Since my dear sister arrive in Texas on May 31, I have been enjoying her fabulous cooking skill. Since I miss the good old delicious Southeast Asia food, she has been looking up some cookbooks and preparing food with me. The photo above shows the fruit of our labor that took us half and hour only. It's call Bu Bu Cha Cha, made up of tapioca flour, coconut milk, yam, pandan leaves and palm sugar. I have not ate this dessert since I left Singapore, so I gobbled up this yummy dessert immediately. Even husband liked this dessert when I served it to him chilled. Now that I know how to make it, I'll definitely try to make it on a regular basis.

Let's go to the Zoo!

Last Sunday husband, my sister, and I brought our three kids to the Fort Worth Zoo upon husband's suggestion. It took us 15 minutes to arrive at the zoo and we were there from 10am to noon. All of us took a 5 minute train ride which cost $2 per person. My daughter was in husband's arms the whole time and she really enjoyed her father's attention.

Although my daughter is too young to appreciate the wonderful experience of seeing the animals, my sister's kids were thrilled to see them. We decided to leave before it got too hot as the temperature was forecast to reach up to 96 degrees F.

I remember when we were young and our parents would bring us to the Singapore Zoological Gardens. My two brothers, sister and I even took a photo with the resident orangutan, Ah Meng. I even visited the zoo with my classmates for one of the field trips organized by my primary school teachers. I was sad to hear from my sister that Ah Meng passed away early this year. Allah SWT willing when my daughter is 2 and 1/2 years old, we'll sign up for membership so that we can bring her to visit the zoo several times each year.

Favorite song from Coffee Prince

(image from group-hug.vox.com)

My favorite song from the Korean drama "Coffee Prince" is "Sad Thing"Eoreunai, which has a haunting melody and sorrowful lyrics.

Hear it here http://www.imeem.com/moodyyoshi/music/_XGN6GFZ/coffee_prince_sad_thing/

I saw you... you in me....
I saw you... you in me
I saw you... you in me....
I saw you... you in me
It's so sad… sad thing .....
It's so sad… sad thing

I saw you... you in me ...
I saw you... you in me ..... I saw you... you in me

Another of a really nice song from the drama is the one sang by the lead actor Gong Yoo to the lead actress Yoon Eun Hye.

(lyrics from http://kw02.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/coffee-prince-1st-shop-romanji-lyrics-part-iv/)

Watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un8iCSRCEP4

너를사랑해 – 한동준
“Neo leul sa lang hae” by Han Dong Jun
I love you

Verse
아침이 오는 소리에 문득 잠에서 깨어
A chimi o neun so li e
mun deug jame seo ggae eo
Sounds of the morning woke me up from my dream abruptly
내 품안에 잠든 너에게 워우우 워우워어 너를 사랑해
You, who slumbered in my arms… I love you
Nae puman ne jam deun neol e ge
wo u u wo u wo eo… Neo leul sa lang hae

내가 힘겨울 때마다 너는 항상 내곁에
Nae ga him gyeo ul ddae ma da
neo neun hang sang nae gyeote
You’re always by my side when I’m tired
따스하게 어깨 감싸며 워우우 워우워어 너를 사항해
Dda seu ha ge eo ggael gam ssa myeo
wo u u u wo u wo eo… Neo leul sa lang hae
Keeping me in company, caring for me… I love you

Chorus
영원히 우리에겐 서글픈 이별은 없어
Yeong wonhi u li e gen
seo geul peun i byeoleun eobseo
We will never part in pain
때로는 슬픔에 눈물도 흘리지만
Ddae lo neun seul peume
nun mul do heul li ji man
Although we shed sorrowful tears sometimes

언제나 너와 함께 새하얀 꿈을 꾸면서
Eon je na neo wa ham gge
sae ha yan ggumeul ggu myeon seo
No matter when, please dream with me immaculate dreams
하늘이 우리를 갈라놓을 때까지 워우우 워우워어~ 너를 사랑해
Ha neuli u li leul gal la noh eul ddae gga ji
wo u u wo u wo eo… Neo leul sa lang hae
Until death do us part… I love you

Interlude

Verse
내가 힘겨울 때마다 너는 항상 내곁에
Nae ga him gyeo ul ddae ma da
neo neun hang sang nae gyeote
따스하게 어깰 감싸며 워우우 워우워어~ 너를 사랑해
Dda seu ha ge eo ggael gam ssa myeo
wo u u wo u wo eo… Neo leul sa lang hae

Chorus
영원히 우리에겐 서글픈 이별은 없어
Yeong wonhi u li e gen
seo geul peun i byeoleun eobseo
때로는 슬픔에 눈물도 흘리지만
Ddae lo neun seul peume nun mul do heul li ji man

언제나 너와 함께 새하얀 꿈을 꾸면서
Eon je na neo wa ham gge
sae ha yan ggumeul ggu myeon seo
하늘이 우리를 갈라놓을 때까지
Ha neuli u li leul gal la noh eul ddae gga ji
워우우 워우워어 너를 사랑해
wo u u wo u wo eo… Neo leul sa lang hae
Neo leul sa lang hae

I'm in love with Coffee Prince!

(image from tagadavao.wordpress.com)

Just before I went to Albuquerque, New Mexico with my daughter, my sister and her two kids, I've been watching this 17 episodes Korean romantic-comedy drama "Coffee Prince" and absolutely fall in love with the plot and the cast.

I watched the whole drama in Korean and read the English subtitles. The lead actress, Yoon Eun Hye as Go Eun Chan, is really a talented artist. Her on-screen chemistry with the lead actor, Gong Yoo as Choi Han Kyul, is very believable. To me, the most heartbreaking scene between these two actors is the one that takes place on the 2nd floor balcony at the coffee shop. After he found out that he has fallen madly in love with a women and not a man (since she lied to him about her gender), he told her to quit her job as a barista and she pleads with him to continue seeing her.

Yoon (crying):
I didn't have the courage. I didn't want to get dumped...

I wanted to tell you, but if I told you... I was afraid you wouldn't see me again.

The reason why I'm telling you now is that I want you to see me as a woman.

I'm really sorry. I know I was wrong, but I...

I like you. I love you.

If you tell me to quit, I'll quit.

If you don't want to see me... Can't we just see each other?

Choi: I don't have the courage to see you anymore. I don't know who you are...."

You can see the whole episode on youtube http://youtube.com/watch?v=hOIGkVvjyQY

Substitute Teacher

This morning I took my sister, my daughter and JoJo to visit my supervisor in school. Since Sr. Laila and Sr. Brenda were there, I introduced my sister to them. While sister took the kids to the playground, I had a brief chat with my supervisor. I told her that although I will not be returning to school next school year, I'm interested to apply for the substitute teacher position since the office staff always have a hard time finding subs at times. She encouraged me to do so and suggested that I attend a sub training course at Region 10 education center in Richardson. I hope that I can go for that ASAP to get ready for the next school year.

After that we went to Sr. Anita's house to visit her family, her parents and 11th sister (she has 12 siblings in Malaysia). They were here since May 17 and will return 5 weeks later. I spoke to her mother and told her how much I enjoyed working with Sr. Anita. Allah SWT willing they are driving to the Niagara Falls tomorrow and will be back 10 days later. I told Sr. Anita about my plan to be a sub and reminded her to think of me when she needs a sub.

Car Loss Settlement

For the loss of my car due to the accident, we are to be compensated about $6.900. Since the car has low mileage of 70K, it was in pretty good condition overall. On top of this we received about $1,800 for hail damage (covered by our car insurance) last week. Although I paid close to $12,000 for the 2000 Honda Civic sedan just one and half years ago, I still think that it was a pretty decent good investment. I will miss driving this car as it has been the most comfortable and safe car I've purchased so far.

Car hunting - the good, the bad and the ugly

It's been an eye-opening experience for husband and me to shop for a new car. We went to several car dealers for Kia, Suzuki and CarMax (mega used car dealer). Here is a summary of our experience.

The UGLY - The Kia dealer at Irving did not told us about the expiration of the zero interest car loan for qualified buyers. After wasting our time for 3 hours, the finance manager tried to get me to settle for a car loan for interest. Thankfully husband was very firm and we did not take the deal. Also a Suzuki salesman at Irving told husband on the phone about putting down a deposit for a wagon that I want to order one day after we met him and he didn't say a word about it, and thankfully husband told him that we'll let him know if we are interested to get it later.

The BAD - Most car loans are financed with interest. The sales lady at CarMax gave me a quotation for a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart wagon that includes 8.75 percent interest. Since we do not want to deal with interest, our selection of car is narrowed down to new Suzuki cars which offers zero interest financing for qualified buyers for all models.

The GOOD - most dealers that we meet are knowledgeable about cars. They are able to answer husband's auto mechanical questions. All praise to Allah SWT my credit score is perfect, so I can quality for zero down payment, zero interest car loan. We finally found my dream car - Suzuki SX4 crossover, a 4 door with hatchback vehicle in Grapevine. The most attractive feature of this car is the front, side and overhead curtain side air bags for driver and passengers. Total cost comes to about $18K but husband is confident that it'll be paid off within a year, Allah SWT willing.

Through this experience, we learn to be firm with our car features, not to deal with interest as much as possible, and be wary of dishonest sales tactics.

Cranky guy, ladies and babes

We have not been sleeping well due to my sister and her two kids' jet lag. They are still adjusting to the time difference and half the night I try to help to look after them (aka make sure they don't wreck the place during the night) while my sister sleeps. On top of this, I've been looking around for a new car with husband, and he didn't have enough sleep to work on projects. I hope that the crankiness will be over soon.

Quan Yin (Chinese) Vegetarian Restaurant

We ate at this restaurant while in Houston. Husband ordered fried noodles with assorted veggies ($7) while I had a BBQ veggie pork with thin noodles soup($7) . We also shared a spicy and sour soup with thin strips of bamboo shoots, carrots, ginger and other root veggies ($9). Before coming to this restaurant, I searched online for recommendations from customers and this restaurant has a high rating. Although the food is tasty, there are friendly staff, and the portion is reasonable for the price, it would have been better if they could provide fresh cut red chilli with soy sauce.

Address: 10804 E. Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX77072
Tel: 281-498-7890
URL: http://www.quanyinvegetarian.com/

To go or not to go, that is the question...

I'm still not comfortable driving after the car accident. Tomorrow I do intend to go back to work, and has asked husband or my sister to drive me to work. I hate to depend on other people to get things done, but apparently I have not overcome the psychological impact of the car accident. I don't really know how I'll react when I drive past the accident site. Allah SWT willing I hope I don't have to call the school to take the next three days off work.

Reunion tears

Last night at 9pm, my dear sister and her two kids landed safely at the Bush Intercontinental Airport. Husband, DD1 and I rented a minivan on Friday and drove to Houston in the evening. I wanted to make sure that I don't miss my sister's flight, and also just want to have ample time to know how to get to the airport.

It was nice of husband to take a video of our reunion. It was tears of joy when I finally saw them at the Terminal E international flights arrival gate. I'm so thankful to Allah SWT for their safety (and my sister's sanity) as they flew from Singapore to Moscow, then from Moscow to Houston. JoJo were very tired but I think they recognized me. We went straight to the La Quinta Inn and Suites when husband and DD1 stayed in one room while the remaining four of us stayed in another room with two full size beds. I spent the night trying to keep an eye on JoJo while my sister slept and also rested for a few hours while she was awake.

This morning after breakfast at the hotel, we left at about 10am, and reached our apartment at around 4pm. We stopped by the Import Halal store and the Whole Foods Market to get grocery along the way. I'm really looking forward to hearing about my sister's updates in Singapore since she left USA two years ago.