Quirky America

Let's update on my wellbeing first. I am definitely alright now that the jet lagged is GONE. Time spent up in Fort Worth & Dallas has been relaxing. Was up in this old cow boy town on Saturday. Quite fun. Had mexican food again.... which I don't particularly enjoy. Not because I don't like but rather, the portion are ENORMOUSLY big enough for 2 meals. Have picked up the culture here of tabao-ing leftovers for my next meal. hahaa...I don't take leftovers at home. All food will go to the bin, so actually, a few times here, I wasted quite a bit of food and I was wondering if it was rude or not.... any ideas?

Stayed up in Marrissa's family home. It was really nice. A small swimming pool, grill by the side, big kitchen... the downside? I had to live with a persian cat. YUCKS! luckily, it is unfriendly. hahahahahah....

TItle said Quirky America. hahaha... these few days, I have picked up some amazing facts about people here...

(1) If you are black and under 30, chances are that you have been to jail than having acquired a college degree.

(2) The blacks think that Hurricane Katrina was man-made by the whites to wipe out the black population.

(3) People don't believe that Neil Armstrong have landed on the moon in 1969. hahhaha... amazing right. THey pointed out some facts like Neil Armstrong never talks about his flight to the moon at all etc...

(4) Food is mostly cajun (pronounced as kay-sian) and tex-mex (texas-mexican) food.

(5) Employees are not supposed to buy their bosses meals. It is almost a law here. That's why Ray treats me everyday. BOsses are supposed to pay ALWAYS.

(6) Liberals, conservatives, left wing, right wing, socialist, communist... wtf. I still have no idea what they are.

(7) Everything here is genetically modified.

(8) It is still "the bigger, the better" mentality here. I am talking about body size, breast size and cars. hahaha..

(9) Living here is cheap. Yeah, whoever can find DKNY bags in sg for like 30, 40 USD or anne klein shoes at 20, 40 dollars. No way in SG. A restaurant meals here cost an average of $15 per pax and can tabao leftovers home. So really save quite a bit of money.

(10) Whatever happens in Vegas, will stay in Vegas. This line is applicable to shady neighbours as well.

1 week has past and my thoughts of long term stay here is still waivering.... yeah, I have thought of finding my next job here in time to come. HOwever, I am still not sure about it. So far working in the office here, I realised that because of the culture here, I would be able to grow up better (in working sense). I am encouraged and exposed to new things everyday because information sharing (ie. people talk too much) are a norm here. In terms of work prospect, I am quite sure the opportunities here are far and wide.... I mean, this is where the heart of o&g industry... on the other hand, it is of cos all the homesickness that I have to deal with if I ever move here. hahaha.. my comfort zone is very impt to me, in a sense, it is something for me to look forward to after I have stepped out. But to move and work here will be a very big decision of my life. hahaha..

oh well. I still have a long way to serve my bond. =P

It's Friday!!! hahaha.. I wrote this entry last night okie... just forgotten to post it. Am quite excited for the weekend. I hope Joni gets me the car by today. Have a couple of things planned already...I will spend the whole day in the outlet shopping tomorrow and Sunday in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. It is free on the 1st Sunday of every month. hahaha... in any case, Paris did me good. I love looking at art pieces and since, they are featuring Pompeii's pieces, why not. hahaha....

oh oh... did I mention that I would want to go back to Paris to visit the musuems again...oOoPpS... I haven't finished blogging on my Spain-Paris trip.... arrggghhhh....

revolutionising the blog....

I got inspired by SZ. hahaha... his new blog skin looked so cheerful.... so I have decided that I should revoluntionised my blogskin to white as well!!! NICE RIGHT??? I am not copying him loh. Just that, the white looks clean and totally chic....hahaha.... everyone should just make his blog look totally plain by changing it to white background as well... hahahahaahah..... It is damn cool because blogger actually allows me to customise a chosen template easily nowadays. I am not good at creating blogskin from scratch. Thus, this is totally fantastic siah....

reporting live from Dallas, Texas..

ha!

after 24 hours of travel with an 1 hour's break in Moscow, I finally reached Houston.

Ray Tommy picked me up at the airport. Checked into the Mariott Residence Inn. It is nice. There's a kitchen and a living room separated from the bedroom can!! hahaha....mini suite siah.. hehe..

Jetlagged.. couldn't sleep the night.

anyway, it is the memorial weekend this week. Thus, Ray and his wife got me out of JW office for 5 days and hang out with them up north in Dallas.

so here I am working here instead.... will update when I have time. Have plenty of work to do actually... haha....

!!! I was at Aston again last night. Was looking forward to another great round of Wagyu beef. But shitty enough, it was sold out...

So mum ordered a black pepper steak (BORING!). Dad and I shared the prime ribeye extra cut and the ieat super burger. Between all, the ieat super burger was the better amongst all!!! Good recommendation from siew sze!! hahaha.... the burger had deep-fried sweet onion, bacon, veggie, cheese and the beef itself. The sweet onion and bacon totally brought out the taste in that burger. I would give it 7/10 bah. I was quite disappointed with the beef and the bread. Beef was medium but dry. Bread don't feel like it had been lightly toasted at all. The 2 steaks were kinda disappointing as well. They were so... normal...

so in conclusion, if anyone is heading to aston, just order the wagyu beef siah... It is gurantee to be a good steak experience...

oh. I am heading off to the houston next Tuesday. hahaha.. to work for a month there and would head down to Miami and Orlando for a week's holiday there as well... I know, blog is totally lagging behind in my life now. I will try to update whenever I can...

Day 6- Seville

Churros for breakfast

The torros posters for different years

The oldest bullring in Spain

This picture show the 3 main scenes in a bull ring...

Two of the best bullfighters in Spain's history

One of the many beautiful stain glasses in the Giralda

Christopher Columbus Tomb

At the top of the Giralda

34 floors wor....

OoOpPs... girls caught shopping...

Our business plan... hahaha...

Morning was spent hunting for our train/bus tickets to Madrid. hehe... bus was a little too dangerous for us. So decided to pay TWICE the price for a ticket out of Seville.

Visited the Bullring after that. Nice... the tour was really helpful.

Then after lunch we went to the world's largest gothic church, the Giralda. It was really really grand. Actually, I do feel that this is much better than the Notre Dame Church in Paris. The moment I went in, I was totally blown off the groud siah.. the Christopher columbus tomb, the altar area, the gigantic organ and the numerous stain glasses left me quite *speechless*. hehe....

We went shopping for souvenirs afterwards. It was quite apparent that souvenirs in Seville are much cheaper to buy. hehehe.... =PpP

Day 5- Seville

Shanli checking email....

That newly-renovated apartment..

Grand entrance to the Alcazar..

oh no... I cannot remember what this is...

Pond at the back of the palace...

This day certainly wasn't interesting at all. We spent the morning looking for a new hostel but had trouble finding any. Then the host finally decided that they won't charge us extra to change us to the newly-renovated apartment instead. wahahha.. that was a good highlight. The apartment only had a twin bed. But good thing was that it has a kitchenette and an attached bathroom. hahaha... that was nice...

Afternoon was spent at the Alcazar. It is TOTALLY OVERATED CAN.... it just totally bored me to tears..... nothing in there at all... zzz...

Dinner was GOOD!!! hahahaa.... we had maggie mee!!!!!

Greener pasture?

I was really bored last weekend. Partially because I got really bored at office one day. And I accidentally signed up for a trip up Endau Rompin. Oh. So I will away from SG over the weekend for an "exciting" getaway... ahhahahaha

*faintz* and coincidentally, a few days before that I sweared that I would never sleep in a tent or trek again...$%^%^&%^%$

Anyway, a dinner with a friend had me thinking about a lot of things lately. She said I had always shut myself away from relationships. Aiya, I used to give that excuse that I was recovering from a failed relationship. Then lately, the excuse was I have no time for one....

Yes yes, I am full of excuses.... but sometimes, these excuses are for me to sweep things under the carpet and not think or talk about it. THen she for no reason come and say me... *sianz* but to be frank, I am really frightened of an emotional burden in a relationship...

I am the carefree type. I don't like having to care about someone wholeheartedly or worry about someone all the time. I don't want to be on the rig and having to miss someone. I don't want to be a tortoise and want to run to him when something goes wrong. I want to be stronger than all that so that I will never feel that I have lost my independence or that free spirit in me...

That is what I call an emotional burden. I am enough of a trouble on my own, much less having to share my life with someone else...

So please remind me that I will lose my freedom if I ever complain to you that I need a guy in my life. hahaha.... I tend to forget what's more important to me when I start looking at the pros of being in a relationship. hahaha... =PpPp It wasn't easy finding my carefree self back. So for now, I just want to concentrate on my career and be RICH.

whoever said money couldn't buy happiness... =P *cheers* To live a life to my heart desires!!