Friday, July 18, 2008

Tag

I've been tagged by Dora and Cay, on this fun tag a couple of days ago. Sorry for take my sweet time to completed it. :-) Thank you, kawan. So here it goes.

1. When you buy a greetings card, are the words or the picture more important to you?
Picture is more important to me but I like humorous cards too.

2. What's your favorite kind of cake?
I love yam cake.

3. Do you ever make gifts for people, if so what, or do you buy them?
Normally I buy them.

4. What's your favorite holiday?
I enjoy sightseeing, mountains and beaches. But I do not mind roaming around in the big city too.

5. Are you going on holiday this year?
Yes, we have been to San Francisco, Chicago and Washington DC. We are going to Pennsylvania then to New York City next month and will be going to Illinois and Iowa in the fall. And like Dora, we are looking forward to our holiday trip to Singapore and Malaysia early next year….yeah!

6. What was the best party you've ever been to?
Hmmmm….....Many.

7. If you are married, describe your wedding. If not, what would your ideal wedding be like?
Our wedding theme colors were white and blue. We had our Holy Matrimony at the Univ of Missouri-Columbia Chapel. It was just a simple wedding. We had our rehearsal dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant and later the reception at hubby’s research adviser house. Two days later we flew to Bahamas for our honeymoon, our wedding gift from my sister and her hubby. Then we went for our second honeymoon in Las Vegas when I returned from Malaysia 6 months later .

8. What's the most romantic thing that's ever happened to you?
While having dinner in a restaurant, dear hubby took a beautiful ring out and proposed to me. The restaurant was quite full and we happened to be sitting in the middle of it. It was a quick nod from me as people around us were starting to look at us….haha!

9. What's your favorite girls' name?
Melissa Marie, Sara Alexandra, Megan Theresa,

10. What's your favorite boys' name?
William Jude, Steve Ivan, Christopher Isaac ,

11. Which celebrity would you like a dream date with?
Keenu Reeve

12. Which female celebrity do you find beautiful? Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Aniston?
Angelina Jolie

13. Which male celebrity do you think is attractive?
George Clooney

14. What is your best character trait?
Humble and lovable ….. my hubby says so.

15. What is your worst habit?
Impatient– It always gets me into trouble.(LOL) I am working on it though.

Now I would like to pass this tag to;
Rose
Jen
Mel
Dina
Deana
Sue

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Family Vacation In The UK?

Dear hubby told me that he would probably go to a conference in Italy sometime next year. I am so excited as we have been talking about going for a trip to Europe for sometime. It would be like a dream come true for me. (LOL)

After the conference, we plan to visit the UK for one week. Since there is still no black and white about the conference just yet, we can just plan our vacation and think about the hotels' reservation later. However, I am not really worried about finding good last minute on accommodation for the trip as I have found plenty of great deals for cheap hotels UK. Cheaperthanhotels provide last minutes' accommodation and hotels in the UK and year round discount on all types of accommodation and hotels. Some of the deals they offers also include free breakfast, free use of facilities such as gyms, swimming pools and internet access facilities. So this is great as we have many choices at last minutes and not just grab whatever deals the hotels offered to us.

London Eye.

Our first destination is London and later to Scotland and Manchester. I would like to visit some popular tourist destinations like Windsor Castle, London Eye, Buckingham Palace and many more interesting places in the UK. With the long list of places to visit and with so limited time, we definitely need to find the right London hotels to stay. I would surely check Cheaperthanhotels for the best deals for the hotels in London.

Dear hubby and I love old historic buildings. One of our European friends suggested we should visit the famous Scottish castle, Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. She said it is magnificent and we would definitely like it. Sound very interesting indeed. Good thing, I found that they also offer great deals on Edinburgh hotels. Cheap hotels mean more shopping money for me. (LOL)

Southside Guest House, Edinburgh

The Famous Edinburgh Castle.

Anyway, our trip to the UK, would not be completed if we do not visit Manchester City. Yup, the home of the world's most famous soccer club Manchester United. We should at least stay a day or two in Manchester. So I would be looking for a great deal for Manchester hotels too.

Golden Hotel Tulip Manchester.

I hope to get the same or better deals for us to choose from if dear hubby got a nod from the boss.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Durian!!!

Look what I got from the Asian store last weekend! Durian(King Of The Fruits)! I love eating durian but hubby hates its distinctive odor. So being tolerate, I only buy durian once a year. (LOL)

These frozen durian cost $8.70

While we were at the checkout, I remember have not gotten one thing in my list (LOL) and went back for it. When I got back at the counter, dear hubby was having a conversation with a Phillipino couple. They were asking him about the durian. I thought they were curios of him buying a durian because not so many western like durian. The conversation goes something like this:-

The Hubby; Is it good?
Dear Hubby; No. It’s stunk. But my wife likes it. She is from Malaysia. (By the time, I reached the counter)
The Hubby; Bad? Like a fish?
Dear Hubby; Oh no, worse than that. It smell like something went bad, very bad. (All of us laugh out loud including the checkout guy.)

I asked the couple if they eat durian and the wife says she does. She agreed with me that durians are really yummy. They have durian trees in some part of the Philippines too.

Looks nasty but taste yummy.

It didn't last long.(LOL)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Happy Weekend!

Happy Sunday all! I hope the sun is shining where you are. We have pretty good weather today. Actually, it is cloudy but nice. It has been raining since yesterday until early this morning. Hopefully the weather would be nice for the rest of the week.

I am so happy that Billy and dear hubby are recovering from cold. They were down with cold since last week. It’s pretty heartbreaking to see them coughing continuously. Dear hubby even loss his voice for several days. Poor one. Thank God they are getting much better now. It’s hard to have both the big and the little guy sick at the same time because they can get very cranky at time…..hihi!

Happy weekend!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Incredible Love Story

This story sent to me by a friend sometime ago. It’s a beautiful love story, so I decided to share it with you.


An incredible love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world. It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half a century.


The 70-year-old Chinese man who hand-carved over 6,000 stairs up a mountain for his 80-year-old wife has passed away in the cave which has been the couple's home for the last 50 years.


Over 50 years ago, Liu Guojiang a 19 year-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu Chaoqin.


In a twist worthy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, friends and relatives criticized the relationship because of the age difference and the fact that Xu already had children. At that time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman. To avoid the market gossip and the scorn of their communities, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing Municipality.

In the beginning, life was pretty harsh as they had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to light up their lives. Xu felt that she had tied Liu down and repeatedly asked him, 'Are you regretful? Liu always replied, 'As long as we are industrious, life will improve.' In the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began and continued for over 50 years, to hand-carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily

Half a century later in 2001, a group of adventurers were exploring the forest and were surprised to find the elderly couple and the over 6,000 hand-carved steps. Liu MingSheng, one of their seven children said, 'My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day. He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother’s conveniences, although she doesn't go down the mountain that much.'


The couple had lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms. So in love with Xu, was Liu that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife's hand even after he had passed away. 'You promised me you'll take care of me, you'll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?' Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband's black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks.


In 2006, their story became one of the top 10 love stories from China, collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the love ladder and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.