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Thursday, February 17, 2011

New York 2009 -- 2010 Part IV

Here's Part I, Part II and Part III if you've missed them.

~*Day 10 (2nd January 2010)*~

It snowed in the morning and we could not do anything else but indoor activities. While Cynthia and Charlene prepared lunch, I entertained the kids. Besides playing, we did some pen and paper activities (as being an educator, I could not stand seeing them play the whole damn day). I taught the kids how to draw since Jase was bubbling with enthusiasm to learn how to draw after seeing me draw animals that he requested for. Charmaine would always follow what kor kor wanted to do so in no time, both kids and one godma were seated quietly on the carpet conjuring various animals from our "wands".

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Simple homecooked lunch was what I looked forward to throughout my stay there.

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In the evening, we watched the Gazillion Bubble Show. Thanks to Iris, we got the tickets at a discounted price through the internet. Iris is always adept at sniffing out good deals since she's been staying in NYC for quite a while. A pity she wasn't able to join us with her cute son Everett that day.

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A cannot-be-missed photo moment with the banner! By this time, you would start noticing us wearing one another's coats, scarves, shoes etc. It's always fun to exchange apparels and appear as if you've got a huge closet.

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We weren't lucky enough to get Fan Yang for the bubble show. Instead, his wife Ana Yang was performing that day.

As I'm typing this, the bubble show is gonna hit Singapore's shores soon or has it already?


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There were a few instances when Ana asked for volunteers. Charmaine wanted to go up on stage badly. Jase did not like going up on stage but knowing that his sister wanted so much to do so, he also raised his hand as quick and as high as possible to double her chance of being selected. It was really vey sweet but unfortunately, Ana did not look in our direction the three times she asked for volunteers.

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Me in a bubble photo moment

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The pretty ladies... Jase did not want to join in.

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Charmaine wants one with the mummies.

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~*Day 11 (3rd January 2010)*~

It was a day spent indoors as our reader-turned-personal friend Stephanie (who has since become the kids' favourite "aunty" and a great friend of cyn's) was dropping in for a visit after a few hour's drive.

She brought pizzas, cheesecakes and sweet treats!

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Stephanie is such a great lady with a really big heart and it is our good fortune to be acquainted with her. She would definitely make a great mother one day!

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Besides pen and paper activities, getting the kids creative is also a good way of making sure that Charmaine's mind is constantly stimulated and that she does not fall behind in terms of academic ability since she has not been going to school for more than a year after her diagnosis. She has forgotten the alphabet and has difficulty recognising the letters, often getting them confused. However, her oratorical skills are superb for her age. She uses big words like panic, exhausted, confused, concentrate, extremely, hilarious etc.

Look at their smiles! They really love doing craft!

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Little char and I made candilicious bracelets for all the girls.

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~*Day 12 (4th January 2010)*~

It was a fun evening out with Charlene at Times Square.

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She had to constantly remind me that Times Square isn't a square at all and it's grossly overhyped. NYC isn't her cup of tea as she used to fly there quite often for work. However, being a first time tourist to New York, I enjoyed myself very much. I loved the colours and light and how vibrant that whole area was.

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Our first pit stop -- Hershey's

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Next, we crossed over to M&Ms World.

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While waiting for the green man, we snapped quick shots of ourselves.

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Some silly shots. I love the Mployees!

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That's the first time I saw baby/pastel colours for the M&Ms chocolates. They look really adorable and delicious. I love the pink, purple and blue best!

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When I see this shot of Char, I keep laughing about how silly she was while I was taking this seemingly normal picture. Turn your head gurl, not the jackpot slots.

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M&Ms inside, Hershey's outside, Char and Jo in mid-air.

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I snapped more pictures before it got too cold.

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TGIF for dinner was an impromptu decision as we were too cold and wanted to sit down to eat, drink and warm ourselves at the nearest available eatery.

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Once again, the food wasn't too bad but the proportions were American. I'm one who usually finishes my main course but I could not finish many stuff there. My face actually grew noticeably rounder after I came back and everyone deemed I was having a good life when I was struggling to finish my food!

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Char's ribs (not her ribs actually, the pig's) was sooooo long it would have been a large in Singapore. And no price for guessing that she ordered small. As for mine, I seriously wonder if my steak was a side dish.

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We ate and chatted till the sun set.

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We went to Toys R Us to see if we could get any toys for our boys. That was the largest Toys R Us I've been to. And I still thought the 2-storey Toys R Us back in Northpoint Singapore when I was a kid was huge.

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I die die wanna take a photo in front of the NYPD and we had to stand on a manhole. I was shocked that that's the actual New York Police Department. Looking at the neon lights, I actually checked with char just to make sure that it's not some pub with a similar name.

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The pigeons there were so fat during winter, they could not really fly at all. They merely wobbled away when I got close to them. I swear I could have caught them with my bare hands... gloved hands.

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~*Day 13 (5th January 2010)*~

While editing the pictures, I realised that our lunch was more or less the same but we were all happy eating home-cooked Chinese food. The kids are very Asian and could not take to eating too much Western food. Fishballs are one of their favourites.

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The reason why most of the updates for the day start with lunch is coz breakfast was provided by RMH and it was also almost the same every day. I got lazy taking photos of food that looked the same. However, I did not get sick of the food as I simply love bacon, omelette, jam, orange juice, milk cereal and so on.


After lunch, we headed to Macy's for a mega shopping spree!

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At Macy's

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Huge Macy's paper bag brimming with Coach bags and pouches for myself and family. I was so happy spending money I tell you! They're not all mine though. Char had some share in the bag contents too.

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I arranged with Julie, an old friend from JC times, to meet for dinner together with cyn, char and the kids. She was located at NYC for a few weeks at that time. How very coincidental! She is currently based in Hong Kong. We would not have known that we would be in NYC during the same period if not for the wedding of one of our old friend when we were seated next to each other. We caught up with each other a lot during our friend's wedding dinner and casually suggested we should meet up. I never quite expected it to materialise since she's such a busy and successful lady and was really glad to have met her up.

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Those coloured "panels" in the background are electric guitars by the way.

Skip this part if you only want to read happy stuff:

Julie and I used to be really close in JC since we were both night owls and would often page alphanumeric to each other or leave voicemails. After the advent of affordable handphones, more and more people discarded their pagers for the more convenient handphones and still we continued to text each other. I even kept one of her 2004 sms till now in my very old nokia handphone!

[Aside: YES! I love the pager era. Beats the handphone era hands down! Now you know how old I really am.]

We were close all the way till she left for UK for her university studies. I don't exactly know what happened and why we drifted apart. I've got many close friends who studied overseas and we would always meet up whenever they were back for holidays. Unfortunately, whenever Julie was back, I would not be in town. It happened twice and from then onwards, I didn't know of all the times she came back till I happen to look at news feed and found out from photos on my friends' facebook. I felt really down and I just didn't want to find out what had happened to the friendship. We also used to hang out with a clique of JC classmates up till Uni days and I've really enjoyed those moments with them. However, we've also drifted apart. Till now, I wonder if it was because of something I've said or done or have I fallen out of their league or whether I am just not so likeable anymore.


I'm one who would try all means and ways to salvage a friendship with a close friend whenever I sense that we are drifting apart. After I've done my part by putting in the effort, should the party not make the effort, I would not bother and simply let go. Afterall, I've already done my part, haven't I? However in this case, I did not put in my utmost efforts coz I thought it was too late.

I really treasure the short 3 hours I spent with Julie that evening and the friendship seemed to have gone back to JC days. It felt as if the two of us were transported back during the period of 1999 till 2005 even if everything and everyone around us were from 2010. We clicked, we chatted and she bonded with Jase (Charmaine was seated too far from her). There wasn't an awkward moment or at least that's how I felt on my side. I was really happy that our friendship was rekindled for that short period and I really hope that it isn't just a transient thing.

I'm sorry I blabbered so much. I've been wanting to get this out for a long time and seeing these photos made me quite emotional. It always happens to close friends I treasure but lost.

Let's get back to happy stuff shall we?


It was a long long wait at Hard Rock and it got rather exciting watching our names crawl up the waiting list. Like watching the stocks you buy rise!

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Sumptuous spread! It was so much we had to pack some back.

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After we bade Julie farewell, we decided to let the kids have a little bit of arcade fun since they had not been to one for a long time.

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Time to go home with our loots!

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Oopsy similar pictures overload. I can't decide which is the best.

There is still one more part to conclude my NYC trip posts. I've edited the photos but I'm wondering if I should post up pictures of my shopping buys too. I know many of my local readers love to click on my shopping tags so I'm not too sure if I should go ahead with the overload of shopping spree photos.

Feisty Char needs bullets to fight!

22 comments:

  1. nice pictures, and the m&m world looks so much fun! mm chocolate :D that bubble is huge too, so cool! i wonder if it gets you all wet when you pop it haha

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  2. I've never heard of the Bubble Show, but it looks like fun--and the kids seemed to really be paying attention and enjoying it. Char has to cute "mummies"! =)

    Was there chocolate in those huge Hershey bottles??? Wow, I've never seen ones so large...and the story about Julie, I seeing that as a happy story ebcause maybe now your friendship can grow again. I'm like you, I put in effort, but when I see the other person puts in no effort, then at some point I give up.

    I like Macy's--even their baby clothing is cute. I spent too much on my most recent nephew. LOL!

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  3. omg i love this post.. your pictures are so detailed.. and your trip looks so fun!!

    can't wait to see more of your NYC pictures!!!

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  4. Thanks for sharing with us readers about your trip and your feelings. Your photos and descriptions are really nice and detailed. Thumbs up!

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  5. Pop Champagne,

    I think it does! I didn’t try it though. Haha...

    ~~~~~

    RicAdeMus,

    I’ve also not heard of the Gazillion Bubble show till then too. Heard it was quite a big thing for the kids. Of course after the show, the adults thought it was a show solely for kids. I love how the bouncing bubbles the most. I didn’t think the rest were spectacular. The show is coming to Singapore in March!

    The Hershey’s bottles are hollow. I think they are coin banks.

    Actually you’re right about seeing the story as a happy thing! Your nephew sure is lucky!

    ~~~~~

    lisa,

    Thanx! There’s only one more part left unless you wanna see my shopping buys. LoLz

    ~~~~~

    Anon,

    Thanx a lot! Do leave a pseudonym next time!

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  6. I've never been to NY, so I enjoyed looking at the photos you took & reading about your adventures :-)
    The Bubble Show is something I'v never heard of, but it seems like a lot of fun - especially for the kids I assume.
    The food looks delicious, too. I always love seeing pictures of food - I think it's pretty hard to take pictures of. For christmas I baked such a tasty cake, but when I took pictures of it, they didn't look at all, rather like something you wouldn't get excited about at all *lol*

    Thank you very much for your comment on my blog :-) I'm not sure if you appreciate if we followed eachother, but I'd be glad if we did as your blog is different & an interesting read.

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  7. Woah, love all the pictures you posted!!! Looks like you had an amazing trip last year (right?!)!

    I was actually quite surprised that he got me such a big gift. We usually just celebrate Valentine's Day by going to a fancy restaurant. But it is more for my very early bday gift I guess! ^^

    By the way, love your blog!

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  8. Tabatha,

    Thank you for your long and sincere comment. So sweet of you!From the way you write, I could see you read my words and I love it whenever people read my words and not just scroll through my pictures. =) Oh and thanx for sharing with me about your tasty but "non-photogenic" cake. LoLz

    About the following, sure! Why not? Your blog is also a tad different from the other make up blogs too. Very edgey! I’ll hit the follow button later when I get down to replying my comments. Would love to see a new follower too!

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  9. Crystal Luvz,

    Thanx for your comment, for following and for loving my blog! Haha yes it was last year. My posts are way overdue!

    Your bf wants you to warm and cuddly. Hee...

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  10. Wow this is such a heavy duty post! Must've taken ages to post and edit all those pictures. Keep up the blog challenge. I wish I continued mine but it just got too personal for me lol.

    To answer your question, that guy who made those stupid remarks are Philipino.

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  11. you're welcome :) true, but i guess girls never say no to bags tho? :P

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  12. hello pretty!

    those black soya chicken + hard boiled eggs are probably my favourite dish. lo sui dan is unbelievably delish ^^ I didn't know you've been to new york before! That's very close to me and SO FAR FROM YOU hahahaha. I've been there many times too! It's a great place, shopping is incredible, food is different for sure. I'd never want to live there but I loved the visit.

    Thank you for the award Jo. Yes my thing was referring to you, I only know one Jo in singapore =D I know 3 friends in singapore but none by Jo. LOL of course I will mention your award in a new post silly. Why wouldn't I?? You'll see it in a bit.

    i didn't kno you went to hk either :O Usually singaporeans view hongkong as like a rival city in terms of business and what not hehe. That's what my singaporean friend said~ But they were all super nice to me. What's so good about wan tan meen? I actually thought that was bland when I had it! I primarily tried "jai" (vegetarian stuff?) and roast duck/goose. It was AMAZING! Oh mannnnn.

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  13. HK hasn't changed too much since you went there in 2007. Still lots of japanese stores having locations there - Muji, Moussy, Uniqlo, Yata, SOGO, etc. It was cool for me because I don't live in asia? I only go to those stores when I come back. None of that stuff exists in North America.

    What else did I miss. I missed replying to one of your comments in December - when I said colour is the proper way to spell it and anything else is wrong, yes it was indeed my attempt to "impose" the British spelling onto everyone in this world lol. Americans think they can create a different way of spelling english and it's sort of ridiculous~

    Your story about watching the movie about the loyal dog following it's master to the railway station made me "awwwwww" XD I have lots of those odd memories about shows I watched as a kid too. Being an adult is great but man is it full of problems or what.

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  14. Lemme sift through your posts for a second - I've read everything you update but forgive me for not commenting on all of them. I barely have enough time to read a book these days :(

    Happy 10th anniversary to you and husband! No, you are not much older than me LOL - I guarantee I am around the same age as you~~ Just no wife yet.

    You saw taylor swift!!! I hate you!! I've never seen her before!! How lucky was that huh, you stood outside and saw her come out! I had to wait 10 hours for natalie portman to show up sigh.

    How come you didn't go to the statue of liberty and only go by it? It's a really nice place. I've been there twice? Like actually walk into it and stuff. One time I went they were renovating the statue because it was old, and it had like workers drilling on her nose and stuff HAHAHAHA. And I actually walk near them! It was quite an experience.

    Finally, I hate snow. You like new york snow? Take my canadian snow! Take it! Take it all please don't make me shovel. Every time it snows 30 centimetres I have to shovel for HOURS to get my car out. What a pain in the ass.

    Please take care my friend. Please? :)

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  15. Dear Jo,

    First of all, thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a lovely comment on my page. That is very thoughtful of you.

    I must say you write beautifully and I like your very dark dry humour side. I am very inspired by your journey so far and was amazed by the fact you have continued and persevered in blogging despite going through so many hurdles and hiccups. There are many times, I wanted to stop blogging all togther because of the amount of time I seem to spend in this virtual world compared to the living world I am supposingly in. Nevertheless, every now and then I get to meet new lovely people like yourself.

    I have to say that I was particularly touch by your story of your God-daughter Charmaine. I too have recently become a god mother to a beautiful boy. I am not sure if I would have cope the same.

    As to more a superficial topic, I agree that Chanel bag appreciates exponentially. Yes, it would be a good idea to get in it Europe. Buying designer goods in Asia is like suicide or day light robbery.

    Just a couple of notes which may be of some relevance: Some bags in Chanel boutique sold in Italy would be marked as "CHANEL, Made in Italy" unlike in France and UK which would normally be "CHANEL, Made in France". In addition, if you are going to Paris in your Europe trip, allegedly if you buy the bag in the main House in Rue Cambon, the packaging is extra special. They come with a white camellia stuck onto either on the Chanel box or the paper bag!

    Ok, sorry I have literally spam in your message inbox. Verbal diarrhoea here.

    Hope to see you sometime again.

    Squeeze The Pug
    www.pehsun.blogspot.com

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  16. The few times that I visited NY, the weather was so sickeningly hot! It looks like it didn't stop you guys from having fun. =0D The picture of the kids in the bubble was way too precious! I do miss the quick and fast way of obtaining food in NY ... all of those food pictures made me so hungry!
    OH! I tried fishballs for the first time when my friends gathered for hot pot (also my first time) and it is so delicious!

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  17. Diana & FOTEYN,

    Thanx for dropping by ladies!

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  18. TURTLE!!!

    OMG! You broke the record of longest ever 3 comments in a row! This is going down in my memory forever. You definitely win me hands down! Haha... Ok yeah I know it’s a combined comment from all the replies over time.

    Haha... I’ve never viewed HK as a rival to Singapore! In fact during our Maldives trip in January, we saw so many Asians from Japan and Korea that we were so glad our diving buddies are from HK! They too, were glad we’re from Singapore and we felt an affinity to each other. Haha... I think It’s coz HK and Spore are closer in terms of geographical location and culture as compared to Japan and Korea.

    The few wan tan mee I had in HK was super good. The wan tan was oozing with soup, just like the chinese xiao long bao. I thought all HK wan tan mee were like this. Haha... Maybe it’s just those few stalls. Haha...

    On the “u” spelling. HK and Spore both used to be British colony hence the similarity in spelling. However, as an educator, I often told my kids that American spelling is actually more accurate in pronunciation. I mean, you could pronounce and try to spell out a word and get it rite but not for British spelling. Eg jewelry and jewellery. I used to pronounce it as “jew-wer-ler-ree” to get my spelling rite instead of “jew-wer- ree”.

    Haha.... Oh yes! You waited 10 hours for Natalie Portman! I remember that. Hahaha... we just got lucky. Hate me hate me! LoLz

    My friend (the kids’mum) and my godkids have been to the Statue of Liberty before. I heard from my other friend that she spent quite some time inside and it’s better not to go there with kids. I’m a museum buff so I would really be immersed and did not want others to wait for me. I would love to visit more of America and hopefully go back NYC again (with the hubby) to do all the touristy stuff which I did not get to do.

    Haha... I guess people who live in tropical sunny and rainy 2 season place would love to see snow! However, people who live in 4 seasons climate would hate winter. I can see how tough it is to get by with all the snow. My friend and her kids when they first experienced their 1st snow in their live, called me at 4am (Singapore time coz she knows I’m insomniac) and screamed to me excitedly that it’s snowing! After a few days she complained to me about how troublesom snow was.

    Thanx for the loooooong record-breaking comment. I really had a fun time digesting all your words. Hope to see you around more often. And I really mean it about not blogging about the award. Haha... Coz I hadn’t meant for the people tagged to blog about it. =)

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  19. Squeeze The Pug,

    Thank you for the long and heartfelt comment. It truly made my day coming from someone who barely knows me but made the effort to read my words. I really appreciate that you read many things that I’ve written, about my journey, my god daughter and all and all the kind words you’ve said to me. Thank you so much!

    I totally agree with what you say about wanting to stop blogging but getting to meet new lovely people. It’s a little bit of a sweet irony eh?

    Oh yes, I know about the Chanel white flower! I do hope I could really go Europe this year. I would definitely want to go there at least once in my life. Plus, I wanna buy my chanel! LoLz

    No worries about spamming or having a verbal diarrhoea coz I absolutely love reading such comments. I hope to see you around more often!

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  20. Banhannas,

    Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment. Oh!!! It’s no good to visit any place when it’s sickeningly hot. I really love the weather there. It isn’t too cold a winter. Hope to see you around!

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  21. as being an educator, I could not stand seeing them play the whole damn day <--- oh gawd that's what happened to me when I was little! my grandpa was a math teacher... XD
    Aw Jase is so sweet for raising his hand for Charmaine... I couldn't stop smiling at the picture ^__^ haha I want to go to a bubble show too!!
    And that was one happy-looking new york police department O_O
    I'm glad you and JC's friendship rekindled :) I know how you felt... kind of. friends come and go, and I have lost a lot of friendships over the years... sigh. All your pics look amazing though, keep them coming Jo =D

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  22. Thanx Frances! I replied you longer in the other posts! =D Check them out.

    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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