My Life On The Move – Current Location: Houston

An asian needs her tom yum (or instant noodle) fix once in awhile… and see what I found at the grocery store!

Only cost $0.29!

Cooked it with some vege and an egg. Ahh… yummy for my tummy, especially on a cold, rainy evening….

Hurricane season is here! In the US, hurricane season is like monsoon season in Malaysia. We see alot of rain, hail and storms and yes, obviously, HURRICANES.

There’s a sudden change in weather over the weekend. From sunny days the change brought alot of rain. There was a hurricane (not categorised) spotted in downtown Houston, just 15 minutes from where I live, but there were no damange reported.

Early this morning it started to pour in Houston and the sky has remained gloomy the rest of the day, it’s still raining now (was glad I didn’t have to wake up to get to work, love sleeping in on a rainy day)

This is what the local news says…

Stormy Weather Expected Throughout Wednesday
Flash Flood Watch Extended Until 4 A.M. Thursday

HOUSTON – Another round of strong storms has made its way to Houston, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The National Weather Service has extended a flood watch until 4 a.m. Thursday for southeast Texas.

"This system has been pushing from the ocean up toward the land," KPRC meteorologist Byron Miranda said. "The reason for it is we have an upper level low cut off from the jet stream. That means it’s going to stick around for some time."

There is a 60 percent chance of rain Wednesday and the high is forecast for 84 degrees.

Many roadways flooded around Houston, creating traffic nightmares during the morning commute.

High water was reported on Edgebrook Drive near the Gulf Freeway, Fuqua Street near the Gulf Freeway, Hughes Road near the Sam Houston Tollway and on Interstate 10 near Lockwood Drive. (no where close to where I live, thank god)

Some streets in southeast Houston were still flooded several hours after the rain stopped.

Centerpoint Energy said a small number of customers lost power during the storms. Most of the affected customers were in Bellaire, Spring Branch and on the south side of Houston (not city centre, therefore I am spared)

Looks like it’s going to be gloomy and rainy for the next couple days. Temperature now is 24C. On a rainy day like this, having either soup or instant noodle while curled up on the sofa with a dvd playing would be perfect…. mmmm….

Sample # 4 – Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk (Cost $2.50)

If you like nuts in your ice cream, this is it!

This is a pint of chocolate ice cream, mixed with pecans, walnuts and chocolate coated almonds with chunks of white and dark chocolate bits.

Verdict: I enjoyed this pint for the nuts. There is a generous amount of nuts in it. The chunks of chocolates are abit too much and hard to bite on, though would be better if it was just chocolate fudge. Overall a good pint.

* I was stressed out last week, therefore an increase in ice cream consumption. And I did finish what I bought before getting another pint

Sample #3 – Ben & Jerry’s Dublin Mudslide (Cost $2.50)

This pint is made of Irish Creme Liquere ice cream with chocolatey choc chip cookies and chocolate fudge.

Verdict: I like it! It’s yummy but would be better if there were more alcohol in it (would be perfect if some Baileys was added) The chocolatey cookies go really well with the ice cream and the choc fudge is soft and delicious!

It has been awhile hasn’t it? Sorry, but I was busy last week, and NO, I was not busy doing nothing, I was busy (and stressed out) getting a visa to bloody Canada!

Adam and I will be in Vancouver 29 June for 10 days. His cousin is getting married and we intend to do some sight-seeing after the wedding. Being Malaysian, I would need a visa to visit Canada. So what’s the fuss?

It’s a farking big deal when: -

1. There’s no Canadian General Consulate in Houston - I have to get all docs ready, send them to New York and pray the Consulate do not need to interview me as that would mean a trip to NYC just for that.
2. It would take at least 10 working days to process my documents – that’s because I am mailing them my applications. If they work Msian style, I am farked. Any delay will cause me the trip.
3. I need to submit salary slips and financial documents to convince them I will not work in Canada – I am not working! Since I don’t have pay slips I have to make copies of our joint-account bank statements and write a story on the Supplementary Information Form
4. I found out Thursday that I need to submit a copy of return tickets (back to US since there’s where I am entering Canada and to home country since I am in the US on visitor’s visa) - My ticket back to Msia expired in May and I need to extend my ticket and have MAS reissue a ticket. Monday is a public holiday and Adam was leaving for Canada Tuesday, I was only left with Friday to get things sorted! I had to find a Post Office, buy a Money Order for $437.75 issued to MAS, get that sent to LA on Priority Mail (2-day delivery) so they could reissue me a new ticket Tuesday when they get back to work. I can’t wait for MAS to mail me my ticket, so I got them to fax me a copy of my new ticket so I can submit my visa application tomorrow (they did just that… hoorah!)
5. I just realised I forgot to ask Adam his cousin’s name and address! – I sent him an email and a text on this and am waiting for his call. Argh… I hate myself when I am forgetful with things like this!

One more piece of information, and oh, 2 photographs (I’ll do that tomorrow) I can send my application to New York. Wish me luck!

Task #1 of the day: Buy spices at ‘Little India’ of Houston

Little India is about 15 mins drive (on the highway) South from where I live. Here you can get everything (or almost everything) Indian.. i.e. jewelry, sarees, punjabi suits, threading services, groceries, travel agent, pawn shop… etc.

*The grocery store I went to.

India Grocers sells fresh vegetables and cili padi! (yeah, am happy they have cili padi and I bought some eventhough I have not thought of how I can incorporate it into my cooking for now). Different types of spices, chutneys, yoghurts, papadums, breads (paratha, puri, chapati), lentils, beans, asian sauces, indian sweets, murukku and even Indian prayer statues, incense and lots more.

Just like Brickfields…

Task #2 of the day: Eyebrow threading

I have been looking forward to getting my brows done since I got here. I was so used to going threading in KL that tweezing now is difficult and my brows don’t look nice cos I am not good at it.

It cost $8 for eyebrows, $3 for upper lip and $10 for both brows and upperlip. Reasonable I would say, as long as I don’t start converting it back to RM.

Oh! Wanna see what I bought at India Grocers?

* Papadum! Dark soy sauce! Lentils for dhal and spices for curry.

I am planning to cook chicken curry and Tarka Dhal served with rice, Mattar Pulao and papadums by the side.

Wish me luck!

It’s still Wednesday… I am still planted on the sofa and am enjoying every moment of it. (And no, I don’t regret turning down that invite to the pub) I have decided to bore my friends by publishing another blog entry!

I spent the morning blogging (publish and read) – very productive.

I took a shower and am having my cup noodle and mid-day cocktail now – lovely!

I don’t know what it’s called, probably Fizzy Screwdriver. Vodka with orange juice and diet sprite.

This will be my last blog entry for the day. I will be at the apartment’s bistro around 2.30pm for chocolate chip cookies and coffee and maybe a show on VH1. YUM!

Ciao (Miao)!

One blog-to-book publication I want to get is PostSecret. I first read about it in Marie Claire magazine March US Edition. It’s about a guy in Maryland who gives out postcard to random people on the streets. Those people are to write down their deepest secrets and post it back. All secrets received will remain anonymous.

The Post Secret blog has been hugely popular, being named by Time as one of 50 coolest Web sites in 2005. Recently, it won two 2006 Webby Awards and five Bloggies, including "Best American Blog" and "Blog of the Year". (It’s my favourite blog )

One of my favourite postcards write ‘He’s the first guy I trully loved, and the one I cheated on’

Some other good postcards

Will get the book soon and post more cards if I come across anything interesting.

Sample 2 – Ben & Jerry’s Everything But The… (Cost: $2.50)

If you like surprises in every spoonful you put in your mouth, this would be a good choice.

This pint is made up of both chocolate and vanilla ice cream combined with chunks of Heath bar, Peanut Butter Cups, white chocolate and chocolate coated almonds.

Verdict: I have to admit I didn’t quite enjoy this pint. Too many peanut butter cups in there and I am not a fan of peanut butter nor white chocolate. Heath bar and choc almonds are yummy!

*I have just finished this pint. Am looking forward to picking out a new flavour tomorrow!

Over the weekend, we went camping with 4 other friends at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. This 705-acre park, between Woodville and Jasper (2 hours drive north of Houston), is actually on a 15,000 acre reservoir (The B. A Steinhagen Reservoir)

Our campsite is next to a lake and the scenery is just beautiful! One note of caution though, there are alligators in the lake. We see many signs along the park which reads ‘Do Not Feed / Touch Alligators‘.

A friend of mine spotted an alligator coming up for air in the lake! The park ranger assured us that there’s no incident of alligators attacking human, they are only interested in dogs. Since most of us really wanted to see an alligator, there were many times we were tempted to throw someone’s dog in the lake… when that failed, Natasha suggested tying me to the edge of a pier as bait and Adam happily agreed!

We spent our days taking dips in the lake, mountain biking and getting dirt on ourselves at the biking trails, eat and drink and watch the sun sets.

We brough alot of food and drinks. For breakfast, we have bacon, eggs, sausages, sauteed mushroom, muffin, coffee cakes, cinnamon rolls, toasts, fruits, coffee, tea and milk.

Lunch we have cheese sandwiches, cinammon rolls, cookies, beer and vodka.

Dinners we barbequed steak, pork, bratwurst, burger, chicken and have them with salad, and alot of alcohol.

The sunset is just beautiful. On Saturday, we watched the sun set by the lake with a cheese platter and red wine.  Awesome!

Though sleeping in a tent isn’t the most comfy experience, I enjoyed myself nonetheless. A brilliant weekend getaway. Who says camping is torture?