upgrade my computer if I don't absolutely need to. Why do I need to get used to new interface and the new feature that I don't ask for? The newer the better? Maybe, but I hate the hassle of adjusting to new settings.
Anyway, after all these years riding on a flat roadway, I finally reach a mountain range. Due to the organizational change and resignation of my supervisor, I got promoted to the management role. If you asked me, I may prefer to stay where I am. But anyway, I guess I just need to try my best. There are already a few issues during the transition period, some misunderstanding that I found kind of upset. Just hope for the best in next year then. I need some luck. And some courage.
It's either life goes too plain and not much to talk about, or too many things to talk about which I got so little time left for writing. It's the later case.
Now let's try a quick recall/recap...
Halloween
This is the first Halloween that I have ever considered dress up myself. Of course, there must be some incentive. Whoever gets the best costume within the company will get a ticket to Beckham's soccer game! Being a fan of soccer game (who grew up in HK is not interested in soccer game?) and of course, a fan of the superstar Beckham, I definitely don't want to miss the opportunity of going to the live game FREE!
On the night before, I bought a set of costume from Save On Food. It's not easy to find something that fit (you know, I don't want to dress up as a sexy French maid to work). I decided to choose a witch outfit. It includes a black dress, hat and a belt. The dress fits surpringly well (i.e. the dress that could hide my excess fat! haha)
Although, in the end, I didn't get the best costume award, nor the draw for the ticket, I still feel glad with my first attempt to dress up myself during halloween. I'm feeling more into the local culture now.
Soccer game
I have mentioned that I didn't get the draw for the ticket, nor the prize so I was thinking I won't be able to go to my first live soccer game. But every cloud has a silver lining! I finally got a ticket from a coworker. Beckham is playing in a LA team against the Vancouver team. I doubt myself should I cheer for the Vancouver team or the Beckham team? I bet the 48000 crowd in BC place mostly (if not all) come for Beckham. However, Vancouver team do get a lot of applaude when they are attacking. My seat is not particularly close so most of the time I rely on the binoculars for close shot of Beckham. He did play more than half of the game and I guess that's all mattters, not the final 0-0 score.
Level up!
Basically I do not like to introduce any big changes to my life. Whatever I am comfortable with, I'd like to stay where I am. I don't even want to upgrade my computer if I don't absolutely need to. Why do I need to get used to new interface and the new feature that I don't ask for? The newer the better? Maybe, but I hate the hassle of adjusting to new settings.
Anyway, after all these years riding on a flat roadway, I finally reach a mountain range. Due to the organizational change and resignation of my supervisor, I got promoted to the management role. If you asked me, I may prefer to stay where I am. But anyway, I guess I just need to try my best. There are already a few issues during the transition period, some misunderstanding that I found kind of upset. Just hope for the best in next year then. I need some luck. And some courage.
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