Leah's Cafe

We will be back here to shop

The big boy has a friend who is married to a girl from China. They told us that they shop for Asian groceries at a town 45 minutes from where we live. So, we decided to have an early dinner at 5.00 p.m yesterday and then drove down there ...

Need driver license and auto insurance

Time really flies, it has been 10 days since arriving here on September 30. Haven't really completely recovered from jet lag, but the mid afternoon sleepiness seems to have gone for good. Though have not been able to drive here yet, guess driving in this small town with little traffics ...

A quest for Asian grocery stores

There is no Asian grocery store in the small town that we live. We found out from Google map there are three Asian grocery stores in the same town as the social security office we were going to visit. So, we went on a quest of Asian grocery stores after ...

Turn talk into typing with a voice recognition software

All my previous teaching jobs required a lot of typing. I have never learned typing and do not know "touch typing" . Though I survived years with my two fingers typing skills, it took too much time to get all the notes and exam questions typed out. Have you not ...

Visit to the social security office

The nearest Social Security office is more than 25 miles from where we live. We decided to go down there on Tuesday as it's the big boy's day off from work. We left the house at about 7.30 a.m., stopped by the McD to have breakfast before we got on ...

Picnic at Han River park in Seoul

If you have ever watched a Korean drama or movie, you probably have seen the many shots near the Han river (Hangang) and the bridges. I have seen that many times but didn't realize that the Han river stretched about 500 km or 300 miles long across Korea. So, they ...

The first bibimbab in Seoul

On the day I arrived in Seoul, after checking in the hostel and cleaning up, I ventured out to the alley to hunt for lunch. There were quite a few restaurants on the same street with the hostel, but they all looked pretty expensive. Then I saw a little shop on ...

Left behind the contact lenses

Forgot to pack the contact lenses which were together with the toiletries, they were left at my parents' place. Decided last minute not to pack the the toiletries bag because the luggage was going to exceed the baggage limit, but didn't realize the contact lenses were inside until it's too ...

Tour of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul

Didn't realize they are so many palaces in Seoul before I came here. Seoul is now a republic and no longer has the monarchy, so this palaces do give us a glimpse of the glorious past and the lives of the royal family at that particular dynasty and time period. Headed ...

The franchised western food joints in Seoul

While the most people in Korea hardly speak any English, the young people seem to be attracted to the Western/American popular culture and are really into it. Both of the guesthouses that I have stayed in two different locations were near the university campuses. The area around seems to have ...

Hyundai corporate office in Seoul

Hyundai is probably the first South Korean's name brand that most of us encountered. We all know it's the largest corporation in South Korea. The corporate office is a tall and huge building in the central area of Seoul. It's next to a park and on the same street with ...

He needs a webmaster

We were hanging out at the in laws' place last night, watching the vice presidential debates and baseball game on the TV. Father in law mentioned about the newspaper he saved for me to read, which has the column he wrote for the local newspaper. I asked him about what ...

Third day in Seoul, moved to second guest house

This is a post dated entry for 27 September 2008. Before leaving for Seoul , I have made reservation at the guest house near Hongik University in Seoul for two days. On the day of arrival, decided to make reservation at another guest house and move nearer to the city center ...

The experience of buying a watch in Seoul

Didn't wear a watch as I have used the cell phone to tell time for the last few years. While I was in Seoul for sightseeing, didn't have a cell phone and it was really inconvenient. Didn't want to miss my flight, so thought of buying a watch in Seoul. ...

Cold, cold and cold

It was darn cold this morning, the thermometer indicated 47 degree Fahrenheit ( 8 degree Celsius)! It's too early to turn on the central heating yet as the fall has just begun! Thank god for portable heater! It is difficult to do housework when you are all bundled up. I moved ...

Shopping for warm clothes

We went to JC Penny to get some warm clothes. The store was surprisingly empty despite of having sales. May be it was a weekday, or maybe people are trying to hold on a little to their cash in view of current financial turmoil? People will definitely be more careful ...

The baseball craze on my first day here in America

Despite of the long flight, I was too excited to feel the tiredness yet. But I know it would take a few days to adjust to the time difference and get over the jetlag. We dropped by the in laws' home, gave them the Choya plum wine and some knick-knacks ...

Arriving at Chicago O’Hare airport

After 16+ hours of flight, stopover and change of plane, the flight from Tokyo Narita airport arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport yesterday at 1.30 p.m local time, 45 minutes earlier than scheduled. After claiming the baggage, was not sure whether to line up at the visitor or US ...

Passing time during stopover at Tokyo Narita airport

My flight was from Seoul to Chicago with two hours stopover at Tokyo Narita airport. What do people do during the two hours stopover? Almost everyone was browsing the duty free stores! Since kind of had to leave Seoul Incheon airport in a hurry and didn't manage to do some ...

Leaving Seoul in a hurry

The flight was leaving at 12.05 p.m. Left the hotel at 9.30 a.m, thought should have ample time for checking in baggage and browsing the duty free stores. However, the commuter train ride and walking from one end of airport(collected the baggage in storage) to the other end (United Airway's ...

Second day in Seoul

I would have to put up pictures later as the cable is in another baggage in the storage. The Korean girls got out the door to work at 6.00 a.m! I didn't get up until 7.45 a.m and took my own sweet time to get out of the apartment since it ...

First day in Seoul

Arrived at Incheon Airport in Seoul at 8.50 a.m local time. A bit tired as I did not really sleep much during the 6.5 hours flight. Claimed the baggage and went through custom smoothly. I do not want to lug the two big baggage around, so found a service that store ...

Accommodation for woman traveling alone in Seoul

Going to stopover in South Korea for six days on the way to Chicago. Have booked a place at a guest house or hostel in Seoul for the first three nights. Will decide later whether to move on to another city or may just stay in Seoul for the entire ...

Stay out of debt is our future plan

Many people asked me what do I plan to do in IL. We really do not have a concrete plan yet, we would have to see what comes along and take one step at a time. May eventually go for a teacher preparation program to get an IL teaching credential, ...

Watched three movies in a row

In the last four years, have only been to the theater 2-3 times., could not even remember the last movie watched! However, in the last few weeks, have watched three movies in the theater, kind of a personal record breaking! When I was down in PJ attending the medical check-up and ...

Bringing a wok in the luggage

Done with the packing and waiting to leave for South Korea tonight. Was able to pack quite a few things included a wok within the 46 kg (100 lbs) free baggage allowance! I wanted to give the wok to my sisters, but they did not want it because they already ...

Internet banking and order checks online

After being separated and living 6000 miles apart for close to two years, we are finally going to be reunited in IL next week. Since the visa was approved three weeks ago, have been very busy with shopping, packing and farewells with friends and family. There are so many more ...

Almost done with packing and getting ready to fly

My flight is on Wednesday 1.15 a.m, so will be leaving for the airport on Tuesday night. Packing is almost done. Two of the bags are still within the weight allowance, so going to pick some craft books to include in the luggage tomorrow. Will be making a stopover of five ...

Basics on hosting your blog

Many of my friends have expressed interest to start a blog. They asked me many questions, from how to get a domain to how much they have to pay for a hosting plan. However, none of them took up blogging after all the detailed explanations. Guess they were overwhelmed and ...

Watch Babylon AD to avoid heat

Went to stamp the tenancy agreement at the Inland Revenue Department. Reached there at 3.35 p.m, they have already close the counter collecting cash for stamping!! What the hell, it didn't make sense! The afternoon office hours are 2:00-5.00 p.m , do they need one and half hours to balance ...

Academic transcripts and other paperwork

Was packing the documents this morning and realized that I have only photocopies, the original SPM certificate is missing! Guess most likely won't be asked to produce this certificate as post secondary ones are available. Won't have time to apply for a new copy. The district education department is corrupted ...

To pack or not to pack winter clothes

Took out all the winter clothes to wash because they have stayed inside the suitcase for the past few years! Wanted to get rid of the smell of moth balls before packing them. It's a headache to pack all of them as they can be bulky and heavy. After much consideration ...

58 kgs or 125 lbs of free baggage allowance

Called Korean Airlines to figure out the latest baggage allowance for US bound flights. Apparently the information on their website is not the latest, they have revised the maximum baggage allowance for economy class to 23 kgs (50lbs) from 32 kgs (70 lbs) per bag! check-in 2 luggage= 2 x 23 ...

Mid autumn festival and the lantern party

My sisters bought some paper lanterns and candles. We hang the lanterns on the potted plants and along the fence, it lighted up the entire front yard. We even switched off the porch light for better effect and it was very pretty! However, candle lights are hard to capture on pictures. ...

Malaysian food I will miss

As the departure date to US gets closer, there are more errands to run and stuffs to buy. Have been busy shopping for food stuffs and packing this few days. Bought a few packets of pre-cooked sauces, curry powder, spices, anchovies, dried shrimps, Malaysian coffee and tea last week. ...

Booked and paid for air tickets

We agreed on the date to fly and the big boy finally made the reservation and paid today. I needed him to pay with his credit card because the site did not accept Malaysian credit cards. Will be flying out to Seoul on 09/24. Making a stopover for 6 days in ...

Shopping for luggage, again!

Bought a Swiss Polo 20" carry-on luggage yesterday, but need another two luggage for check-in baggage. Was at JJ today, decided to drop by The Travel Store to check out the luggage again. The sales girl introduced me a 29" Eminent luggage that went on 50% discount. It was a good ...

Bought a carry-on luggage

Most airlines have introduced new rules about carry-on and check in baggage allowance. I have to buy new luggage as my old luggage doesn't meet the new requirements. Was at The Travel Store at JJ to check out the luggage yesterday evening. They were all so expensive! I bought one Swiss ...

Aunt passed away

My mom's cousin's wife passed away today after a prolong illness. She was 76 and had a surgery few weeks ago. She was at the ICU for a couple of weeks. Then she asked to be discharged yesterday. She passed away at home today at about 3.00 p.m, with most ...

Looking for air tickets

Have called a few travel agents to inquire about the airfares. The prices they quoted are generally about five hundred to one thousand ringgits more than what I found online. The profit margin so high!! The cheapest fare is found on united.com, $826 for a one way ticket! But I don't ...

Picked up visa package and passport at VFS office

The visa was approved yesterday and I received a blue slip after the visa interview. The blue slip has instruction on where and when to pick up the passport and visa package . The pick up time was 3-4 p.m at the Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) office at Wisma MCA, which ...

The visa interview at US consulate

After beating all the dragons, arrived at the embassy gate at 8.55 a.m,. About 3-4 people were lining up beside the gate, we were allowed into the embassy building after security clearance. Security clearance again at the entrance of building. Got a number (the second person for immigrant visa). The waiting ...

KL morning rush hours

My visa appointment at the US consulate was 9.00 a.m. Got up at 6.30 a.m, took a shower, had breakfast, double checked all the documents and left the house at about 7.15 a.m. The plan was to go down to KL by train with my first sister. But, she could not ...

The bus station or the jetty?

Took a 4.30 p.m bus down to KL to attend the visa interview scheduled on 28 Sept (that's tomorrow!). It started raining heavily after we passed the Sungai Besi toll plaza. Was a little worried as the bus approaching the "Smart Tunnel ". As you might know, it's the tunnel ...

Going ahead with visa interview

Decided to go ahead with the visa interview. After spending countless hours preparing for all the paperwork and stressing over the mistake he made on the forms. I have nothing to lose by attending the interview since the big boy has paid close to $800 for the whole visa process. And, ...

Polishing resume

It has been almost four years since I left the teaching job in the university, started the after school care and became a self-employed person. The resume has not been updated as there was no need of it. In fact, my desktop went kaput three days ago and I could ...

Visa interview canceled

Called the consular office this morning to cancel the visa interview on this Thursday. No point pursuing it when the plan to move has to be shelved indefinitely. Too much is at stake to leave a comfortable life here for lies and broken promises. Just too tired to deal with ...

Broken promises and lies

Are you a person of your word? Do people trust you? Being trustworthy is a character trait essential for any healthy relationship. But there are many things that we say and do that will break the bonds of trust. Keeping promises is an important part of a relationship. It builds ...

Famous Footwear coupons to expand your shoes collection

On the BBC's website, I read that the world's best-known shoe collector, former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, has opened a museum in which most of the exhibits are her own footwear. The Footwear Museum in Manila contains hundreds of pairs of shoes, many of them found in the presidential ...

Desktop went kaput, would not boot!

Was just telling someone that the Dell desktop we bought in 2005 did not give us any problems in the last three years. Oops, didn't touch the wood, it went kaput last night! Was having problem getting online last week, thought the modem went out. But did not bother to get ...

Prepare the civil documents and proofs of bone fide marriage

The packet 4 documents from the consular office came in the mail. It has a checklist for all the documents required to bring to the immigration visa interview. With the interview appointment less than a week away, guess it is time to get all the documents in order. I spent ...

Packet 4 documents came in the mail

The consular office mailed the packet 4 documents last Thursday and it came in the mail today. The packet 4 contains the visa appointment letter, a check list, an instruction sheet for photo size and all the forms for medical examination. Since the visa interview appointment has been brought forward from ...

Visa interview rescheduled

The consular office at first scheduled the visa interview to be on 09/09/2008. Since I have all the documents ready and have done the medical examination last Friday, decided to call to ask to reschedule to an earlier date. Called the consular office on Monday, Rani whom I talked to on ...

Medical examination for the immigration visa application

First sister had already left for work when we got up in the morning, second sister was not feeling well and on medical leave. I drove out to get some breakfast for us and bought a packet of Milo for parents as there is none at sisters' place. They must ...

Driving down to PJ on Hungry Ghost Festival

Since my parents wanted to come along, decided to drive down to PJ instead of taking a bus. We left at 5.30 p.m, dad drove till Seremban and I continued the driving, reached PJ at about 7.15 p.m, just in time for dinner. In fact, mom brought all the food from ...

Mailed packet 3 documents back to US consulate

Went to post office this morning, to mail the package 3 documents to US consulate by express mail. The express mail service by POS Malaysia is very competitively priced, four bucks for guaranteed next day delivery, not bad at all! The package 3 returned contains the visa application form DS-230 part ...

Packet 3 documents came in the mail

Finally, the packet 3 documents mailed out by the US consulate on Monday came in the mail, on a Saturday, at 3.45 p.m ! It was raining cats and dogs on Thursday and Friday, guess the mailman couldn't go out to deliver mails on his bike. In fact, on the way ...

Down with Chikungunya

It came so sudden. I was planning to go up to KL on Friday and was driving out to purchase bus ticket on Thursday at about 4.00p.m. Half an hour later, on the way driving home, I felt a little warm. By the time I reached home, I have a ...

Why use snail mail and waste time when you can email

Though our file has arrived at the KL consulate since Jul 31, still waiting for the packet 3 documents to arrive in the mail. They have mailed it out on Aug 3 by snail mail. I did ask whether they can email the documents and forms instead of sending them ...

Waiting for the packet 3 documents

The consular staff Mr Saravanan said he is sending out the Immigration Visa Instruction package or normally called packet 3 on Monday. Today is Thursday, still waiting for the packet to arrive. How many days it takes for a mail to arrive from KL ? Should have driven up to KL ...

Free business cards and discount coupon from VistaPrint

Admit it or not, we all just love free stuffs, don't we ? Here is a company that gives away 250 free Business Cards -Vista Print. For the free offer, there are 42 designs of business card for you to choose from. The designs are very simple and basic. Like other ...

How to make fruit enzymes at home

My post on our attempt to make fruit enzymes at home last week received a lot hits from many people who were searching for recipes on how to make fruit enzymes at home. So, thought I will share what we did for the apple enzyme and dragon fruit enzyme we ...

Find a web host for your blog

When it comes to starting a blog, your biggest decision will be whether you want to host the blog yourself, or use a free blogging service that is hosted for you. Yes, you can host your blog for free, but nothing is really free. When you start a blog with a ...

How to start a blog

Friends and family members often ask me how to start a blog, and the teacher in me always enjoy explaining it, but it is a lot of information to take in over lunch. It also takes a while to process and understand all the terminology used, especially if they are ...

Make your own fruit enzyme

My friend PL was here for a visit over the weekend. She shared about the health benefit of fruit enzyme and how it's helping her with stress related ailments that both of us share in common. She brought some fruit enzyme that she made to share with my family. ...

The second part of the visa journey

Since the expedite request has been approved by National Visa Center on July 24, the file will be sent to KL consular by DHL express mail, hopefully by July 25. It will take 3-4 business days in transit. KL consular is an efficient consular with no backlog. Under normal circumstances, ...

Timeline for the first part of the visa journey

The US, like Australia, has a similar two-part process for its citizen to unite with immediate family. First, the US citizen needs to file a petition to access his eligibility to sponsor a family member. Then, when the petition is approved, the beneficiary of the petition has to submit an ...

Expedite request granted, bravo, NVC!

It has been two weeks since the California Service Center approved the I-130 petition on July 9. The file took one week to transit from California to National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire. (You wonder how on earth files are still moving around physically in this computer age.) However, ...

Joint checking account

One of the proofs of bona fide marriage we are required to show to the consular during immigrant visa interview is the co-mingling of our finances. It can be joint ownership of property or lease, life insurance with the other party as beneficiary, name on spouse's health insurance, ...

The culprit of all this delays

USCIS may not be efficient and its workers incompetent, but the ultimate culprit is the idiot husband who procrastinates and makes silly mistake such as omitting the marriage certificate and have his wife's name wrong on the forms! It took him three months to mail out a two-page form that already ...

USCIS gave us a goodbye gift

We have waited four months (And, that's an expedited processing! Many people waited longer and for some complicated cases, for years) for a piece of paper that gives green light to apply for an immigrant visa. As we were waving goodbye to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and getting ready ...

Certificate that says I have good conduct ?

One of the civil documents that needed for the immigrant visa application is the "Certificate of Good Conduct". It's a background check or police clearance required to show no criminal record. You can get the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, either in person or by mail. They took about ...

Woohooo, the I-130 petition is approved

The I-130 petition was filed in March, after three months of staying in the dark hole. The big boy filed an expedite request for the I-130 processing on 5 June, hope to speed things up a bit. Five weeks after filing an expedite request, the petition for an immigrant visa is ...

Internet down after storm?

Do you experience problem with streamASS in the last few weeks? One of the reasons that all my blogs have not been updated much in the last few weeks. It's just so frustrating, we have to call the 100 customer service numbers six times in the last three weeks! Though ...

Academic writing is a different cup of tea

Writing thesis or academic papers may be natural for some, but it can be a real torture for the rest of us. When I was studying for a masters degree, it took me quite a while to put all the thoughts together on paper and came out with a dissertation. ...

Bubble bath in the bathtub

Our house here has three bathrooms, but no bathtub. The new house we are going to live has one thousand and one bathroom, but has a bathtub in the small bathroom. The big boy took a picture of the bathtub and he thinks I am going to like it. Who doesn't ...

The slow expedite, an oxymoron

I have been getting a lot of inquiries from friends and neighbors on when am I leaving for IL, the big boy too received a fair amount of that. Well, we need Uncle's Sam approval before we can be united. It's difficult for others to understand, why it ...

Our new home is waiting

I have finally received more pictures of the inside of our new home on top of the 1001 picture showing outside of the house! :-) It's a big old house in the downtown area, we will be living on the second floor. We use the ...

Did you eat a bowl of stupid for breakfast ?

There are a few people I would like to ask this question last week, but I didn't ! Incidentally, they all work for the bank! Which make me wonder what kind people they hired to work in the bank nowadays? The first incident, I walked into the bank, requested a "reduce ...

See a herbalist and an acupuncturist

My parents' house is an hour drive to downtown. We took an early lunch and left the house after lunch to go to this Chinese herbalist and acupuncturist. There was a long line and mom waited for two hours to see the "doctor". This Chinese herbalist doesn't use the traditional herbs ...

Disc extruded and pressed against the nerves

Mom's leg pain hasn't improved but worsen after the tour of hospital. At first she refused to go back to see the orthopedic. I have to bluff her that taking an X-ray wouldn't cost much though she was going for MRI that cost 1k! The MRI showed the disc ...

The children are coming to stay

My niece and nephew are going to be here at my parents’ place starting next Tuesday after their trip to one of the hill resorts. Their mother was able to accumulate enough points with one of the credit cards with hotel rewards for a free one night stay at the ...

All the delays, not yet move, house hunting

A few people asked where I am right now. Yes, I am still here, not yet move to Illinois. There are so many obstacles and delays. Seven weeks ago, it was the surgery to remove ovarian cysts, then spent 2-3 weeks going through all sort of tests due to ...

Mom goes on a tour of hospitals

It has been a crazy week, haven't have much time in front of the computer. We have been visiting the doctors like they are our best friends since my mother complained about pain on her left leg two weeks ago. She is her usual impatient patient who will not wait for ...

Sold the junk car

It's SOLD. After my sister in law helped me to forward the "Car for sale" ads to her colleagues, a few people rang and viewed the car. One of them took up the offer, I gladly got rid of it. The buyer is an expatriate from India and he is not ...

What do they offer beside gimmicks

Our National Carrier has been advertising about their discounted fares heavily on all kind of media. Today I checked the website for their KL-LA routes to see any chance of picking up a bargain. No luck. One thing I really don't understand. The airfare for flights originate from KL are much ...

Driving uses your abdominal muscles

It's a hard lesson learned: driving a car with the stick gear without power steering uses your abdominal muscles a lot. How do I know? I could feel the pull and the tension every time when force is exerted to change gears or turning the steering! Could even feel it right ...

Cancer scare sprang him into action

If there is anything good can come out from the recent cancer scare, it scared the big boy into action! :-) I have nagged and nagged about including me in his employer provided health care plan, and since I am not there in IL yet and it never seems urgent, he ...

Thank god it’s just a scare

Since I have taken every scopes and tests under the sun to identify malignancy and found none. Dr Eugene, the O & G suggested taking a second look at the pathologist's report. He got me the slides and our oncologist friend wrote us a referral letter. The slides were sent ...

Get your favorite tickets online

If you are a sporty fan, you will know watching the games in front of TV is different from watching it live, nothing beats the kick of watching the games live! But, it is not always easy to get tickets for sport events especially for popular sport events i.e. Miami ...

Useless, valueless, but sentimental

My parents have lived in two different houses in their 40 years of marriage, they cannot imagine how on earth people like me moves around like a nomad. I just realized that this is the fifth time I am moving in the last ten years. That gives an average of ...

Busy morning running errands

Got up 6.30 a.m and start meddling on this computer, thought better get some work out of the way as this is going to be a busy morning running errands. I need to drop by the oncologist, Dr Nonis's office to pick up the pathologist's report. I am a bit ...

Hosting your blogs for free by migrating to another host

With a few blogs running on several hosting plans, the cost of maintaining this blogs can add up to be quite a bit. However, it has not been costing me anything more than the domain registration in the last one year. I am able to host the blogs for free ...

The difficult time is the best time

No matter how much we want a trouble free life, the things that seem so difficult today are the things that, in the future, we may be thankful that we experienced them. Don't you agree, difficult times are often best times in our lives that taught us important lessons of ...

A boy and his toys

The big boy does not only collect Star War and Lords of the Rings toy figures, he also collect hot wheels and coins. He recently purchased some proof sets of US Mint Coins and hot wheels off Ebay and emptied his paypal account. That's typical of a selfish boy who ...

Leaking roofs on a rainy day

The surgery and the subsequent cancer scare had kept me away from blogging and making money online for the last few weeks. The lack of writing paid posts in the last four weeks means the lack of income this month. When I finally have time to sit down in front of ...

Overwhelmed

With pains of the wounds after surgery and the uncertainty of this cancer scare, my blogging mojo have been misplaced in the last week or so. Hope to be back in the swing, with deadlines approaching and pocket emptied by medical bills, sooner ...:-) Have been resting and taking it easy ...

What a journey - checking out the digestive tract

Today I went for the scheduled colonoscopy and gastroscopy. I have to start the preparation yesterday. The gastro specialist gave me some phosphate soda, it caused me going toilet 6-7 times after an hour of taking the solutions. I had to take it once last night and another time this morning. My ...

Will you renew your NOD32

If you are online a lot, you do need to have a reliable and robust anti-virus and anti spyware program that protects your computer from all the malicious attacks. However, not all security software are created the same, some just slow down the computer so much, it's a pain in ...

What a journey - third opinion of an oncologist

Went to meet up our oncologist friend at his office. He looked at the pathology reports and CT scan results. He gave me a few advice, one of them is to check out the colon and if possible the whole digestive tract. Since both the gynecologists suggested that I check ...

Married women live shorter

Age is really catching up with me in the last few years. Not only the energy level has gone down to the drain, the crow feet would probably need one ton of top wrinkle cream to smooth them off. The good complexion is now replaced by all the acne marks. Sometime ...

What a journey - talk to an oncologist

I talked to the oncologist friend at the bible study tonight about the O & G's suggestion of seeing a gatro specialist and to do the colonoscopy. Though his family are going for a family vacation on Saturday, he is kind enough to schedule an immediate appointment for me. He asked ...

What a journey - second opinion from another O & G

Since the O & G Dr Eugene at UMSC who did the previous surgery suggested another surgery to remove the left ovary as a diagnostic and preventive measure, I went to see another O & G yesterday, for second opinion. I am glad I did, because the second doctor told ...

What’s next after CT scan ?

The CT scan of the abdomen and lungs yesterday was normal, didn't detect any malignant. It's rather expensive, it has cost us close to a thousand out of pocket with no health insurance. Good thing we have saved up an emergency fund for medical expenses! SL called me on the phone, ...

Three hours wait for a ten minute CT scan

The CT scan procedure itself only took about 10 minutes, but the preparation and waiting time was quite long. We were there at 4.30 p.m but only completed the procedure and left the place at almost 7.30 p.m. There were some magazines scattering around the waiting room, don't know whether ...

What a journey - CT scan

What thought to be a simple laparoscopy surgery to remove cysts on the ovaries has now developed into a cancer fighting battle. After seeing the lab report and the biopsy that expressed the CEA and CK7 tumor tests. The doctor recommended to go for a CT Scan to determine whether any ...

What a journey - the shocking news about the big C

The wounds were healing well, I was moving around doing some simple house chores during the week when I was in PJ. I even cooked dinners for my sisters and helped my brother to clean up his messy room and laundry that piled up everywhere. So we planned to go home ...

Need one more gear

When you are serious about playing a game competitively, it's very likely that you are also obsessed with getting the latest gears so that you can improve the score and become better in the game. Our friends who are into golf for instance have so many sets of golf clubs, ...

What a journey - the recovery

Our plan to drive home on the 5th was postponed. I had to stay at the hospital for two nights instead of one night. The wounds were painful, but I was able to get down to a walk around the ward the next morning. With the help of painkillers, I was ...

What a journey - post surgery

Finally was wheeled out of the freezing operating theater and back to the ward. I was half awake but was feeling so cold, the nurses wrapped me with a few blankets, but I was still shivering. I remembered asking my sisters what was the time and they told me it ...

Diverse our income with options trading ?

We are really grateful that blogging has brought in the bread and butter in the past one year. Not only that, it also pays for the medical expenses of my recent surgery and all the tests for the cancer scare. But, income from writing paid posts is quite unpredictable, it ...

What a journey - the surgery

At about 5.00 p.m on the 3rd of April, after I took a shower, the nurses started to put me on drip (fasted since 10.30 a.m!), they also started prepare me for the surgery. Since my sisters were still at work, the nurse kept my purse and personal belongings. She listed ...

What a journey - pre surgery

Have not been updating this blog for more than two weeks. This is a backdated post about the surgery. Yes, I have been away, not at the Branson resorts having my vacation but at the hospital and recuperating from a surgery. The surgery was scheduled to be on 3rd April, so I left ...

Last call and last post for now

One last post to complete while waiting for the big boy to call me on the phone. He wants to call me before I leave the house because he won't be able to contact me on a land line for a few days. We usually talk on the phone using the ...

Please pray for my surgery

Won't be online for a few days and would be admitted to the hospital for a scheduled laparoscopic surgery tomorrow afternoon. Please say a prayer for me. Professor Eugene who is going to operate on me is an experienced O & G in UH. He is a very kind doctor, quite ...

Finally got out of the house

Wanted to get out the house in the morning, but too many assignments to finish, dragged until after lunch only managed to leave the house. Didn't purchase the bus ticket beforehand, luckily they were plenty of seats available. In fact, seats are usually not filled up during the weekdays and ...

Going away for a surgery

Would not have access to the internet for a few days. No, not being away for Las Vegas vacations but for a scheduled surgery. :-) Would be going to PJ and staying at my sisters' house tonight and then going for a laparoscopy surgery to remove a cyst tomorrow. It's ...

Taking a bus to PJ for surgery

Will be taking a bus and won't be driving up to PJ. Plan to come home on Saturday with sisters after the scheduled surgery on Thursday. Hopefully nothing extraordinary happens and everything turns out fine. I should be out from the hospital the next day, that is on Friday! Have told ...

Many more things to do before going off

There are so many more things to do before going off to PJ for the scheduled surgery. Got to make sure the refrigerator is emptied and the trash is brought out. As I walked out the door, feel a little nervous and uneasy, went back in to double check to ...

Blogging early in the morning

It was raining cats and dogs yesterday afternoon and a bunch of new ads came out from one of the ad networks, so I decided to postpone the trip to PJ to this morning. Got really sleepy and couldn't stay up last night, so I went to bed early and ...

Higher airfare when summer comes around

With the oil prices record new high every other day, air tickets are expecting to continue to increase. It will not be surprising that the surcharge may even exceed the airfare when summer comes around. The tentative plan was to fly in the end of May before the summer peak season ...

Take so long to approve the floor plan

It's a pain to deal with the city council, we have sold the business almost 2 months ago and the transfer of license hasn't been finalized yet. The new owner has to hire an architect to resubmit the floor plan to the building control department as the new ruling requires ...

Check out the auto recycling for parts

If you are driving an old junk like we do, you probably know of at least one place that sells recycled auto parts like the midwest auto recycling. When our car needs parts replacement, we often check out this auto recycling places. If we could not find any used parts, ...

Project Virgle, the expedition to Mars

Did you get fool today? Google's home page provided a link to "Virgle", an April Fool's faux collaboration on an Mars expedition between Google and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. "It's time humanity got started on a Plan B," the site claimed. "So, starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders ...

Three years later

Today is our third anniversary for our civil marriage registration. We have been married for three years!! It has been a rough three years. It's enough trouble that the person you are married to is still taking his own sweet time to grow up, what more with all this long separation. ...

Cheap flight to Orlando

Consider how long the migration process is going to take, and how long it takes for him to put his acts together, it will probably be better to postpone the move to IL. Since the business is fold up completely and the sale has finalized, I would have all the ...

Fell off the stairs

Was taking a shower when the phone rang on Saturday morning. My feet were probably wet and soapy when I ran down the stairs. And the results of my carelessness: a swelling hand with torn ligament! It will take about a week to heal! A bit inconvenient to have only one ...

Visit the Big Apples on weekends

We used to live in a small town in Connecticut, which is about 45 minutes away from the Big Apple. We would take a train downtown on Saturday morning and spent the weekend there browsing through the museums, galleries and sometime did some window shopping. We would bring sandwiches in ...

Unique wedding favors

Most people see their big day as once a lifetime event that worthy of careful planning and splurging their savings on. Do you realize that businesses that provide wedding related services continue to prosper despite of fierce competitions? Many of the photo studios also team up with makeup artists, wedding planners ...

May have to postpone the move for a month or two

We expected that it will take a month or two for me to recuperate after the surgery. And I properly can't carry anything heavy for a while. Look like the move to IL has to be postponed another month or two. Though we have sold some furniture few months ago, but ...

Get car insurance for our old junk

Our car insurance is due this month. Though we have decided to sell the car before the move to IL, we still have to renew the car insurance, don't think we can drive around without an insurance! :-) We would be happy to to able to sell the old junk for ...

Want to sell the junk car

We want to sell the junk car before the move to IL. We have passed on the news to the people at the workshop and promised to give them a little commission if anyone they introduced end up buying the junk from us. We still haven't gotten any buyer because we ...

LCD TVs at every turn

The price of LCD flat screen TVs has become more affordable this days, you see them at the turn of every corner, practically everywhere you go! During the recent trips to this offices to gather documents for the migration, I realized that most government offices have LCD TVs at the waiting ...

The final clearing

We have until 30th of April to clear the premises before passing it to the new owner. They are a few boxes of T-shirts, about 30 of them that we were trying get rid of. Have given most of them to the children, they kind of excited about that and ...

Sorting and packing continues

Have given away some of the kitchen utensils to my sisters, shelves and the air tools to my father. Yet there are still too many stuffs lying around !! Really need to have another yard sale to get rid of some of the stuffs. Have been sorting a few boxes of bills ...

Plan for your wedding and marriage

We have a civil wedding and never have a traditional wedding reception, so no experience in Wedding Planning for me. We got away with that because both our parents are liberals and don't care much for the formalities. Everyone especially woman has the so called dream wedding. In my humble opinion, ...

Save for a roof over our head

Won't be selling the house here when I move, will rent it out. May be when I am old and retired, can come back to live here again. Can't afford to buy another house right now, will be renting a small apartment for a couple of years until can afford ...

Another year of waiting

Looks like it will take another year for the migration process to conclude before getting the green card and able to work legally. I know before hand that it's going to be a long and winding road, but the most frustrating part is the lack of support from the person ...

The filthy streets

On my recent trip to PJ, I decided to take a bus and have to go down to the notorious bus terminal. Man, all the streets around the area have been taken over by foreigners and the streets are so filthy and smelly. On my day coming home, I took the ...

Small talk saves me money and time

We were told earlier that we have to have my birth certificate translated by a qualified translator at Dewan Bahasa for forty bucks plus courier fee. While doing small talk with the clerk and receptionist at the Birth Registration office yesterday, found out the court interpreter is also a qualified translator, ...

Government office can be efficient

Was at the Birth Registration office to obtain an abstract of my birth certificate yesterday. It was a fast and good experience. It costs five bucks to get an abstract and within 20 minutes, I was out of the Birth Registration office. (The best thing is: the government offices moved ...

Best credit cards give you cash back

When we first started the business, we used the credit cards as revolving cash whenever we experienced cash problem problem. We also carried a balance for a while when we purchased some big items for the business. Realizing how stupid that was, we paid off the credit card debts. We have ...

Ditch your insurance agent

It's a fact that 70% of insurance policy sold are cash value policies. Insurance agents rarely educate their clients on the bad return of this cash value policies. Do you know why insurance agents usually won't introduce you to term life insurance but try to get you to sign up ...

More paperwork and getting an apartment

Have been really busy getting all the migration paperwork in order. There are several documents we need to apply at this end and we try to do it earlier so that we get ahead of the bureaucrats. On top of that, making sure the big boy is not procrastinating is a ...

Freshest flowers of spring

Growing up in a tropical country that does not have the obvious four seasons, experiencing my first spring was memorable. I like the magic of spring! After a long and dragged winter, suddenly the trees start budding and the flowers start blooming. Mother Earth is again clothes with the splendor ...

Travel insurance for your holiday

As savvy holidaymakers, we will often shop around to save on flights, package holidays and accommodation. However, many of us overlook travel health insurance and simply accept it as an add-on. With rising medical costs abroad, travel insurance that cover short term health care has never been more important. Any illness ...

More lights but fans out

The new owners who bought the tutoring business from us asked for permission to start fixing things to setup the center. They have fixed more lighting in the classrooms. Man, the fluorescent lights are so harsh and so bright, it's bad for the eyes. Do they think they run a ...

Counting sheep at 4.00 a.m

Woke up at 4.00 a.m this morning, couldn't go back to sleep, and too tired to get up to work. So just lying there counting sheep. My sleep pattern gets a little jumbled up recently, woke up too many times in the middle of night and then feeling lethargic throughout the ...

The wild fire: Wendy Puyat, Tim Yap, DJ Montana and Celine Lopez, the Gucci Gang Scandal

Thanks to the Gucci Gang, Wendy Puyat, Tim Yap, DJ Montana and Celine Lopez, the main "sponsors" of my blogs. Traffics have been riding high on certain keywords and were getting so much organic traffics in the past one week. It was indeed very thrilling and exciting for me, more ...

Are you a naggy wife ?

Do you nag, particularly your husband? I really dislike my mom nagging me and thought I would never be one who nags others when I grow up. :-) But, after being married to a procrastinator for three years, I picked up the habit of repeating the same topic many times. Most ...

Branson Getaways vacation package

We are going to move into an apartment to start a new life in IL. We want to plan a getaway after we settle in. But consider our financial situation, we may have to struggle for a couple of years before we have the mean to take a nice Branson ...

May I open the door?

Rushing like a mad woman this morning because someone wasted my whole evening talking to me about a product that I am not interested! It certainly takes a lot of thick skin to do hard sale like this, what can I do but to serve her a cup of tea and ...

Sex on a platter

I love pearls, and pearls come from oysters. But, do you know that some people also believe that this gooey slippery and slimy mollusks can improve your sex life? The oysters have been deemed as having Vigra equivalent values for centuries. The Greek mythology said Aphrodite the goddess of love sprang ...

The Covey window

No - this is not Microsoft window, these are other windows. Even more powerful windows, a concept of time management that looks very similar to the Johari Window at a first glance. It was brought up by Stephen Covey, the author of "The 7 habits of highly effective people". COVEY WINDOW IMPORTANT NOT ...

Seiko Gold Tone Kinetic Coutura Chronograph

I have not been wearing a watch for years. Ever since I got my first cell phone in 2002, it has served as my alarm and time keeper. My last watch which still works by the way is a Seiko. In fact, the first watch I ever owned in my ...

No free lunch serve here :-)

I told a friend in our Church (a retired teacher) who has been trying to get some side income about making money online. He asked me about how to start a blog and how to go about doing it. Then, he just went off to learn everything on his own. ...

Balance transfer and mow down your debts

The rising prices of goods and the depressing economy are two things that people are very much concerned this days. I think people who have been living paychecks to paychecks have the basis to get worried, especially if they do not have an emergency fund that can last them for ...

The waiting game starts

The big boy finally mailed the first set of migration papers to the relevant department for processing. The postal tracking system indicated that the package has been delivered to the destination. We should be getting our first notice of action in about 10 days and then we can start filing the ...

Napping in the midst of actions

My sisters brought home a movie for us to watch together last weekend. I wasn't feeling too well and ended up napping in the middle of the movie. I could hardly remember the title of the movie now, left alone anything remarkable or impressive about the movie. It was an action ...

Our neighbor was robbed last week

The neighbor of our tutoring center was robbed last week. The thieves forced open the exterior shutters at the back of the shop. They went in and ransacked the whole place upside down. Our neighbor provides wedding services i.e. catering, decoration, photography and video recording, furniture and equipment rental. The tables ...

Moving blog content to a new host

If you were here visiting my blog yesterday and you saw the whole blog disappeared, that's because I was migrating the content of the whole blog to a new host. It takes a few hours for it to propagate. The transfer did go on smoothly, though I forgot to backup ...

Celine Lopez, DJ Montano, Tim Yap, Wendy Puyat, the Gucci gang Scandal

I have no idea who are these people though I have heard that they were involved in a scandal in Philippine. It’s the magnitude of the Edison Chen scandal in Hong Kong, at least in the Philippines.:-) The mere mention of the Gucci Gang Scandal in my another blog ...

Apartment search has never been this convenient

Are you looking for an apartment to move in the spring? We are. We have used the apartment finder to do the initial research and information gathering. To find an apartment near you has never been easier, performing keyword searches deliver results fast with photos, tours, floor plans and contact ...

Moving this blog content to a new host

In the midst of moving the content of this blog to a new host, so if you see anything going hay wire in the next few days, you know I screw up and trying figure out a way to make things right. :-)

Would you give watches as gifts

Have you ever bought a watch or clock as a gift ? Some Chinese people may still see it as a taboo in this modern time as gifting clocks or watches rhymed with "paying last respect to a deceased person". :-)We have wanted to get a watch for my ...

Warehousing solutions and inventory service

Met up with a few ex colleagues last week. They were surprised to learn that we have sold the tutoring business. When they learned that I am working mostly online this days, they immediately thought I am running an online store. They kept asking questions on the distribution network of ...

Second thought about our marriage

We have decided that it was best for me to move to IL and reunited with him last November. While I have already liquidize almost 70% of our earthly possessions including the business here, he hasn't sent out the first set of migration paperwork yet! There are three major steps of ...

Malaysia 12th general election results

Like many Malaysians who spent two weeks "concerned" about the general election and stayed up late night on Saturday till wee hours on Sunday waiting for the results, we spent the Sunday catching up with sleep. We have found out from Malaysiakini sites (the main site was not accessible most of ...

Flight attendant career

If you like to read the classifieds like weirdos do :-), you would notice that they are a few institutes advertised for flight attendants preparatory courses in the newspaper lately. They are not the training schools, but institutes that prepare you for the interview and groom you to be ...

Professional web development help

Since the big G doesn't like us selling links that pass link juice and would continue to smack our blogs or sites down for doing that, we need to find a way to continue to make money online that works within the perimeter set by the God of search engines. Have ...

Flying academy for flight attendants

During the mid 90s, I rented a house near work and subletting it to a few other women. One of the roommates whom I be friended was a Thai national. She used to work as a ground officer for one of the airlines. At the age of 27, she decided ...

Limited patience

My patience has worn out again with the big boy. Our last cold war ended when he did the adult thing - start a plan. It has been three months now, I could see the old habits died hard and signs of him slacking off. I am jumping up and down ...

Back from PJ, scheduled surgery and slow internet connection

Back from PJ trip to see the O & G, make an appointment to have surgery done during first week of April as planned. Got home yesterday afternoon, was really exhausted. Another blog got smacked by granny G and the internet connection was horrible, so decided to nap and rest instead. ...

The sleepy waiter at McD drive through

It was my first time getting snack from a McD drive through late at night. The guy at the drive through obviously was not paying attention or he was sleepy, he gave me two apple pies while I only ordered one. I didn't see there were two until I reached home, ...

First Christmas in America

I can still remember my first Christmas in America vividly. It was quite an experience, filled with family traditions and cultural practices. I learned that most families in America would put up their christmas tree lights around Thanksgiving. You can find a well written article on the link above, which ...

Leaving for PJ

Going to PJ later of the day, getting ready to leave in an hour or two. Trying to get all the assignments and deadlines taken care of before leaving, as I may not have computer access for the two days I plan to be there. Planning to meet up with the O & G and ...

Fire victims need temporary shelters

There was a fire at one of the apartments near the center. The newspaper said it started in the kitchen. The seven years old girl claimed that her 12 years old brother was cooking instant noodle before the fire which preceded with a loud blast from the kitchen. Looks like ...

Hosting goes where the offer is better

The hosting for this blog and several other blogs is up for renewal next month. Have been looking to take advantage of better introductory offer at other companies. My current host is alright except for this annoying high loading issues that have not been tackled for the past two months. Have no idea ...

Why the Finnish kids are so smart?

As more parents are pushing academic to their children at a younger and younger age, one of the most successful educational models in the world does the exact opposite. One of the secrets of the success is: former schooling in Finland does not start until the children are seven years old. ...

Pulling a cow up the tree

That's how it feels like right now! The wise man said you couldn't pull a cow up the tree, and who was I kidding to try that? Just done my fair share of yelling on the phone, to the slow in action forty-something who wants to stay as a seven years old spoilt brat. ...

Low interest credit card

Statistics showed an average American carries an average of $6k in credit card debt. Many people are in debt up to their eyeballs. Are you one of those who have been struggling with the high interest in credit card debts and never seem to touch the principal? Or you have ...

The significance of green onion on Prince Charles’ lepel

Looks like they are many people googled for the same question that I asked in my previous post "Why was Prince Charles wearing a spring onion on his lepel?" And suddenly this blog is getting all this hits from people who are searching for answer to the significance of the green ...

Helicopter accidents and aviation lawyers

The number of plane crashes may have dropped in the last few decades, but apparently the accident and death rate per 100,000 flight hours have not dropped accordingly. Indeed, we heard more private plane crashes in the news in recent years. Which make us wonder, is it because these non-commercial ...

24-hour drive through

Stayed back to clear some stuffs and tidy up the center after the class ended at nine o'clock and left for home well past ten. Felt a little hungry on the way driving home. As we live near the zoo and there is a McD near the zoo, so decided ...

Foreclosures and bankruptcy

Do you know of anyone who is affected directly or indirectly with the current subprime crisis in America? Many people are worried about the economy downturn and the rising price of goods as the price of oil continue to skyrocket. Many people worry they may lose their jobs as ...

Why was Prince Charles wearing a spring onion?

I was watching the news the other night, Prince Charles was picking up his son Prince Harry at the airport. Prince Harry has returned to Britain from Afghanistan after a 10-week tour fighting the Taliban. I couldn't help but notice that Prince Charles was wearing a green onion on his ...

Moving overseas

How many times have you moved so far in your life? Our society is getting more mobile and people move so often for jobs and family commitments. As a student and later single working woman renting a place in the city, I moved seven times in the fifteen years before ...

Submit building plan for approval

The new buyer of our business had hired an architect to submit the plan of the premises to the city council. It will take about a month to know whether the modified plan is approved. The city council changed the rules on building control every now and then, hopefully it ...

Auto loan or bad credit loan for a new car

Does it matter to you what kind of car are you driving? I think we Asians do judge people by the kind of car they drive. We have been driving a junk for the past three years. My good friend K said it doesn't reflect well of our business, she ...

Home alone and election campaign

Came back to my parents' house over the weekend and is staying until Sunday afternoon. I am home alone because dad has gone to work and mom is busy helping her friend. Her friend runs a small food stall, and is supplying food for the functions during the election campaign. The ...

UV protection

We grew up on the farm. As a result of spending many hours playing under the hot tropical sun without any sun protection gears, all my siblings have freckles. It's just a matter of time we are going to see age spots on our faces. :-) During the past decades people ...

Stepped right into my glasses

I shouldn't have done this, but bad habit died hard. I often read till I fell asleep and leave the glasses beside me. I did that when I was taking a nap on the carpet yesterday. About 10-15 minutes after I fell asleep, the phone rang and I got up to get ...

Short term health insurance

Do you need health insurance? In America, it's a must to have if you are breathing and alive! If you don't have health insurance and something happens, you could easily accumulate several hundred thousand dollars in medical debt, and medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy! The big boy ...

Disposing sewing machines

Brought the two portable sewing machines to my previous sewing teacher's workshop today, she said her students may be interested to buy them. In fact, I have another over-lock machine and a secondhand manual sewing machine that has been motorized (Jenome brand) to dispose too. Anyone interested? Anyway, I am keeping ...

Identity theft and credit fraud

Your identity can be stolen by obtaining bank statements, credit card applications, checks from your trash or mail, purse or wallet, or getting your debit card number from a corporate database. Once a person has this information, he can wreck your good name. If you think you are a victim, you ...

Hectic week and relaxing weekend

It has been a hectic week since the sale of the business, running around settling all the transfer documents and legal paperwork from Monday to Friday. All the driving around had me filled up gas twice in the week, which usually can last for more than a week for each ...

Apartments finder

We are in the midst of apartment hunting, and internet is a great tool that aids in our initial search.Most of the sites we visited have quite extensive list of apartments, some even have users' ratings and comments which help to gauge the condition of the apartments. Unfortunately some of ...

Apartment hunting

As I am disposing the business and getting ready to move to IL, the big boy has started to look at apartments for rent. We are going to get an apartment near his work place. We are going to live in a college town, the big boy prefers not to ...