Ommmm..ommmmm...

Our yoga instructor started yoga lessons again today for another 4 weeks at the clubhouse so I signed up for it. Unfortunately, we were locked out from the hall because the "key" person did not show up as promised. We waited for another 15 minutes and decided to do our lessons outdoors by the poolside, which was absolutely wonderful. The sun was about to set, there was a light breeze and the birds were chirping. Totally relaxing.

We usually end the class with the corpse pose, lying on our backs and relaxing every muscle in our body. This time because we were outdoors, we could feast our eyes on the skies above us. Very nice.

I could totally feel myself in Bahamas.

Europe in 7 hours

Question : What do you get after 7 hours exploring Germany, England, Ireland, France, Italy and Scotland on foot?
Answer : Sore feet

Yep, that's what Busch Gardens Europe did to us. But it was all worth it!
Out of the 7 hours, we probably spent a total of 3.5 hours standing in line waiting to go on 30-seconds rides. Still worth it ? Yep.
Now that we're a little smarter (hopefully), next time we'll try to avoid going there on a holiday weekend when the entire U.S population decides to go there too.
Standing hours in line in the 90 degrees heat was barely bearable but having to listen to a loud teenage girl talking incoherent teenage lingo into her cellphone behind us and almost shouting into our ears was unfair punishment. Even sweet, patient and nice me wanted to turn around and strangle the daylights out of her. But all I could do was turn around and give her my meanest glare. That did not work.Was I too chicken to ride the 205 feet world's tallest floorless dive coaster who hurtles you 90 degrees straight down at 70 mph ? OFCOURSE!
The Griffon was waaaay out of my league. It was almost painful to watch.
The most twisted inverted roller coaster, Alpengeist, was also facinating but also out of my league.

But we did get swung around on the Big Bad Wolf in the Bavarian Village and dropping 99 feet to nearly skim the Rhine River below.Awesome.!

Then we rode the Roman Rapids in Italy and got soaking wet.

Our final ride was the 4D Corkscrew Hill, a magical and mystical Celtic journey. They "shrunk" us and transported us on a horse and a flying dragon to a world where hungry witches and magical stallions are the norm.

The 3D Curse of the Darkastle ride was the coolest. The pyrotechnic special effects made falling off the cliff almost too real.
We also rode the train twice and the skylift once, simply because our weary bodies could not walk anymore. (And The Husband wanted to relive his childhood memories)

We had lunch at Das Festhaus in "Germany". Jason and I shared a German Sampler Platter and sat in the 2,000 seat festival hall to eat our lunch.
And dinner was a baked potato loaded with Annie Grogan's Bare Knuckle stew in Grogan's Grill in Killarney.
I must certainly say that Busch Gardens has the best variety and quality of food for a theme park!
Now, I am just itching to play my Rollercoaster Tycoon again. Jason may have relived his childhood, but I have just dug up an old addiction that took many hours away from my teenage years.... building fantasy rollercoasters on an imaginery theme park!

Our Anniversary weekend

Coincidently, our Anniversary falls on Memorial day, so we get a holiday on our Anniversary every year. We swear we did not plan this. Getting a 3-day weekend is absolutely a bonus. When you have been spoilt with 19 days of holidays every year, it is hard to get used to being deprived with just 10 days. So when I see a holiday marked on my calendar, I look forward to it excitedly like its Christmas.

This year we decided to go to Williamsburg, Virginia. I was there last December with my in-laws and my parents but without Jason. There are different things to see and do in Williamsburg in Spring/Summer. And the main reason we chose Williamsburg is so that Jason could relive his childhood in Busch Gardens. Not the most romantic of places I know. But hey, if you want to churn your insides and twist your guts on hellraising rollercoasters, it's better to do it now before we get too old for this kind of stuff. That said, I don't know if I'll be too chicken to go on the rides tomorrow. With every year that passes, the coward in me takes one step bigger and claims my brain. And I have learnt not to trust Jason when he tells me its "just ONE loop".

Here is a picture of us on the Car Ferry going across James River into Williamsburg.










Will post tomorrow if my intestines are still intact.

What's with the hair?

Is Elliott Yamin starting to look like Josh Groban.. and Shaggy of Scooby Doo?
You tell me!

Bon Voyage

T'was a sad sad night.
Gilmore Girls ended last night. Lorelei and Rory says goodbye.
Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with the finale. I was expecting something of an Ally McBeal finale, a send off where I could cry my eyes out. I think everything ended rather abruptly and there were no surprises.
I was also hoping Dean and Jesse would make a short appearance, but no.
No Christopher, and no Mrs Kim too!

Wow, I have been watching this TV series for the past 7 years!!!

Happy Mother's Day !

Since Jason has already posted about our weekend events, I will try not to repeat what he has written. I'll just post some pictures.

It is hard to know when to stop eating at a buffet. Since we also had buffet for dinner last night with Brian and Sophie, I decided to skip breakfast this morning before indulging in another belly feast. You know that when there is a chocolate fountain, there will be lots of sinful indulging. And salmon.... ahh salmon.. how I love thee, salmon.


The boys getting some tee time after lunch:




Family pictures :


























And I had some help with yard work on Saturday :

I am nerdier than 24% of all people

Cuppa pottery painting

My boss organized a Team Building activity for us last week and took our team to Dish it Out, a pottery painting studio. We got to to pick a mug of our choice and design and paint it with our Company's color scheme.
I totally enjoyed it.

Here's my mug... not so refined around the edges and lines are shaky, but I like it!


Now we gotta havva kiln in our garage :)

Want to be a Permanent Resident? - Part II

Here's what the tracking status on USPS says on the delivery status of my package :

Status: Notice Left

We attempted to deliver your item at 10:57 AM on May 8, 2007 in MESQUITE, TX 75185 and a notice was left. A second delivery attempt will be made. If unsuccessful, we will hold it for five business days and then it will be returned to the sender. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.

Wha????
I had to mail it to a P.O Box address for crying out loud. Ofcourse there won't be any person on hand to accept that mail. What on earth are they talking about ??

Update :

Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 5:32 AM on May 9, 2007 in MESQUITE, TX 75185 to INS . The item was signed for by M S.

So are they saying someone actually works at the INS at 5.32AM ? But I mailed it to a P.O Box Address so how is it possible that someone actually signed for it ?
Errr... I don't get it.
Nevermind. I just hope it is in good hands.

Want to be a Permanent Resident?

For the past several weeks, I have been putting together all the paperwork needed for submission to the USCIS. US laws state that if you’re married for less than two years when you file for permanent resident status, you will only be granted a conditional permanent resident status that expires in two years, assuming you’re approved.
So, I was granted a conditional resident status in 2005. Therefore, I need to submit a petition to the USCIS prior to the expiry date on my Conditional PR for the removal of those conditions, or risk deportation. This petition must be filed during the 90 days before the conditional residence expires. And it is strictly stated that 90 days does not necessarily mean three months. So you have to literally look on the dates on the calendar and COUNT to 90.

So why do they want this petition?

Simply put, the USCIS wants to ensure that you did not enter the country under false pretenses and that you are still married and they want to see evidence that the marriage was entered in good faith. The USCIS suggests you send in “supporting documents providing evidence of the relationship” as part of your application.

Here's what I mailed out yesterday (a total of 58 pages) (Yes, I actually counted)

• Application fee - $275
• Form I-751
• Copy of Permanent Resident Card
• Copy of the title insurance of our house, showing joint ownership
• Copy of the Warranty Deed of our house, showing joint ownership
• Copy of the Deed of Trust of our house, showing joint ownership
• Copy of the Builder Application for Home Enrollment, showing joint ownership
• Joint bank account statements
• Federal tax returns filed jointly for the year 2006
• State tax returns filed jointly for the year 2006
• Copy of our health insurance card showing a joint policy
• Copy of credit cards showing our names using the same number
• Photographs of ourselves taken on trips and events during the conditional residency period (we submitted 20 prints)
  
• Sworn affidavit from Father-in-law and Mother-in-law
• Sworn affidavit from friends who have known us since we were married (3)

The USCIS also requires you to submit sworn affidavits from people who have known you since your conditional permanent residency status was granted attesting to your relationship, meaning they write letters addressed to the USCIS that are signed and sworn in front of a notary public(in the US) about how in love you are, and when and how often they’ve seen you together as a happily married couple.
We are truly fortunate to have Sophie, Brian, our neighbor Betty and my Father-in-law and Mother-in-law write us those affidavits. They wrote such wonderful words for us and I will definitely save them as keepsakes in my scrapbook. Thank you!

Based on various forums and experiences from different couples, some have been fortunate to receive their approval only two months after submission, and some had to wait for more than a year. I can only keep my fingers crossed and pray that it will come soon so that Jason and I can go to Malaysia in August to attend my cousin's wedding.

Five things

I've been tagged by Delapetite and Sharon so I am going to combine them and change the rules here.

5 Things You Never Knew About Me

1. I went to a Michael Jackson concert when I was in college.

2. I had a tortoise as a pet and never named him. He only lived for 2 weeks.

3. Then my grandfather gave me a dove, 3 yellow finches and 2 parakeets. One flew away. The rest died.

4. I cannot climb a ladder.

5. I cannot light a match stick.

5 things I'm Experiencing Now

1. Fatigue

2. A full stomach from eating too many Char Siu Paus (BBQ Pork Buns)

3. Boredom (that's why I am doing this)

4. A blocked nose

5. Listening to Trouble purring

5 Things I'm Thinking About Now

1. Submitting my paperwork for my Permanent Green Card

2. The kitchen is a mess after making all those Char Siu Paus and Amish Bread and I am NOT looking forward to clean it.

3. I need to clean the kitchen

4. My flabby thighs

5. The future

5 Things I'm Worrying About

1. My Permanent Green Card

2. My parents

3. The future

4. My flabby thighs

5. Unnecessary worrying

5 Things I'm Happy About

1. Damn..those Char Siu Paus turned out good!

2. My family

3. The coming holidays and vacation

4. Getting all my paperwork in order for the Green Card

5. Our banana tree is back from the dead.

5 People I Treasure ( not necessarily in order of preference)
1. My parents

2. The husband

3. My in-laws and nephews.

4. My cousins, aunts and uncles

5. My friends and wonderful neighbors
...... and Trouble

5 Things I Always Touch or Come In Contact With

1. My pillow

2. My toothbrush

3. The computer

4. The fridge

5. Trouble

5 Things I Want to Improve

1. My shyness (doubt I can improve that)

2. Waking up earlier in the mornings

3. Being more optimistic

4. People-skills

5. Yoga-skills

5 Things I'm Good at (or that I THINK I am good at)

1. Worrying

2. Crafts

3. Compiling short movies

4. losing money at slot machines

5. being a grouch

5 Things I'm Weak In

1. Maths

2. Dealing with people in a big group

3. Sports

4. Saying No

5. History

5 Things I Adore Eating

1. Sake sashimi

2. Nasi lemak

3. Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream

4. Corn

5. Linguini in clam sauce

5 Things I Adore Drinking

1. Water

2. Odwalla Superfood Juice

3. Green Tea

4. Hot chocolate

5. Pomegranate juice

5 Things I Detest

1. Lizards

2. Alcohol

3. Disrespect

4. Hypocrites

5. People who think they are so smart

5 Things I Cannot Live Without

1. Water

2. My family

3. The Internet

4. My glasses

5. The phone

5 Things I Fear

1. Losing my family

2. Growing old alone

3. My family's health

4. Drowning

5. a meteorite hitting the Earth

5 Things I don't like to Talk About

1. Politics

2. Religion

3. Sports

4. My weaknesses

5. Embarrassing moments

5 Things I Will Want to Do

1. Travel more

2. Have a kid

3. Hang gliding

4. Write a book

5. Go to sleep now

5 Things I Wonder About

1. If I will ever have a kid

2. The future

3. If a huge meteor will actually hit Earth

4. If teleportation will ever be invented
5. Stupidity

5 Things (or People) I Would Love to See

1. The auroras

2. Iceland

3. Niagara Falls

4. The Mayan Ruins

5. My brother

Doug says...

The Trumps are investigating Charlotte.

So perhaps more towers will grace the skylines here.
Not sure how I feel about that.