What Home Looks Like...

Post Dated Tuesday, 29 January 2008

Welcome, welcome to our humble abode... this posting is an update to the one that Doris put up on 21 Jan...

Ok, so this is our living room cum study area. It's not too plushly furnished, but it has all the necessary things we need, like a simple table, book shelf, two chairs and a TV rack with a nice 19" flat-screen TV cum DVD player. We bought everything on budget but things have turned out to be quite cosy. We'll be adding other stuff from time to time... :)

We are now eying a rug to be placed in the centre of the hall to add to the coziness... ha!

It's a living room with a view too. We are currently staying on the top floor of our apartment building and it overlooks a nicely manicured front yard of another apartment block as well as a public garden. Don't be fooled by the drab thing you see before you now. It's still wintery so the leaves have fallen, but wait till Spring when all the vegetation are in full bloom!!!

Moving on, this is the linkway from the living room to the toilet as well as the bedroom and kitchen. The main door is also along this spine (you can see the parade of shoes), but fortunately, there's just the two of us staying here now, so space management is still not too bad. Sometimes we do feel that it's a bit cramped, especially if we're trying to put on our shoes, carry all the barang-barang and leave the house... but what the heck right?

Now onto the toilet. From the picture above, you can catch a glimpse of the throne right? That is the entrance to the beloved toilet. The picture on the right offers a more complete view of the amenities... with a vanity top, a dresser box with mirror that is too high for Doris to see herself (LOL... she'll kill me for posting this haha!) plus a bath-tub to bat. Not too bad for a one-bedroom right?

And talking about bedroom, here's what the rest area looks like. One plush bed with a side table that I assembled myself... the bed frames here are different from those we encounter in Singapore, but otherwise, the bed itself is very comfortable. We're even considering to freight the bed back home when it's time to leave because this is really a comfy mattress. We got it at a really good price from a very nice lady - and now friend of ours - that we met at Mattress Discounters. We really thank God for the provisions...

Well, I've saved the best for last... and that's the kitchen. I never realised how much I like this place till now. Doris and I have, and you've probably seen from earlier postings, been cooking up meals that we never thought we could do. Got an electric stove, large sink, oven, fridge, lots of storage space... great! We've tried several of the instant "Asian" and "Singapore" styled meals here but they tasted awful. Nothings really beats whipping up our own fare, and it's not been too hard on our tummies this far... :)

So we hope you liked what you saw. No, this is not Mocha.com so I can't pose "machoman" style to sell the real estate, thought I think such advertising would be a hit here... till the next posting then!

Visiting the IMAX Theatre & Aquarium

Post Dated Friday, 25 January 2008

Today we had a great afternoon out visiting the Boston Aquarium and also catching a documentary at the IMAX Theatre. Tickets to the theatre were quite affordable so we decided to catch a show on the great undersea world narrated by none other than Johnny Depp (of Pirates of the Caribbean fame).


This is a photo of us at the Aquarium lobby. We were here while waiting for the show to begin about an hour later. At the same time, we also visited the gift shop and could you imagine the size of some of the toys on sale (see below)? Lilliputian Doris was simply dwarfed standing next to the penguin huggy!!!


Need another photo to show that it's not a camera trick? Here you go...


We also got an opportunity to catch some photos up close and personal with some Boston harbour seals... here is Doris beside the tank with one of them flashing by...


I thought they were simply adorable. One of em saw me holding a camera - it was as interested in me as I was of it - and came close enough for me to grab some close-ups... refer to the next few photos :)







































Yup, we certainly enjoyed our afternoon tremendously!!

PayPal Certified!

Post Dated Friday, 25 January 2008

Today I just set-up my Pay Pal Account and can proudly display the PayPal Seal haha!!!

Actually I am also using this blog space to save the HTML info in case I need to retrieve it next time. :)

Home Sweet Home

Post Dated, Mon 21 Jan 2008

Finally, I got my chance to contribute to our blog... Dan had been hogging our macbook.

As my first entry, I though it would be appropriate to post a photo of our living room and introduce our new apartment. It is still quite bare but trust me, we will soon make this house into a home. =) Check out the Samsonite folding chair! Shi mei de lor. I carried two chairs home from Bed, Bath and Beyond (similar to a mini Ikea in Singapore). They are HEAVY and passers-by couldn't help but laugh because the chairs are almost as big as me. But who cares? I love these chairs and I was really determined to bring them back home and surprise Dan. He was quite touched.... oohhh....


Oh, did you catch that in the photo? Yes it is the Football Manager Game. So now you know why he's always with our macbook. Ahem. Well, other than playing Football Manager, he did his part. He carried home the table, the bookshelf, the lamp, the rug, a TV console, a printer and this 19 inch LCD HDTV!


Almost everything in our house was form BBB and Best Buy. We should get special members' discount from them! Anyway, my poor ah lao had to lug these items back because these stores are just a stone's throw away; too near to take a cab. Don't worry, Dan felt great after carrying all the items back.

He had been eating quite a lot due to the cold weather and he wants to get some work-outs and lose some fat... erm... well... he needs to. =P

It's A Snow-In!

Post Dated Saturday, 19 Jan 2008

Monday is gonna be -6 degrees here in Boston City so it'll be freezzzzing. Just to give you a clue as to how cold it can be, just imagine this...

There was a snow-in in Boston the past Monday. A snow-in is when the snow-storm is so bad that it causes disruption to some services... in this case many schools were closed.

Since then, the weather has cleared up, but guess what? The place is so cold that the snow still hasn't melted a week down the road, which is today!!! Think the people here must be pretty used to this, as evidenced by the thick blanket of snow enveloping their cars.

They are quite bo-chap about this and we've even seen many others driving with the snow on their cars... imagine if this were your Toyota, Honda, Benz or BM whatever... ouch!!

BTW, we have intentionally omitted taking cars from the full-frontal so don't be thinking of buying your 4-D... heh...

Watz Cookin???

Post Dated Friday, 18 Jan 2008

Food glorious food... they say good food is the way to a man's heart. Well, this morning I whipped up a special meal for Doris and here are some pictures for your, ahem... digestion. :)



Nice right? This marks our first venture into gourmet cooking (and it's a meal with a view), so who knows? Perhaps we'll be cookin up a storm very soon... ha!

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow...

This picture was taken from our hotelroom around 5am a couple of hours after it startd precipitating in Boston, and generally much of the eastern part of the States.

After breakfast, I decided to venture outside and once again, I managed to trick Doris to follow me to visit the scenic Charles River (I did something like this to here when we were on honeymoon in London when I got her to trek some 5++kilometers along the River Thames hee hee). I told her we'd never get this in Singapore, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime thingie.

She started cursing and swearing the moment we stepped out of the Science Park T Station... well actually, she started cursing and swearing the moment we left the warmth of the hotel lobby. OK, so it was -3 degrees celsius outside... but what the heck right?

So there we were...



Post Dated Monday, 14 Jan 2008

Yaaaaaaam Seeeeeng...

Post Dated Monday, 14 Jan 2008

Now this is a really short one. The picture speaks for itself. Here in cold, cold Boston, we need to keep hydrating ourselves, apply all manners of moisturizer on the skin etc etc etc. But I got to hand it to the Americans. They can really drink. Check out the size of the bottle vis-à-vis the size of Doris' head… haha!

A Walk In The Park (Continued...)

Post Dated Sunday, 13 Jan 2008

Right, back to where I left off...

We were strolling along the park when Doris was suddenly swept off her feet by a bout of inspiration. That's when she grabbed the camera to take the following shots... so she proudly wants me to mention that all the photos you see here are either taken or composed by her... there I've said it!

BTW, we try not to include ourselves in the photos where possible (in Mandarin we call it Sha[1] Feng[1] Jing[3] - "to kill the scenery"... literally) so just enjoy the next few photos like postcards :)

This is Doris by the frozen lake in the middle of the park. You'll notice the frosty surface if you look real hard at the background. The whitish patch is where the ice is. But amazingly, wild ducks were seen waddling in the water. The work of God's hands is simply unbelievable...

The last photo below is the clincher... like an award-winning wedding album pose right? Don't worry, the tall lady you see in the pose is indeed Doris (her elongated shadow hahaha!), if there's any flirting around, its our flirtations with our imagination and the myriads of images that were just limited by our own square box!!!

A Walk In The Park...

Post Dated Sunday, 13 Jan 2008
OK first and foremost I've been told my my wife that I talk too much in blog and should put up more photos instead, so from here onwards, you'll see more pics... like these...

Today we took the T to explore the Boston Common, which is accessible both by the Boylston and the Arlington stations (the Common and the Public Park are smack in the centre).

Though most of the trees were threadbare, we did enjoy the beautiful scenery nonetheless, and this leaves us to wonder how the parks would look like in full bloom in Spring.

There weren't many people around though, probably because it was still about eightish and on a Sunday, most people were still in bed?

Catch more later then...

Walking Around Town "Pant-less"

Post Dated Saturday, 12 Jan 2008

To date we have been travelling around by cab because it is simply the fastest way to get around... or so we thought. After two days living like money flowed from a tap (which of course isn't the case) we decided that to familiarise ourselves with the local MRT system, which is called the "T" here. The lines may seem quite confusing at first because there are the A, B, C D and E lines for inbound and outbound routes that could take you to different ends of the world. But we managed somehow, and along the way, came across something very interesting yesterday...

Just for one afternoon yesterday, there was a group of people moving around town taking the "T" with proper tops but less than modest bottoms... how shall I put it... well, they were in their undies - both men and women. I had a quick glance and caught a glimpse of ladies in panties and men in boxers. They seemed pretty cool about it and others on the trains didn't seem perturbed by this so I suppose such expressions are quite common. But reading from the papers later, we got to know that this one-day movement was an attempt to introduce some laughter to the city. I don't know how much their objectives were achieved but from the look of the participants - many of whom were Harvard and other university and college grads - most didn't seem too amused themselves. Anyhow, sorry, I didn't take pictures of this extraordinary sight as I didn't want to get bashed up... well as they say, only in America...

Apartment Hunting!!!

Post Dated Friday, 11 Jan 2008

Today we went apartment-hunting. Actually had a link to a real estate agent that we chanced across while in Singapore, so we duly looked him up to start things off. He didn't have photos on his site, so we totally had NO idea what to expect. Of course we were hopeful, but still none the wiser. Initial discussions in his office seemed perfunctory... such as agent rights, terms of the lease and other details. But when the time came to finally sink the teeth into the pie, absolutely NOTHING prepared us for what we saw. I can't upload pictures for you to see (actually we were too stunned to react then...) but it was a disaster - a fire-safety, health, emotional and psychological hazard to say the least. No wonder he seemed so keen to push the unit across - I almost wanted to ask him if he would pay that kind of money to say there... such an indecent proposal @#$%^&*

Anyway, we left without a word, totally shattered. My orientation commences next week and we just had to secure a unit fast. What to do? But thank God, for as we were walking in the area, we chanced across another rental agency that had photos put up for its units. They looked decent and we went to visit. After initial difficulties in the discussion, this agent finally agreed to help try to secure a unit for us. We'll know by Monday morning if it goes through, we we are praying hard that it does. Wanna see the surroundings?

Looks good right? The area is known as Fenway West. Everywhere around here are all apartment blocks but are rented or owned by young professionals, researchers and medical students from the nearby Harvard Medical School (and so the agent tells us...). Very importantly for me, it is near to the Fenway T Line - a train station, which will be the subject of another post - as well as a super large shopping mall known as The Landmark Centre (see below). This is most certainly the tallest building in this area where the HMC is located. But co-located with the plaza are also Staplez, Best Buy as well as Bed, Bath and Beyond (much like Popular, Best Denki or Courts and Ikea in Singapore). We had a chance to shop around and it's almost a one-stop locality for me... so please pray hard that we secure this area OK? Unless of course God has other plans for us, then may He lead us accordingly. But this far we are having quite a good feel about this place... will updated on this blog really soon... :)

Greetings from FREEZING Boston :)

Post Dated Wednesday, 10 Jan 2008 @ Boston City

Rich blessings to one and all from freezing Boston. If you need an idea how cold it is down here, just take a look at the photo I took as the Delta Airlines flight we were in was over Boston City.

You can still make out that the river below us had frozen up and this is still the warm spell according to locals.

Well... after nearly 24hrs worth of back-breaking flying, we've settled down quite well at our hotel - The Charlesmark Hotel - which is basically quite a neat place at Boylston Street. Check out the photos below (ours is a room with a view, as Doris will testify)...

Needless to say, it's been quite a culture shock for us already because here, coke is cheaper than water, and water (which we take for granted at home sometimes) can't be consumed off the tap - something I always used to do. Yesterday when we caught dinner at Burger King, the attendant asked if I wanted ketchup but I asked for chili sauce instead. He just gave me a "which planet do you come from" look. So now we've learnt. Apparently spices here are pepper, Tabasco and mustard sauce. I'm missing chili padi already...

Just a bit of background on Boston. This city is said to be the oldest and most European city in the US. There is a lot of heritage to the place as this was where the British pilgrims landed way back in the 17th century if I am not mistaken. Boston was also where the fight for independence between the settlers and the British began (which of course was eventually won by the Americans under George Washington) and hence, one can indeed feel plenty of proud tradition in this place. Even the local football team is called the New England Patriots!!

Post Dated Thursday, 11 Jan 2008

Here are some shots of Boylston Street and Newbury Street by day and by night, with a little special effects thrown into the mix for the night shot. We'll certainly upload more pics as we go along... in fact, we heard that the weatherman is predicting some snowfall here next week so that'll make some cool photos. Do wait out then.

In the meanwhile, we'll need your prayers as we begin searching for an apartment over the next few days. We'll be meeting a housing agent later at 9am to try and secure a nice apartment as soon as possible because without it, we won't be able to settle down. My studies begin on 22 Jan so getting a house is imperative. But we are trusting in God's provisions and favour, so look out for our upcoming stories and adventures ok?

The long flight there...

Post Dated Wednesday, 9 Jan 2008 @ T3 Departure Hall

OK, we are so impressed by what we saw at T3. So many things to do inside, and the mood and feel are different from that of T1 and T2, so kudos to CAAS! No wonder Singapore is No.1! And in case you are wondering, you only see Doris preening at the trolley because it is yours truly with the camera... haha!



Post Dated Thursday, 10 Jan 2008 @ SQ0026 somewhere over the Atlantic

This is a picture of the Atlantic Ocean as taken from our flight from Frankfurt to New York JFK. Looking at the in-flight map, I think we were cruising past Iceland at this stage, but from the air it all looks the same right?

Ok so the picture above is more of the same stuff, but this time we are near to Greenland. But the cloud formations really looked beautiful and I just had to take a picture of it. The next image should provide a better look of things...

These photos were taken over the coast of New York just before we landed at the John F Kennedy Airport. After over 23 hours of flying plus transit time, we're finally in the US. Thank God for taking us there safely.