Memories of US West Coast
Let me count the things I remember.
1. I didn't know that Marriott Torrance was near a beach, where we could have good seafood.
2. I lost my way when I scooted out of Macy's Mall (just opposite my hotel). I wanted to evacuate before they shut all the doors at closing time (and risk being locked in) and got lost outside the mall. Turn left, turn right? No one knows. But after seeing a policeman and asking for directions, I found my way back eventually.
3. I don't know what West Hollywood looked like, though I visited.
4. The Standard Hotel in West Hollywood has its name inverted. On purpose, of course.
5. University of Southern California was big and hot (in summer).
6. A new building with broken aircon (a well-known, big name think tank).
7. Embraers are darned small air craft.
8. Monterey Fishermen's Wharf has free clam chowder for sampling. If you know what to do, you can save dinner money.
9. Monterey is one nice place, but honestly not my kind of place.
10. Palo Alto (aka Silicon Valley) is just a mass of concrete buildings.
11. San Jose is a tired little place.
12. I'll never leave my heart in San Francisco.
13. See's chocolates.
14. Strawberry infused water tastes great - now the bigger problem is how to pour the water out of the pot. The berries have often clogged the spout.
15. Bagels. And flavoured Philadelphia cream cheese.
16. The less you pay, the more you get - a second liner hotel in the Marriott chain offered free internet whereas the first liners required you to pay to use the internet.
17. The more you pay, the worse your room. Monterey Marriott gave me a room that was so out of the way that it took the time to run a marathon to get to the lift lobby. Dragging a suitcase, that is.
18. Never judge a building by its facade - the grander it looks, the yuckier inside.
19. [I will probably need Al and my other US readers to confirm this but] Americans seem darned rich. Hey, they seem to go fishing or hiking all the time and be able to pay big bucks to stay in Concierge Level rooms!
20. SSSS - Special Secondary Security Search (or something like that) - the cursed 4-letter word printed on your boarding pass means you are going to be searched big time. I got it in LA. They searched and patted me down. (They probably also checked if it was true human blubber and not packed explosives.) But why didn't they think of liposuctioning me, since my thick, blubbery love handles are actually also flamable?
21. The queue that you are in will NEVER move.
22. In the most sound-proofed and enclosed areas, babies and kids will start wailing the loudest. (I think this is not just for USWC but everywhere too.)
23. American portions are just nice. You either skip starters or dessert. Or even both sometimes. Saves money and calories.
24. Chinese food in America is not as bad as you think (though they are not exactly authentic). But then again, if Chinese food in China in authentic, then I have problems everywhere because Chinese food anywhere else hardly tastes as bad as those from China.
25. Magazines. They have almost anything under the sun. Don't just play-play ok.
26. Cars. Every road is jam packed with cars. And with gas prices so high, you wonder why people would buy such big monsters. But they do.
27. Cheap cigarettes. There was a comic I saw when I was there. Osama asked the tobacco barons if they needed his services to kill more Americans. The barons replied, "No need. They are just doing fine." At less than half of what it costs in Singapore, lighting up is cheap.
28. Late night shows. Not for those who are overly uptight and lacking humour. Often no-holds barred and hilarious! Oh, I liked that one where PIs tracked down stray married partners. That's so bitchy, especially when a husband got PIs to track down his bi- wife (he never guessed till the end!).
29. 6 pillows on a bed.
30. Cool summer evenings.
31. Endless meetings.
32. Quaint little houses along the way to West Hollywood.
33. Graffiti. So pretty. So artistic that you forget they are vandalism.
34. Book stores. Many of them.
35. Moving scenery (from a fast moving bus scooting us from meeting venue to meeting venue)
36. Staples Centre - Home of the LA Lakers!
37. Jam packed San Francisco.
38. The Pacific Ocean from various parts of the shoreline.
39. Flowers in full bloom.
40. Traffic light junction vagrants/beggars.
Monday, July 31, 2006
So fast so little
So fast so little
1. Time past so fast and I have blogged so little.
2. Things went so fast and I could only do so little.
3. The nights went so fast and I slept so little.
4. The work load built up so fast and I could do anything else so little.
5. The phone calls came so fast and I could say so little.
6. Weight gains so fast and hard effort sheds it so little.
7. I think so fast and I could only remember so little.
8. The aeroplane flies so fast and the ground it covered is so little.
9. Money is spent so fast and saved so little.
10. I need to go so fast and I really can only write so little.
1. Time past so fast and I have blogged so little.
2. Things went so fast and I could only do so little.
3. The nights went so fast and I slept so little.
4. The work load built up so fast and I could do anything else so little.
5. The phone calls came so fast and I could say so little.
6. Weight gains so fast and hard effort sheds it so little.
7. I think so fast and I could only remember so little.
8. The aeroplane flies so fast and the ground it covered is so little.
9. Money is spent so fast and saved so little.
10. I need to go so fast and I really can only write so little.
Monday, July 17, 2006
The Full Deck
The Full Deck
Like playing
Cards sat in piles in front of me like a
Dealer in a game of Black Jack anxiously waiting for that
Elusive trump to sweep all cards off the
Table with the money too
Names like numbers in a
Deck each individually identifying some
Value which gives immense
Joy or deep frustration over the predestined ill
Luck of a hand that cannot expect to
Stand and walk away
Each round the cards are played
Fatefully shuffled and distributed among the thrill
Seekers and those pre-disposed to be emptying their
Pockets yet another picture and a cursed
Two, three, four, or five
Faced against an exposed eight and a downturned card
To hit or to stand is a matter of a chance
Meeting name cards of people met in
Fleeting encounters where words are spoken, ideas are shared, arrangements are made (just
Like in the moments of need) the elusive
Card of the very one person needed is never
There like the card that seems missing in the game never making a
Full deck
Like playing
Cards sat in piles in front of me like a
Dealer in a game of Black Jack anxiously waiting for that
Elusive trump to sweep all cards off the
Table with the money too
Names like numbers in a
Deck each individually identifying some
Value which gives immense
Joy or deep frustration over the predestined ill
Luck of a hand that cannot expect to
Stand and walk away
Each round the cards are played
Fatefully shuffled and distributed among the thrill
Seekers and those pre-disposed to be emptying their
Pockets yet another picture and a cursed
Two, three, four, or five
Faced against an exposed eight and a downturned card
To hit or to stand is a matter of a chance
Meeting name cards of people met in
Fleeting encounters where words are spoken, ideas are shared, arrangements are made (just
Like in the moments of need) the elusive
Card of the very one person needed is never
There like the card that seems missing in the game never making a
Full deck
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Brief Update
Brief Update
23 Jun - signed lease for new place
24 Jun - clean up of new place
It took 6 half-pails of water to clean up!
25 Jum - cannot afford to go to new place
We needed a break. Otherwise, we'll be so dead tired, or worse dead, by the time the big move comes along.
26 Jun - called Asia-Trans Worldwide Moving (S) Pte Ltd movers
At the same time, I met my contractor for quotations for minor jobs at the new place. After all, a 30 year old house needs what it needs, upgraded or not. Look at me, just a few days over 30 (ok, make that a handful plus of months) and I'm probably in need of more overhaul that I ever imagine. An oil change, or drainage, for a start... First load packed for own move.
27 Jun - moving consultant came to quote
First load moved over to new house.
28 Jun - received quotation
Nearly died. The quotation was $750! Include GST and we are looking at a good $800. They had better do a good job.
Second load packed and moved to new place.
29 Jun - boxes from movers cannot be used
WHO WOULD USE USED BOXES for clean stuff like clothes and plates and bowls. Worse, these boxes didn't come from a home move. Called moving consultant and quarrelled.
Third load packed and moved to new place.
30 Jun - new, clean boxes arrived.
Initial planning and some packing.
Fourth load packed and moved to new place.
1 Jul - angels arrived
My ex-students, 6 of them, came and helped me with the packing. They were the best thing to happen for a long long long long time. Enough said. I promised them a thank-you meal later. I'll try to make yam paste dessert for them when they come for the meal (Sheena has kindly agreed to wash up the dishes and clean up my kitchen after that. All for my orh-nee. I'm blessed!)
2 Jul - final packing and checks
3 Jul - movers came
Apart from damaging the base of one of my imported teak-wood cupboards (it costs $1200 each!), they also broke a plate (my angels did well, but few things will surivive the very uncoordinated, rough handling of boxes) and left a cigarette burn mark on one of my boxes. The movers were grossly unprofessional. They turned my staircase into a slide and slid the boxes down with little or no regard to the contents. They hit the furniture here and there and caused damage. They smoked and threw the cig butts in my place. They drank the canned drinks I offered and left the cans all over the place. They dirtied the house with their shoes and sticky tape and also damaged many of my stuff by bundling them with sticky tape.
WORST OF ALL, I suffered from acute lumbargo that day. My back simply acted up and I was out of commission.
4 Jul - out of action
Boss messaged me to call and I had to call on the bed. I simply could not get out.
5 Jul - some boxes unpacked
The mess got messier.
6 Jul - madness as more boxes unpacked
THe furniture got moved around because we could not figure out the best way of arranging the stuff.
7 Jul - the mess got arranged some
In the end, we went to watch Superman and I wondered where I had left the remote control. Then I forgot I could not do the fast forward in a movie theatre, even if I had the remote. Then I wished I was Lex Luthor. God! It must have been a real kick kicking the shit out of Supes.
8 Jul - more arranging took place
9 Jul - off to USA
I'll be off till 16 Jul. Housemate's going to have to help with the mess. Then I'm going to tear my hair out trying to fugure out where he left everything.
Until then.
23 Jun - signed lease for new place
24 Jun - clean up of new place
It took 6 half-pails of water to clean up!
25 Jum - cannot afford to go to new place
We needed a break. Otherwise, we'll be so dead tired, or worse dead, by the time the big move comes along.
26 Jun - called Asia-Trans Worldwide Moving (S) Pte Ltd movers
At the same time, I met my contractor for quotations for minor jobs at the new place. After all, a 30 year old house needs what it needs, upgraded or not. Look at me, just a few days over 30 (ok, make that a handful plus of months) and I'm probably in need of more overhaul that I ever imagine. An oil change, or drainage, for a start... First load packed for own move.
27 Jun - moving consultant came to quote
First load moved over to new house.
28 Jun - received quotation
Nearly died. The quotation was $750! Include GST and we are looking at a good $800. They had better do a good job.
Second load packed and moved to new place.
29 Jun - boxes from movers cannot be used
WHO WOULD USE USED BOXES for clean stuff like clothes and plates and bowls. Worse, these boxes didn't come from a home move. Called moving consultant and quarrelled.
Third load packed and moved to new place.
30 Jun - new, clean boxes arrived.
Initial planning and some packing.
Fourth load packed and moved to new place.
1 Jul - angels arrived
My ex-students, 6 of them, came and helped me with the packing. They were the best thing to happen for a long long long long time. Enough said. I promised them a thank-you meal later. I'll try to make yam paste dessert for them when they come for the meal (Sheena has kindly agreed to wash up the dishes and clean up my kitchen after that. All for my orh-nee. I'm blessed!)
2 Jul - final packing and checks
3 Jul - movers came
Apart from damaging the base of one of my imported teak-wood cupboards (it costs $1200 each!), they also broke a plate (my angels did well, but few things will surivive the very uncoordinated, rough handling of boxes) and left a cigarette burn mark on one of my boxes. The movers were grossly unprofessional. They turned my staircase into a slide and slid the boxes down with little or no regard to the contents. They hit the furniture here and there and caused damage. They smoked and threw the cig butts in my place. They drank the canned drinks I offered and left the cans all over the place. They dirtied the house with their shoes and sticky tape and also damaged many of my stuff by bundling them with sticky tape.
WORST OF ALL, I suffered from acute lumbargo that day. My back simply acted up and I was out of commission.
4 Jul - out of action
Boss messaged me to call and I had to call on the bed. I simply could not get out.
5 Jul - some boxes unpacked
The mess got messier.
6 Jul - madness as more boxes unpacked
THe furniture got moved around because we could not figure out the best way of arranging the stuff.
7 Jul - the mess got arranged some
In the end, we went to watch Superman and I wondered where I had left the remote control. Then I forgot I could not do the fast forward in a movie theatre, even if I had the remote. Then I wished I was Lex Luthor. God! It must have been a real kick kicking the shit out of Supes.
8 Jul - more arranging took place
9 Jul - off to USA
I'll be off till 16 Jul. Housemate's going to have to help with the mess. Then I'm going to tear my hair out trying to fugure out where he left everything.
Until then.
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