Bright and sunny! Another perfect day for shopping! Our spirits were high and we had a great day!
If not we don't have to work the next day...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Chicago: 28 Apr 2007
It's a bright and sunny day. The weather had warmed up and just in time too!
We dropped off a colleague who wanted to go sightseeing in the city of Chicago. The city was just like our CBD area but the buildings are much older. Red and yellow tulips were planted along the streets and were blooming beautifully. Wow. This scene doesn't happen only in Holland...
We caught a view of the famous Michigan Lake too. It was beautiful. Too bad we all had our minds set on the factory outlets. Hahaha. SP bought us to one of the largest and most popular Premium factory outlet in Wisconsin. What I remembered most about that place was perhaps the gigantic American flag flying above right at the entrance of the outlet.
We girls had wanted to develop a strategy to ensure all shops are covered since the place as so huge. Before we could get on with our so-called "strategy", we got so tempted by the magic word "SALE" waving to us in each and every one of the shops that we agreed unaniously that the best strategy was to not to have any strategy at all. See, like, grab and go!
We managed to have some proper Chinese food for lunch and it tasted great. Much better than what we had at the restaurant. Satisfying!
Time flies when you are enjoying yourself. One thing I admire about Americans is that when they say they close at 9pm, shutters get down at EXACTLY 9pm. In cases where they still have customers lingering around when it was time to close, they simply wait patiently and still continue to serve with a smile. We Singaporeans have a lot to learn from them, seriously. Shops here put up signs indicating operating hours to be from 11am to 9.30pm, but we pull our shutters and start "chasing" customers away at 9pm. (Gotta admit I was once guilty of such behaviour during one of my vacation jobs as a shop assistant.) We have a long way to go.
10pm. We arrived at our hotel. We had a joyous time sharing our buys over dinner and we can't wait to hit the factory outlets again the next day!
We dropped off a colleague who wanted to go sightseeing in the city of Chicago. The city was just like our CBD area but the buildings are much older. Red and yellow tulips were planted along the streets and were blooming beautifully. Wow. This scene doesn't happen only in Holland...
We caught a view of the famous Michigan Lake too. It was beautiful. Too bad we all had our minds set on the factory outlets. Hahaha. SP bought us to one of the largest and most popular Premium factory outlet in Wisconsin. What I remembered most about that place was perhaps the gigantic American flag flying above right at the entrance of the outlet.
We girls had wanted to develop a strategy to ensure all shops are covered since the place as so huge. Before we could get on with our so-called "strategy", we got so tempted by the magic word "SALE" waving to us in each and every one of the shops that we agreed unaniously that the best strategy was to not to have any strategy at all. See, like, grab and go!
We managed to have some proper Chinese food for lunch and it tasted great. Much better than what we had at the restaurant. Satisfying!
Time flies when you are enjoying yourself. One thing I admire about Americans is that when they say they close at 9pm, shutters get down at EXACTLY 9pm. In cases where they still have customers lingering around when it was time to close, they simply wait patiently and still continue to serve with a smile. We Singaporeans have a lot to learn from them, seriously. Shops here put up signs indicating operating hours to be from 11am to 9.30pm, but we pull our shutters and start "chasing" customers away at 9pm. (Gotta admit I was once guilty of such behaviour during one of my vacation jobs as a shop assistant.) We have a long way to go.
10pm. We arrived at our hotel. We had a joyous time sharing our buys over dinner and we can't wait to hit the factory outlets again the next day!
Chicago: 27 Apr 2007
TGIF!
Today the air seemed fresher, the sky seemed bluer and the grass seemed greener. All because it is FRIDAY!
We are on time to knock off today! Woohoo! Guess all the Ang Mohs were also in a Friday mood so everything went especially well and fast. We had a new addition to the team tody. He flew in from Singapore and is from the IT team. It turned out he knew 2 of the girls in my group quite well and volunteered to bring us shopping! 3 cheers for SP! Hurray!
To the nearest factory outlet- Gurnee Mills!
We girls screamed with excitement as our car ventured into the vicinity. Addidas, Nike, Levis, Polo Ralph, Timberland... We can't wait to get out of the car!
I went totally crazy for the next 4 hours. Can't remember how much I spent. I guess it doesn't matter. I totally enjoyed myself.
We actually forgot about having dinner and were only reminded when our stomachs starting growling after the mall was closed. Glad we were still in time for room service. Dinner was good even though it was cold. Poor Sharon (a close colleague from the other department) waited for me to complete my summary to have dinner together. I figured that I couldn't eat without completing that chore for the day. It's in my nature to be so responsible. Haha.
Tomorrow is another day to look forward to because... we are going shopping again!
Happy happy happy.
Today the air seemed fresher, the sky seemed bluer and the grass seemed greener. All because it is FRIDAY!
We are on time to knock off today! Woohoo! Guess all the Ang Mohs were also in a Friday mood so everything went especially well and fast. We had a new addition to the team tody. He flew in from Singapore and is from the IT team. It turned out he knew 2 of the girls in my group quite well and volunteered to bring us shopping! 3 cheers for SP! Hurray!
To the nearest factory outlet- Gurnee Mills!
We girls screamed with excitement as our car ventured into the vicinity. Addidas, Nike, Levis, Polo Ralph, Timberland... We can't wait to get out of the car!
I went totally crazy for the next 4 hours. Can't remember how much I spent. I guess it doesn't matter. I totally enjoyed myself.
We actually forgot about having dinner and were only reminded when our stomachs starting growling after the mall was closed. Glad we were still in time for room service. Dinner was good even though it was cold. Poor Sharon (a close colleague from the other department) waited for me to complete my summary to have dinner together. I figured that I couldn't eat without completing that chore for the day. It's in my nature to be so responsible. Haha.
Tomorrow is another day to look forward to because... we are going shopping again!
Happy happy happy.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Chicago: 26 Apr 2007
I managed to talk to Xiaobai online today. Didn't get to meet him in person though. I was in another building and he had meetings for the entire day. Sigh. I missed him leh. (as a friend lah. What were you thinking? He's already attached, cuse me.)
Work ended late at 6pm today (Late: using US standard as a benchmark. You could get assassinated for working OT here okie.). I love the American culture. Headed to a Chinese restaurant highly recommended by a lot of fellow colleagues for dinner. Well, everyone who patronised it said the food was good. I beg to differ. It was just so so.
Service was extremely bad. My face was comparable to Justice Bao's throughout the entire night.
It was freezing cold at night, probably about 10 degrees? I was shivering even after I got into the car.
Back to hotel. Summary time again. Sigh. It's torturous to end each day like that.
Work ended late at 6pm today (Late: using US standard as a benchmark. You could get assassinated for working OT here okie.). I love the American culture. Headed to a Chinese restaurant highly recommended by a lot of fellow colleagues for dinner. Well, everyone who patronised it said the food was good. I beg to differ. It was just so so.
Service was extremely bad. My face was comparable to Justice Bao's throughout the entire night.
It was freezing cold at night, probably about 10 degrees? I was shivering even after I got into the car.
Back to hotel. Summary time again. Sigh. It's torturous to end each day like that.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Chicago: 25 Apr 2007
Still suffering from jet lag. Woke up at 3.30am in the morning but forced myself to continue sleeping till 6am. I am good at this. Ha.
Nothing exciting happened at work. It's extremely foggy today...
Nothing exciting happened at work. It's extremely foggy today...
One of my fellow colleague brought us to a Thai restaurant downtown for dinner. The group was craving for something hot and soupy, the perfect combination with the cold weather. I ordered a bowl of Tom Yum Udon and a plate of stir fried brocolli. The Tom Yum Udon sucked. Not spicy and not sour. It was SWEET. The rest of the day continued to suck when I received an sms from my big boss to call her. Called her back and she screamed me for not answering her calls. Tried explaining that no calls came through and there was no record of any missed calls, but she insisted calling 3 times. Well, I didn't want to argue with her. She's been this unreasonable since I know her.. and remember the golden rule? NEVER ARGUE WITH YOUR BOSS. She wanted a daily summary of what was discussed in the meeting, even though it does not concern my department. I knew it! She wanna make sure I'm working (hard too)! Argh. My entire trip is ruined.
It was straight to hotel after dinner. Summary time. I am so miserable.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Chicago: 24 Apr 2007
Had what I would consider a rather good rest last night. Well, I woke up at 2am in the morning feeling totally refreshed but coerced myself to continue sleeping and succeeded. Guess the comfy bed in the hotel helped too.
Woohoo! My first day at Wonderland over at the other side of the world... Gosh.. I have so many people I wanna meet (especially Xiaobai, heez.)!
Shit. I couldn't have expected a more unfortunate series of events today. My wireless network failed me (it worked for all my colleagues) and I had to be "separated" from my other colleagues to get connected via a network cable.
"C'mon! It's not that bad! At least you got it fixed.." most of you will think. Yeah. Right. This would have saved my day if not for the chatter monster sitting next to me who couldn't even spare me 5 mins of peace and quiet. And I couldn't get in contact with Xiaobai! Argh.
Jet lag set in in the afternoon. It was TERRIBLE. I can't wait to hit the sack.
5pm. Time to go home (I mean, back to hotel)! Wow... all of a sudden I was totally awake. What jet lag? Oops.
Had a not so exciting dinner consisting of pizza and lasagne at the nearby mall. Yawns.
Bought a ring from Aldo at a discounted rate of only USD10. Happy!
Woohoo! My first day at Wonderland over at the other side of the world... Gosh.. I have so many people I wanna meet (especially Xiaobai, heez.)!
Shit. I couldn't have expected a more unfortunate series of events today. My wireless network failed me (it worked for all my colleagues) and I had to be "separated" from my other colleagues to get connected via a network cable.
"C'mon! It's not that bad! At least you got it fixed.." most of you will think. Yeah. Right. This would have saved my day if not for the chatter monster sitting next to me who couldn't even spare me 5 mins of peace and quiet. And I couldn't get in contact with Xiaobai! Argh.
Jet lag set in in the afternoon. It was TERRIBLE. I can't wait to hit the sack.
5pm. Time to go home (I mean, back to hotel)! Wow... all of a sudden I was totally awake. What jet lag? Oops.
Had a not so exciting dinner consisting of pizza and lasagne at the nearby mall. Yawns.
Bought a ring from Aldo at a discounted rate of only USD10. Happy!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Chicago- 23 Apr 2007
I arrived!
The first breath of air in Chicago... wow.. not too bad at all. No wonder they always say the grass is greener on the other side. I was a little groggy from the long hours on the plane (thanks to the bad food and the outdated movies on the plane). Thank God I am on first class which enabled my legs a full stretch 100% of the time. I wouldn't have made it if I was travelling on anything lesser.
Alright, so what's the first thing you need to do when you are in good old America? RENT A CAR. Oh, a couple of things to note when renting a car- (1) Rent a GPS (it really gets you around, even though it's been tested and verified that it doesn't work in Malaysia.), (2) Rent a BIG car- you'll need it to accommodate luggage which will double in size when you're leaving. Ha. I'm speaking from experience.
After an hour on the road, we arrived at the hotel. Man, I can't wait to bathe! (Imagine not bathing for like more than 24 hours. Gosh.) Some of us didn't manage to get an executive suite because the hotel was fully booked. Yeah, I think you guys would have guessed. I AM one of those who DID NOT get it. Dai sai lah.
Second thing to do in the US? GO TO THE SUPERMARKET. For what? To get groceries! the hotel doesn't have a flask for us to boil water, the only decent looking water boiling device they have is a coffee maker, and it does live up to it's purpose. The entire machine reeked of coffee. Bought 2 gallons (approximately 6 litres) of water, 2 bottles of apple juice and 100g of assorted jelly beans. I love the supermarket here! It's like 2 times of carrefour with not even half of the crowd.
Met up with the other group who came via Tokyo in the evening for dinner at a Japanese restaurant. It was interesting watching the Teppanyaki chefs entertain us and other guests. Both food and service was good. Thanks, KW.
Great way to end the day!
The first breath of air in Chicago... wow.. not too bad at all. No wonder they always say the grass is greener on the other side. I was a little groggy from the long hours on the plane (thanks to the bad food and the outdated movies on the plane). Thank God I am on first class which enabled my legs a full stretch 100% of the time. I wouldn't have made it if I was travelling on anything lesser.
Alright, so what's the first thing you need to do when you are in good old America? RENT A CAR. Oh, a couple of things to note when renting a car- (1) Rent a GPS (it really gets you around, even though it's been tested and verified that it doesn't work in Malaysia.), (2) Rent a BIG car- you'll need it to accommodate luggage which will double in size when you're leaving. Ha. I'm speaking from experience.
After an hour on the road, we arrived at the hotel. Man, I can't wait to bathe! (Imagine not bathing for like more than 24 hours. Gosh.) Some of us didn't manage to get an executive suite because the hotel was fully booked. Yeah, I think you guys would have guessed. I AM one of those who DID NOT get it. Dai sai lah.
Second thing to do in the US? GO TO THE SUPERMARKET. For what? To get groceries! the hotel doesn't have a flask for us to boil water, the only decent looking water boiling device they have is a coffee maker, and it does live up to it's purpose. The entire machine reeked of coffee. Bought 2 gallons (approximately 6 litres) of water, 2 bottles of apple juice and 100g of assorted jelly beans. I love the supermarket here! It's like 2 times of carrefour with not even half of the crowd.
Met up with the other group who came via Tokyo in the evening for dinner at a Japanese restaurant. It was interesting watching the Teppanyaki chefs entertain us and other guests. Both food and service was good. Thanks, KW.
Great way to end the day!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
I am beginning to suspect if Fengshui really works. After much hassle, I managed to convince my colleague to changing seats with me. Imagine I unpacking all my barang barang TWICE loh. (Once when I moved from the other building to this one and another time for changing seats). Now, I am supposed to be sitting in the direction best for attaining luck in love. 2 weeks has passed and nothing has happened loh! *cold stare* Argh. I am so pissed. (The pink crystal didn't work too. TMD. I'm getting a bigger one.)
It worked for my colleague okie! (she knew her current husband, got married and pregnant all in less than a year.) Wah lau! Is Cupid on leave or deliberately missing arrows when it comes to me?
It worked for my colleague okie! (she knew her current husband, got married and pregnant all in less than a year.) Wah lau! Is Cupid on leave or deliberately missing arrows when it comes to me?
Friday, April 06, 2007
It's another seemingly hot day. Well, I am enjoying the day recuperating well at home, careful not to put the pounds back though. The last 2 months at the gym was not easy at all. Wouldn't say the additional 2kg taken off during the time when I had Bronchitis was any easier, but at least it didn't come as a result of sweat and muscle-aches. Ha.
I am feeling extra chirpy today.
Finally, I'm going on my U.S. trip at the end of the month! It was previously scheduled in Jan, but got pushed back due to the delay of the project. I'm glad plans got confirmed. I'm coming, Xiaobai!
I am feeling extra chirpy today.
Finally, I'm going on my U.S. trip at the end of the month! It was previously scheduled in Jan, but got pushed back due to the delay of the project. I'm glad plans got confirmed. I'm coming, Xiaobai!