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Sunday, January 09, 2011

New York 2009 -- 2010 Part I

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[picture credit: weheartit]

During this period, I will stop unfolding all my late folders of 2010 and go a step further back into the past. I will be updating on my New York trip over Christmas and New Year of 2009 to 2010. Gosh! I seem to be constantly living in the past.

I know this is really late. In fact, "late" is a euphemism. If there's a higher intensity word for late, do let me know. I would gladly add that to my vocabulary bank.

I have been doing my photo editing since I came back last January and then it got stalled for a long time due to other commitments. Hence, you would see instances of inconsistencies, bad editing and watermarking on the photos as I was still experimenting with Photoscape at that time.

There might be instances of photolog in these updates as I'm getting quite annoyed with my insensitive keyboard to input text in my posts.

Let the Big Apple roll!


~*Day 1 & before (24th December)*~

In the wee morning of 24th December 2009, I boarded the plane with Charlene to travel back in time where after all the transiting and all, it would still be Christmas eve in New York City.

The long haul bonded us even closer and I'm so glad to have a friend in her. No doubt she can be quite an ass at one time and a bitch at another (just like me) but she's still one of the sweetest bitch galfriend ever!

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Our plane touched down in the late afternoon of the 24th.

I was really excited to see shovelled snow everywhere, to breathe in the fresh winter air and feel the icy winds from a narrow opening via the cab's window.

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I've been a tropical gal by heart and winter really excites me.

Stop rolling your eyes at me, all you four-seasons-people.

We had a slight traumatic experience with the cab driver which I won't elaborate here.

Finally, we reached Ronald McDonald House where the Cynthia, Jase and Charmaine were residing.


The warm and cozy lobby

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After rounds of squealing in delights and big bear hugs, we got ready for our Christmas eve dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby.

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Back at RMH, the kids showed us their gingerbread house which they did during a Christmas programme. RMH often organises activities for the residents. There were other gingerbread houses put together by the other residents too. These were all on display in the communal dining room. We were marvelling at how gorgeous and creative some of them were!

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Running to and from the communal lounge and the dining room.

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Our humble accomodation for the trip

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Beautiful christmassy decorations everywhere instantly put me in the warm and fuzzy mood.

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The sofa bed became big char and my bed for the rest of the trip. The kids were so cute! They each showed us the fleecey blankie that they "sacrificed" for us. We only had head pillows and the kids thought that we might feel uncomfortable without a "hugging" pillow or bolster and so handed us their soft toys. Char didn't need to hug so I had both balls! One to prop up the sinking spring at the head and the other to hug.

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With that, we retired for the night with sweet dreams of Christmas.


~*Day 2 (25th December)*~

Christmas morning!

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Making rough plans for our trip. Travelling with kids in toll is not simple and so we had to plan really well. I would love to visit NYC with the hubby the next time as there were still so much more to cover.

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It was time to open our presents!

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Hand made cookies from the kids! They were not only delicious but also oozing with so much love! We also got different coloured beanie bears to go with the tins too.

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Teaching the kids how to build following the coloured step by step instructions.

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A hearty American breakfast (complete with bagels) provided by RMH. From that day onwards, I kept looking forward to breakfast every morning.

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There was a Xmas lunch party in the house scheduled to start at 2pm. We were all so full from brekkie but it was something we all looked forward to. Look at the Christmassy spread!

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Next was santa's gift presentation at the lounge.

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I was such a pig coz after eating my fill, I just lay on the bed and slept part of my jetlag away.

When I awoke, I saw Japanese takeaway for dinner. An unused carton box was transformed into a japanese low table while we pretended to be sitting on tatami mats. Don't we look like a Japanese family having dinner together?

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After that, I got bo liao and started dolling cyn up. I told her that she had been too stressed so looking pretty would lift her spirits up. Without waiting for her to protest, I whipped out my eyeliner and started lining her eyes and putting on fake eyelashes. The result? She thought she looked like Snuffleupagus.

We chatted throughout the night. Char and I got hungry so we peeled off the foil from our chocolate lollies and stoned for the sake of an ugly picture of us looking so listless at 3am while the kids sleep at all sorts of unglamorous poses. In actual fact, we were quite awake and sleepless at 3am!

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Char is so gonna kill me for putting this up! LoLz


~*Day 3 (26th December)*~

On boxing day, we watched the Christmas Spectacular performance by The Rockettes at RadioCity. Once more, it was an event organised by RMH.

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Waiting in the queue under the slight drizzle, what can 3 bimbos do but to snap pictures of ourselves.

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The show was spectacular indeed!

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I took a few videos throughout the performance but I didn't upload them as there are many similar ones on youtube too.

The inside of Radio City reminds me of a posh casino. Don't ask me why.

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After that, we walked around Rockerfeller Center for a while before the rain got heavier and we had to head indoors-- not before we take a snapshot of the real xmas tree.

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Soup lunch at Hale & Hearty

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my little precious moments babes!

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There was a Japanese salon located there and it was high time char and I needed to trim our hedges which was sweeping across our eyes and forehead.

Having fun in the salon!

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This collage chronicles our hair cut process.

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Here's us after our hair cut

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I love my bangs! I love how she cut steps downwards and layered the sides for a wispy frame rather than a blunt cut of a hedge that extended sideways. On the downside, it was also the most I've ever spent on a haircut that only includes fringe and sides. It was USD $30 not inclusive of tip of course. To think that I normally spend less than SGD $5 on my fringe in Singapore.

Currently, I'm glad that I've since found a $3.50 one which cuts the fringe exactly the way I want it. Yes!


Cyn and the kids headed back home while char and I explored the city.

I love sponteneity!

Char and I just walked in the drizzle to a destination to nowhere. Each time we got too cold or if we decided to visit an approaching building, we would zip into that particular building to explore while warming up. Char was pretty familiar with NYC so I felt super safe with her.


Some sights from our walk... we also took a subway down to Macy's coz I was in the mood for some girly shopping trip.

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Our dinner that day

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I hope to update part II soon!

Feisty Char needs bullets to fight!

12 comments:

  1. you do have a gorgeous fringe haha :) kawaii definitely! hey thanks for always leaving the sweetest comments :)!! big happy new yr to you!! really hope you have a fab yr ahead and i will def try to keep my new yrs resolution to update more hahah im so glad i got the new mac but its soo hard im not used to it ahh but dw ill work on it! ur post seems like soo much fun so much activity makes mine seem so dull!! anyway have a gd week! x

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's nice to see all of you walking places that I've actually been--and especially seeing little Char smiling through everything. You looked like one of the kids until the pictures with Santa hats.

    I hope the cabby was not too obnoxious.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like you really enjoyed your Christmas! Thanks for sharing all the photos! I love your new haircut and bangs, they look really cute on you :) Haha I've lived in the tri-state area all my life and I have never even been to RadioCity or seen the Rockettes show; maybe next year :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. heartofpearl ♡,

    Thank you dear for your compliments. As for comments, well, I always mean everything I say. =) So please continue to keep to your updating of blog resolution!

    I heard that mac is really difficult to use for people who are too used to MS. Hope you manage to get the hang of it soon.

    Have a good week too! =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. RicAdeMus,

    Haha... I understand how thrilling (is "thrilling" even the right word to use?) it is to see an international blogger friend treading on familiar local routes. I get the same feeling too!

    Charmaine has one of the most endearing smile ever. And hey, what do you mean by me looking like a kid? =)

    The cabby WAS REALLY OBNOXIOUS! But I shan't talk about it here to ruin the space.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rinny,

    Thank you for the compliments my dear and for always leaving sweet comments. I read about how you actually really follow and catch up on every blog that you click "follow". That's really nice of you!

    You should see the show coz it's spectacular!

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Jo: Aww thank you as well! Hehe I can't really keep up with all my subscriptions sometimes, but at the very least I make it a point to visit everyone's blogs who leave a comment on mine :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shingo T said...
    I must admit I didn't read every single word. But I saw all the pics, and they look lovely. ^_^

    The vacation looks especially fun with the kids around - I see smiles everywhere!

    I haven't had the chance to go New York, hope to do so someday. Are cars neccessary over there, or can I survive just bt subways and buses?

    Tuesday, January 11, 2011 10:52:00PM


    Jo said...

    Shingo T,

    You left this comment on the wrong post. It should be the post above but it's ok. =)

    Haha... That's really honest of you. Me likey! It was really fun travelling with all my closed ones and the kids REEAALY enjoyed themselves.

    Just my personal take, I think cars are not necessary unless you wanna travel to the factory outlets located more than an hour away from NYC (eg Woodbury I think). The yellow cabs everywhere and the subway is good enough. We did not head far and were mainly in Manhattan and for a while, Brooklyn area.

    Wednesday, January 12, 2011 2:01:00AM

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have it exactly right, Jo. My post is about the times I have sent e-mail responses to "noreply-comment". A few times I have replied to messages without noticing the e-mail address was "noreply-comment". That made me wonder where the messages ended up and I imagined some guy at Blogger reading them.

    If a blogger does not display their e-mail address on their profile page, then their comments don't link to the e-mail address. When I get an e-mail that you have left a comment, the e-mail address line reads: "Jo noreply-comment@ blogger"

    Some bloggers use "disqus" for their comment sections--it allows you to post replies to comments and appears with the comment. Disqus also allows people to comment on your post without being logged into Blogger.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh! Now I get it! Thanx for your very detailed explanation. I tried hitting the reply button on my email to your comment and yes, there's your email @ attached! I never knew that! I've always thought blog comments notification sent to emails are those no reply kind so I never ever reply from there. Thus, I didn't know what you meant initially.

    I personally don't like disqus. I stopped commenting on 2 person's blog coz of disqus. Somehow, no matter whether I use open ID or email or nickname, I just keep getting error messages. Or is it just me being a noob again (just like the time when I didn't know how to get my follwer settings right).

    ReplyDelete
  11. I don't like Disqus either. I have 4 or 5 blog friends who use it and it never lets me comment on 2 of the blogs. Those people probably think I've abandoned them!

    ReplyDelete

I love reading sincere comments and hearing your voice. While blatant self promotion of blogs and follow for follow requests are not advisable, I would love if you leave a mark here with a trackback link so that I could connect with you. I reply to comments here or on your blog so don't forget to check back on replies! =)

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