Free burger from the Big M! ^_^

I have to say this was by far one of the best Saturday I had ever since I came to U.S. Definitely a great way to spend the last day of June, the marker line to welcome 2nd half of 2007.

I spent a nice time with Tristan having dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Then, we went to watch the roadshow of Dancing with the Stars. AWESOME!! It was one of the greatest show. Orgasmic!!! (Update later for both). Those of you who follow this program, you will be jealous. Muahahaha...

Well, today I'll blog what Tristan and me did after that show.




Both of us received a few coupons from McDonald at home. One of them was a coupon for a FREE Southern Style Chicken Sandwich WITHOUT ANY PURCHASE! (Oops! I exchanged the coupon with my sandwich before I took a picture of the coupon. So, the above was just a replacement.)

The coupons were gone...




... but we got 2 nice sandwiches (in U.S., it is common to call burger as sandwich.)

For a normal price $2.50, we each got one for FREE!!

Oolala~~~ look at that big piece of chicken breast.




Thick too!!




The best part, it was yummy. Nothing extra. Just that simple piece of flavourful chicken breast with soft fluffy bun and exciting pickle...

I hate to admit it, but it was such a guilty pleasure for a late supper. :P

Man~~~ it was just too good to be free.

Thank you so much Mr. Big M. I am loving it!

Too lucky to be unlucky?

I am officially having 2 rice cookers died consecutively.

First one died on me after I used it for only twice. :(

Second one died on me 2 days ago after I used if for only 2 months. I used it like once per week only. :"(

Anything like this happened to you?

I bought the 2nd one at Target, using gift card and CASH. Then I accidentally threw the receipt away, just 1 week before this rice cooker died. (Ironically, most of the time I buy things with debit card, and I keep all my receipt even those from from last year, except THIS ONE!)

Now it is even impossible for me to get a new one as replacement from Target. I was so angry with myself.

I am so scared to buy a third one now. What if it spoiled again. -_-"""

Fort Macon State Park

After a 2-hr visit in NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, we headed to Fort Macon State Park. As I did not have any expectation on this Fort Macon, it was surely the best surprise I had on that day.

Absolutely the type of fort that I have never encountered before.

I learned so much from here.

I wonder how about Fort Magherita in Kuching. Even I was born and raised there, I have never been to Fort Magherita. So ironic. Must go to visit it the next time I go back.




A welcome view of Fort Macon once you entered the main entrance. This place was used for Battle of Fort Macon in 1862.

Sang Mi and me climbed to the roof top.




Wow!! It was great. The view was spectacular from top.




The fort was built in asymmetry, which gave a more unique feature to it.




Visitors enjoyed doing exploration around the roof top. It was my very fresh experience to walk around the whole area.




The excitement was even stronger that I got to have a breathtaking ocean view.

Sun was bright, wind was strong and my mind was pondering. I tried to imagine the soldier that stood at the same spot where I was. What was he thinking that time?

It was very hard to imagine such a peaceful place was once a scary battle location 205 years ago.




But these huge cannon proved that the war was for real.




How many lifes have been killed and sacrified by these big, round, heavy yet concord grape-looking balls?




Under the nice green roof top, there were about 26 of these dim light rooms. Bed rooms of the soldiers.

Regardless the temperature was over 90 F that day, the rooms were cool and nice. They needed this in summer.




Outside the rooms, the small windows looked almost like the prisons' windows. Maybe they were not much different from prisoners huh?




Neat patch of green green grass seperated the room areas with the outer barrier.




I love this little grass. It was like walking on fluffy carpet.




The outer barrier also functioned as a drainage system.




The highlight of the day - a demonstration on how to load a gun with nine steps during that battle.

The gun that he held was used for a real battle back then.

It is still functioning well nowadays.

In fact, after showed all the nine steps of loading the gun, he wanted to show how to fire the gun.

When audiences shouted "FIRE!!"

POOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow!! I was really shocked with the sudden gun shot. I never thought a gun shot could be this loud. No wonder he could only used a paper bullet. I could not imagine what might happen with a real bullet. -_-"""

Mind you, this was just one gun, with only 60 grams of gunpowder.

Imagine 205 years back, hundreds of these guns and cannon balls that required 18 pounds of gunpowder each were on fire at the same time.

I wonder if any of them became deaf.

They were the brave crowd.

Celebrating summer?

Today marks the first day of summer in U.S.A. Beautiful day outside.

As usual, I was busy with my work. On the way home, although it was around 8.30pm, it was still bright.

I happily listened to my iPod while walking on the sidewalk with merry feet.

All of a sudden, I stopped.

There was a guy at the car park on my right. No other people except me and him.

He was walking to his car in a slow and steady way. His socks and and shoes were neat.

You know what? That were the only outfit on his body.

o_O""" I thought something was wrong with my eyes.

Nope, I was confirm with the black hairy patch in between his crotch. I could even see the short soft little thing was swaying up and down while he was walking.

Instantly, I looked away. Pretended I didn't see anything, I couldn't help but laugh a little. He noticed me, he looked at me with a normal expression. Then, he continued to walk to his car and went away while I was waiting for light green to cross the road.

Just when he went into his car, other cars past by. -_-""" I wish these cars would exist earlier. Just to witness this "beautiful" moment with me too.

Gosh~~~ was he celebrating summer? Why am I always "lucky" to encounter this kind of bizarre thing?

So, Lor Bong Kor, while you were happily show off your tent, you surely defeated by this guy by a horse nose. Muahhahhahaha...

Lucky~~~

Gosh~~~ I think I am super lucky today. Two minutes after I reached home, heavy stormy rain started. It feels so good now listening to the rythm of that falling rain, but it sure would be a totally different story if I have to be in that rain without any umbrella.

Played my neopets until 3.30am this morning. Then woke up at 8.30am. Seriously lack of sleep. Even my friend said my eyes look sleepy. -_-"""

To make the situation worse, I worked from 9.30am to 10.00pm non-stop just now. Stood until leg was numbed.

Seriously have to adjust this, not 18 anymore, I don't want wrinkles to show on my face too early. *scary~~~*

Ok, time to play my neopets for a while before take my bath and go to sleep. That is why I don't get myself any PSP or DS Nintendo. I get addicted to game super easily.

Are you easily addicted to games and virtual pets too?

NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

My trip on Saturday was a fabulous one. It was also one of the most tiring beach trip I have ever been. I woke up at 5.45 am, departed at 7.15 am and reached home at 11.45 pm.

We did not only go to the beach, but also went to an aquarium and a fort.




On the way, we encountered with this unique punk helmet. LOL

Hey, Mr. Kuwahara, you want to wear one of this for your next BMX race or not? Tee hee heee...

I wonder if Jasmine has one of this too. :P




After more than 3 hr of sleeping in the bus, we finally reached our first destination - NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

It was a small aquarium, with more focus on river fish. I learnt quite a few things about river fish in NC.

Apart from fish...




... there was also a short talk about alligator.




I even got a chance to touch a small one. Well, tiny cute thing, isn't it? Beware, the largest alligator spotted was 5.3m, in Florida. Basically, the warmer the weather, the more they eat, the bigger they will grow.




Jelly fish is another common feature to be seen in an Aquarium. However, this Leidy's Comb Jelly was my first time encounter. It is actually not a real jelly, but a jelly-like sea creature.

One of the eNature article call it Gelatinous Storm. Well, the article made me think that this is a cute creature, but a scary predator.




One think special about this NC Aquarium - it is linked to a real Salt Marsh.




Salt marsh is one of the most biologically productive habitats on the planet, rivaling tropical rainforests.

The picture looks still, but the 15 min I were there, I could see the movement of creatures under the water surface. Somehow, I have a weird urge to dive inside there. :P




My great companion for the day, meet Sang Mi from Korea. ;)




The salt marsh path also led us to a small exhibition for snakes. These snake were so pity, they all look very dull and still.




There was also a few sea horses. They reminded me so much of Pygmy seahorse that I met in Sipadan. I miss that trip so much, Pygmy seahorse was the best underwater creature for me. So tiny, yet so fine.

After 2 hr in the Aquarium, it was time to move on to the next destination.




On the way, there were many houses in this style. Very different from the design in my neighbourhood.




I wonder if these houses are only for one family or more?

Big and beautiful.




Yet, just next to these houses, there were a few big trailer parks.




Some even put a nice fence outside their mobile homes.

One thing on my must see list - the interior of these mobile homes. It is really quite difficult for me to imagine how do the layout of Living Dining Kitchen and Bed area in these long yet narrow compartments.

Time to get a tan ^_^

Woohoo!! I am going to the beach tomorrow.



Tralala~~~ my new bikini. Only US$15.

Nice or not? ^_^

Need to sleep early today. :( *yawn*

Pigging out at Grand Asia Buffet

I was such a pig tonight.

Why?




Went to eat buffet with a bunch of friends at this Grand Asia Buffet.

A very rich choices of dishes.

We were spoilt for only US$12.

I have never ate so many plates of food for a long time. It sure was fun to do that again, although the aftermath was another story.

How many plates that I had?

Haha...

Let us count it together.




Plate 1... some good, some okay, some :( I was surprised they serve crawfish, although it was only so so.




Plate 2 - 10 pieces of nice but almost similar americanized sushi. Will be much much better without the cream cheese. Pretty good sushi in term of the rice and freshness.




Plate 3 - a more Japanese originated sushi. 7 pieces of raw sushi. These were good. After so long didn't eat good sushi, I considered these were pretty nice quality sushi.

Man~~~ I ate 17 sushi!! Can you believe that was just a small potion of what I have ate in one dinner?




Plate 4 - crab leg, frog leg, duck leg... and... errrr... banana leg. :P




Plate 5 - more legs and some cold choices.




Plate 6 - some fiber to make me feel better. The fried rice was one of the worst I have tasted. Have to spit it out after put it into my mouth. The fried rice was the only leftover I had that night.




Tralala~~~ finally my 7th plate. Yeah, one can never end a buffet without a fruits and dessert plate, isn't it? ;)

Heeeee... I think I deserve to salute myself for being such a sporty pig to chomp so many things. I ate all the food I took, except the fried rice.

Now, do you think you want to salute my big appetite? Give me a *salute* then. Muahahahha...

BUUUUURRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPP~~~~ *Oops! Excuse me.*

Linguine with Chili

Today is such a lazy Saturday for me. Did not go out at all, stayed at home whole day to surf internet.

I made something very quick and simple for my dinner. I felt like eating pasta.




So, I cooked some al dente Spinach and chive linguine. For pasta sauce, I decided to use a can of Hormel Chili. Browned some ground beef and beef frank. Then, poured in the Chili and cooked for 5 minutes.

The whole thing took less than 10 min.




Tralala~~~ my first time eating a chili bean with pasta. It tasted nicer than I have thought. It was like eating pasta with bolognese sauce, but milder. I like it.

When I just arrived in U.S., I thought "Chili" was the common "chili sauce" I knew in Malaysia. LOL What a silly mistake I made. :P Well, at least now I can differenciate both of them well. ;)

Summer is the time for outdoor!

I have been quite slow in blogging lately. Weekdays busy with work. By the time get back home, I am almost like a half-dead fish.

The night only turn dark at 9.00pm now. It is so good to stay outside. Don't even watch any TV at the moment, nothing to see.

Weekends, one by one of unexpected events lining up for me to join. Man~~~ you can really see how people love summer in America. They try to do outdoor activities as much as possible. No umbrellas for sun nor rain. They just know how to appreciate both extreme weathers.

Last weekends alone, I went to North Carolina Zoo on Saturday with a big group of people. The visiting was a nice one. Great weather indeed. Photos of big animals will come in this weekends.

Sunday, a friend asked me to watch Miss Potter with her in $1.50 cinema. The movie was good. I am absolutely so in love with $1.50 cinema. Can watch as much movies as I want without thinking about the money. :P

Boss was hinting me my workload will be getting more. -_-""" More stress.

I wish I have more time and mood to do blogging. I really wish. Not just a few sentences, but a nice written one. It usually takes me a few hours to complete one. :P

But then, summer is really the time for great outdoor. Haha... I think I am going to be slow in blogging in summer.

Have a good summer, everyone. ^_^

Pork Floss Hummus Sandwich

I was pretty lazy last week. For almost every lunch during my working days, I ate the same thing.

I used only 3 simple ingredients.

A long loaf of whole wheat bread.
A ready-to-use hummus. I chose red bell pepper hummus.
Finally, Chinese pork floss.

It was a very simple step to prepare the sandwich.
Spread a tablespoon of hummus over a piece of oven-heated bread. Top pork floss over the hummus. Cover it with another piece of bread.

The fun thing is, you can use different substitution for each of the ingredient according to your own choice. Multi grain bread with spinach and artichoke hummus with chicken floss. Ciabatta with garlic hummus with beef floss. So many variations you can play with.




Tralala~~~ a simple, healthy yet yummilicious pork floss hummus sandwich that stopped my hunger for the past whole week. ;)

So, how was the taste when Middle East met with East? I love it! ^_^