The Counting Down and Shopping Dilemma

We are already on the 4th day of August. Just a few more weeks before I get on that airplane and fly home to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I have done almost all of the shopping needed for my long list of nieces and nephews. I have learned that it is so much easier to find stuff/clothes for babies and toddlers but not so much for teens and young adults. It doesn't make it any easier that I haven't seen them for so long that I don't know what they like and how they dress.Or if their parents would like their daughters to wear dresses.

1 of my nieces wants a dress and upon checking with my older brother, he told me the mother might not like the idea. I feel sad that I can't get her what she really wanted. She never asked for anything before and not the type who would ask and ask and ask and be pesky like some other kids. According to my brother, she does wear dresses but not her own. She would sometime wear her aunty's (her mom's sister) dresses. What a dilemma I am in right now!


But I am not going to let that get into my head too much. I haven't been back for almost 6yrs for goodness sake. I just want to be with my family to celebrate Ramadhan and Eid for the first time with my husband next to me. Yup. We have never celebrated Ramadhan/Eid in Malaysia before. That is 1 of the reasons why it took us so long to take the trip. Because I wanted our first trip home to be for celebrating Eid. After almost 6 long years, we finally decided this year is it. And now that we have bought the tickets, it feels even more real. So let the count down begins!

Our 1st Cruise - Carnival Cruise

Finally getting onboard!

The cruise was supposed to be 4d/3n from Long Beach, California to Ensenada, Mexico departing at 5.30pm on Friday and back on Monday at 8am. But nobody can do anything when mother nature strikes. We had a severe storm the week approaching to our weekend trip so the ship that was supposed to come in at 8am on Friday, didn't until 4pm. That means our cruise was pushed back. With the late checking-in and all, we finally got onboard around 8pm or 9pm. And boy were we tired! Went straight to the room to freshen up and then dinner. There was nothing much to do since the ship was still docked at LB Port. The club was close for private function ie wedding so we decided to just call it a night. I woke up around midnight and peeked at the window only to see that we're still docking. lol.

Waiting for breakfast

The next morning we got up pretty early around 6am and decided to find something to eat. Unfortunately breakfast wasn't fully served until 7am so we explored the ship to find out what is where. The ship is huge but not obscenely huge. I guess that is why it's used for short cruises. They do have 'basic' amenities to keep passengers occupied like different restaurants, pubs/clubs, casino, theater (not a movie theater), duty-free shop, gym, spa and kid's activity room. When it comes to food, we both agreed the foods at cafeteria is much better than at the formal dining rooms.

1 of the smoking sections

The cruise cost us around USD800 for seaview room and food, coffee, juices, water all included. You would have to pay for soda and alcohol. It is cheaper to buy the alcohol coupon online through their website and have it sent to your room. Any drink bought onboard will be charged an additional 15% gratuity and that includes bottled water. Everybody is allowed to bring either soda/water but there is a maximum that you can bring. Check their (Carnival) website for details or you can always call their representatives. We brought a six-pack soda and put it in our luggage so we don't have to carry it with us and a water bottle that we just refill. It is advisable to bring water or an extra water bottle that you can refill since a liter bottle cost around $4.

Every morning they would give you the daily activities and time schedule so you can plan your activities. My advise is, read them! You'd want to know where you want to eat and what since they have Taste of the Nation/World everyday at the cafeteria and the food changes. They would also have the show's time and what's going on on different part of the ship be it karaoke, champagne/art/jewellery auctions or hairy-chest competition! :P

View from our breakfast table

I'm in Mexico!

Because of the delay, we only stopped at the Ensenada, Mexico on Sunday instead of Saturday. Our plan was to go for the atv ride but apparently it was cancelled due to the mud no thanks to the heavy rain prior to our cruise. Going for the excursions is not cheap. The bus ride alone would cost you USD15/pp each way. Since I am very frugal, we just walked around the small tourist town near the port.

At America Bar, another smoking section

You know it!

Emergency briefing at the deck on Level 10

All in all the cruise was worth it and enjoyable. It is very convenient since LB Port is only 15min drive from our place and we can just park our car at the carpark building which cost 15/day.

The 1 thing that I was not happy about was getting off the ship. There were 2 lanes and Michael was already queuing on 1 lane and I joined him later only to find out at the front that it was for US citizen only. Apparently for cruises, GC holders are supposed to queue at the non-citizen lane unlike at the airport and non of the ground crew said anything. So I had to go all the way back, and it was a long one on the non-citizen lane. Nope, I was not happy at all. Ground crew was not as good as the onboard crew and I did express my dissatisfaction. Only then they started announcing the 2 different lanes.

So that was our 1st cruise experience. Should anybody ask if I would recommend Carnival Cruise, I would definitely say yes!

Scottish Band

Things To Do

1. Shopping for milk, soda and sea-sick medication.

2. Laundry

3. Packing (note to self, are 4 pair of shoes enough? hmmm)

4. Get hair done

In the meantime, lets hope the storm ends quickly so I get to do all those stuff that I plan to do before we leave for our 1st cruise!

Thanksgiving Celebration

At first we weren't sure if we really want to cook a whole turkey or just get the turkey breast. In the end we decided to get a whole turkey because eversince we got married, we've never had our very own turkey. The first 2 years of our marriage, we always go to his parents house for Thanksgiving and the 3rd year, we were already here in California.

The invitations were sent a week before Thanksgiving to our friends whom like us, don't have any family here. That will be Shirley and Kevin, another Malaysian living in SoCal and Tab and his family who were here on a business/holiday trip. Once everybody confirmed they are coming, we started planning of what to cook.

Unlike the previous 'parties' where I always have more asian foods than western, this time I try to make more of Michael's food than mine. Our menu that day was rather simple. The turkey was done with minimal marinade. Mashed potatoes with gravy. Corn of a cob. Steamed mixed vegetables. Coleslaw. Sweet bun which were store bought. The only thing asian was the rice which I cooked with a little bit of chicken stock to make it taste a bit like chicken rice to go with the turkey.

Shirley and Kevin who just got back from their emergency trip to Malaysia brought some stuff that my brother and sister-in-law and my friend Bert bought for me. Among the stuff was serunding specially ordered from Kelantan. My favourite! Thank you Rizal, Fara and Bert for buying me the stuff and Shirley and Kevin for bringing them back for me!

2009 Winter Holiday - Yosemite National Park II

Can you see me? :P

To get this view, we had to walk through a forest-like area with slippery ice path and climb a few big boulders.

Tired after all the walking and holding on for my dear life. Walking on ice sure ain't easy!

Trying to find the best way to get pass the boulder

The icy path to get to the falls

This one looks like we're in Narnia

This is the beginning of the icy path. It was cold as hell too.

Pictures from VA - Part IV

... continues. Here are some of the pictures taken at Virginia Beach. Please totally ignore how fat I look. These pictures were taken after we came back from Williamsburg where Iv had the luxury of a kitchen. I didnt tell you what I did, didnt I? Actually when we were at the apartment, I made myself batches of chicken briyani and telur dadar, freeze them and enjoyed them for my lunches while he was at work. I was that sick of the restaurant food.