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My New Year’s eve story January 2, 2009

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 15comments

How we spent our New Year’s eve (and part of New Year’s Day):

 

A good night’s sleep beckoned and the New Year too!  Happy New Year one and all!

Oh by the way, we are looking at getting an external hard drive now… :)

Hark the herald angels sing December 28, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Christianity, Relax & Celebrate, Thoughts & Scribblings , 12comments

A very happy and blessed belated Christmas to one and all out there!  It’s a belated Christmas wish because I had wanted to post something before I left for my Christmas vacation, but there was some booboo with my internet connection a week ago which caused me to have no access whatsoever to all of my blogs.  Thankfully though, I returned home yesterday evening and joy oh joy, the connection had been restored. 

 

This year, I didn’t have to wrap any presents, because the leasing office for the apartment I am staying in provided complimentary gift-wrapping services, complete with a selection of Christmas wrappers and gift tags.  Ain’t that cool?

Though amid all Christmas celebrations, we need to remember first and foremost what Christmas is really all about…

 
Credits: Elegant word art (love os the Savior) from Bethany

… and I am so grateful that I was able to celebrate it once again this year with my loved ones in a very memorable manner.  I’m thankful that despite the adversities life has thrown my way, Christmas still bears the same meaning each and every year, and every time, the meaning grows deeper within my soul.

So…where did my family and I head off to the past week for our Christmas vacation?  Well, here’s a glimpse of ONE of the several places we were at:

 

One word: MAGICAL

Of course, coming home was a sweet experience too, especially when we tucked in to a nice warm dinner in a local Vietnamese joint.

 

And hey, I must have been a pretty good girl all year through too, ‘cuz I got a nice little surprise from Santa in the mailbox as well. 

 

Santa’s quite telepathic, I’d say, for it’s something I had wanted. :)

So that was my Christmas in a nutshell post, how was yours?

Baby back baby back ribs December 17, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Drooling & Cooking , 15comments

Last Saturday morning, we had a poolside barbecue with hubby’s colleagues.  I tell you, I was already having second thoughts about being out in the freezing cold, but hey, only Malaysians are crazy enough to have barbecues in winter.  (Well, actually I take that back, because while we were there, we spotted an American couple - in swimsuits - having a swim and barbecuing after that too!)

Anyway, my hubby was tasked with preparing the barbecued ribs, and of course that task is lovingly delegated to his wifey.  I decided to use Pablo’s recipe for Fried Baby Back Ribs, and modify it for the purpose of barbecue.  I had tried his recipe a few weeks ago, and my hubby had given the thumbs up for the taste, so it was just a matter of whether it would work fine on the barbecue grill.

 

I gave the baby back ribs a real good marinade for about 18 hours, and because I had about 28 pieces to work with, I decided to move them around after a few hours so that they would all be equally marinaded, if there is indeed such a thing.

My first attempt at this recipe some weeks back actually left my kitchen and home smelling entirely of oil for a long time, although the ribs did taste good.  This is what they looked like:

 

They taste fantastic with hot steamed rice!

This time, with the barbecued ribs, I was somewhat glad that I didn’t have to get rid of the oily kitchen smell after, because all I had to do before bringing it to the barbecue was to microwave the ribs on medium heat for about 3 minutes.  This is just so the ribs are semi- to almost-cooked, at least on the inside, so that they won’t need to spend so much time on the grill later on.  This was indeed an excellent tip from Pablo.  I microwaved about 3-4 ribs at a time and brought them to the barbecue after that.

Here’s a shot of those babies getting that nice browning on the outside at the barbecue:

 

I’m glad my first attempt preparing baby back ribs for barbecuing turned out pretty darn well.  I guess no leftovers mean something eh? :)

Let’s talk about calls now December 17, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Rainmakers , 3comments

SIGH…it has been about two and a half months now that we have been here in the United States, and I have survived thus far without a cellphone.  I wonder if that’s a good thing or not.

Initially I did feel a tad empty when I go out, especially when we are in crowded malls and I needed to call my hubby to find out where he is, but it has worked out fine thus far.

I do intend to get myself signed up with one of those prepaid phone plans, and I almost did a few weeks ago, but procrastination got the better of me, and the sweet deal I was eyeing is now gone.

Maybe I should just get myself a calling card that will serve the dual purpose of making emergency calls when I need to, and also allow me to make cheap international calls back home, like these Malaysia phone cards.  What do you think?  Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Fare thee well dearest Fall December 15, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 11comments

Well, the weather is still as cold as ever, and we are ALWAYS glad to get back inside to our warmly-heated home.  When I go outdoors, I have started wearing my wool trench coat, which serves a dual purpose of keeping me warm and toasty, and looks chic to boot!  Oh, and lately we have also started wearing gloves out.  I’m gonna get a few extra pairs for backup soon.  Sandals are also making way for boots, and I am so glad I bought calf-length ones.  My black pair falls right below the knee, while my brown pair, which is slightly shorter, has some faux fur in its interior.  Both are getting their fair amount of usage nowadays.

With winter DEFINITELY making its entrance felt, I couldn’t help noticing how fall is graciously making its exit.  What with the glorious canvass of reds, browns, gold and orange, fall seemed to bid a pretty awesome farewell, if I might say so myself.

Often times, I wished I had the opportunity to capture these beautiful colors but sometimes, it is either raining or I would forget my camera.  But these are a few priced shots which I absolutely love…

… and bid a fond farewell to, as I admire them once more before winter sets in….

The falling leaves drift by the window…

The autumn leaves…

Oh baby, it’s cold outside! December 11, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Drooling & Cooking, Thoughts & Scribblings , 11comments

Yesterday evening, while chatting with allthingspurple, the subject of weather came up.  She asked me how cold it was here in San Jose.  I didn’t really know the exact temperature then, save for the fact that I could *feel* it is immensely cold, what with me having to put on my new wool trench coat (present from hubby and an Anne Klein, by the way!).  So last night, I checked the temperature and guess what…it was below 10°C!  And I thought it was like 15°C or 16°C!

Man, that’s cold!  And this is the temperature registered this morning:

 

I think we’ll need to get some more warmer clothes soon.  But until then, we just had to make do with warming our tummies, now won’t we?

Yesterday, hubby and I had a lunch date for Indian buffet.  It’s a norm for Indian restaurants here to have lunch buffets.  The one we went to charged about $9.99 per head, but the food was good enough to satisfy my craving.

 

Naan is free flow and you can have as much as you like, if your tummy permits.  The spiciness of Indian food blends so well with the cold weather, I must say.

I can’t wait for my next Indian buffet.  YUM.

Cruisin’ down the freeway December 8, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Relax & Celebrate , 20comments

 

Woohoo!  Today, I went from holding a Temporary Driver License to being a bearer of an Interim Driver License.  Please don’t ask me to explain the difference between “temporary” and “interim”, because the only meaning I get out of this is that:

I passed my driving test today!!!

Yipppeeee!!!!  I simply can’t wipe that grin off my face. :P

After the many steps I had to undertake, it has finally paid off.  The driving lessons I took, the written test I had to pass weeks ago where I was only allowed to make not more than 6 mistakes out of 36 tricky questions, scheduling an appointment for the road test, queueing up in line waiting for my turn for the road test, having weird dreams prior to the test (like the one where the car I was driving was suddenly a right-hand drive instead of a left-hand drive), praying fervently that I would not have to retake the driving test because of some stupid mistake I made…well, now it does seem as though a great burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. 

And in a few weeks’ time, I’ll be getting my valid California driver’s license!  I can’t wait…hmm…hope I look good in the picture. Heh.  The picture was taken at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) right before I took the written test.  It’s not like in Malaysia, where we get to go to some photo studio and make sure we look good, you know.

So this morning, my driving instructress picked me up from my apartment an hour before my test and we did a last-round practice before the actual test.  Thankfully it was a nice day for driving, not hot at all.  My driver’s test appointment was at 10:30a.m., and surprisingly my tester arrived at 10:40a.m.!  My instructress told me sometimes her students had to wait for an hour past their appointment time! 

In the US, we use our own car for the driving test.  In my case, I requested to use the driving school’s car.  My driving test took only about 10 minutes, and when we were all done, my tester (who was a young lady, by the way), told me I had passed, and she said, “Good job!” :)

I’m not someone who likes to brag, but this is an exception:

 

Never mind that she spelt “performance” wrongly.  I’m getting my driver’s license soon!

*does giddy dance of joy*

Embracing the differences December 3, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 9comments

Having a baby in the States is so much more different than the experience of having one in Malaysia.  Well, as I had mentioned before it takes quite a while to land an appointment with the OB/GYN, as opposed to Malaysia, where I could call up at 11:00a.m. and have an appointment set up at 2:00p.m. the same day, at worst I would have to wait two or three days later.

There are so many new things I am experiencing now:

I haven’t decided when I can make it for the test yet, but redoing it by drinking the entire bottle of sweet solution is definitely out of the question.

Well, other than that, baby is doing fine.  Been kicking a lot lately in all directions and at all times of the day.  I think we have a really active one on the way! :P

The voice at the other end December 3, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Rainmakers , add a comment

One of the things that irritate me the most is getting unsolicited phone calls. This has become the norm since we moved into our apartment here in the US. The previous tenants apparently had some unfinished business with their car loans, credit card accounts or banks, because I keep getting unending calls reminding me to renew this and register that.

Most of these calls do not have a hot-blooded human on the other end of the line, rather they are all recorded messages. So if I were to hang up, I’ll have to endure a repeat of the call a couple of days later. Therefore, I have to wait for the automated message to finish playing (which sometimes takes a long long time), and hope that there is an option to select to stop further calls from the number.

Phone Number Reporting would certainly come into handy here, provided I have caller ID on my phone. Then I would be able to know where the call originates from, and hence be able to gauge what to expect when I pick up the phone.

Thankfully, the number of these irritating calls are on the decline now, and I can look forward to spending an uninterrupted hour on the couch watching TV and drinking some hot chocolate.

Exacerbation of frustration December 2, 2008

Posted by The Giddy Tiger in : Thoughts & Scribblings , 17comments

Photo credits

Today’s post is going to be a LONG rant about one of Malaysia’s leading telecommunication providers.  Its name starts with a C, ends with an M, and has an ELCO in the middle.

Ever since I started using a cellphone, I have been a loyal Celcom subscriber, never once changing my number, and always a prompt bill payer.  Loyalty begets loyalty, and I had assumed my request to temporarily suspend my account for the period I will be in the States would be handled with perfect efficiency.

But how wrong my assumption was.

A few days before I left Malaysia, I walked into the nearby Celcom branch, and requested for a temporary suspension.  The man behind the desk told me that he could do so immediately, however the temporary suspension would only be for a total of FOUR months, after which I had to reactivate my account, if I want to keep my number.  I patiently explained my situation to him, and told him that I would like to extend my account suspension after the four months.  I was willing to email the Celcom Careline to provide them the authorization to do so.  After all, in this day and age, an email instruction is as good as a signed one.

But the Celcom guy behind the counter apparently was not empowered to make any decision, so I had to make do with the temporary suspension.

On that same day, I called up the Celcom Careline, and spoke to one of their consultants, who informed me that the request for an extension would only be accepted via FAX.  I told him that I would like to request for the extension via email, just like the arrangement my hubby had made with Maxis.  I told him I would not be able to fax in the request from the United States, and asked that he allow me to get the extension done via email.  Unfortunately, the consultant too could not confirm if this could be done, but all he could do was to put in a note to indicate my request.  He suggested that I email the Celcom Careline directly to request for it.

…which was exactly what I did when I reached the US.

Ten days went by without a reply from the Careline, so I resent my email requesting for a prompt reply.  And I got this five days later:

Huh?  Now the temporary suspension is for THREE months only??!!!  And I have to PAY to have it reconnected?  So, I calmed myself down and replied in as civil a manner as possible, and got an equally frustrating reply from the Careline.

Of course, I had to reply to that, right?

Now, as you can see, Celcom has not even answered my questions yet:

Is it any wonder why I am so very seriously considering switching to a different telecommunications provider?