Awesome Winter Break (Part 1-Texas & Louisiana)

Alright enough for the summary of my busiest (fall) semester ever.

Here comes my long-waiting super AWESOME winter break! =)))))))

Kelsey, my beloved roomie ever, with the presents that i gave her... She transferred to Carroll University at Milwaukee in the Spring... I'm gonna miss her badly! I was so blessed to have known her!! She's just simply amazing!! I'm so glad that she's part of my life here. =)

Okay, time to go for Winter break!!! Dinner at Peninsula Restaurant (a Malaysian cuisine restaurant at Minneapolis)... Was playing joke with a waiter and well, he served a pudding cake for me at the end of the dinner, fun guy! LOL XD

At Mystic Lake Casino! First time in my life for entering the casino and winning 10 dollars! =DDD

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Texas Trip:

First Stop: Dallas, TX

Date: 20th of December, 2010.

Simply loitering in the city. It was so quiet during Sunday.

Only Pauline and i were travelling together at Dallas. We had a "scary" night experience in order to get back to our hotel late at night in a totally strange place. haha, it was fun though. great experience! haha

Second stop: Austin, Capitol of Texas

Date: 21st of December, 2010

Austin, Texas' State Capitol! where Pauline and I met up with Charles and May Chong... We rode Greyhound bus, and both of them came up all the way from Houston... It's so nice to meet up with old INTI friends =)))

Posing in front of the capitol =)

Our shadow~ =)))))

The night view at Austin!

Four of us for the Texas Trip!! Charles was so "blessed" to have 3 pretty girls along with him! *cough cough* hahahhaha XD

Third Stop: San Antonio, TX

It wasn't in our plan originally, but since Charles was the "driver", so we decided to stop by San Antonio before heading to Houston.

First-sem-friends rock! keke!

Girls and the christmas tree!! =)

In front of the famous Alamo at San Antonio!

I like this picture, the whole scene looks so old and tranquil! =)

The famous San Antonio riverwalk!

The beautiful sunset.. Picture was taken out of coincidence.. GPS brought us to a longer route after a McDonald's coffee rest stop on our way to Houston.. Lol

Fourth Stop: Houston

Had our dinner at Banana Leaf, a Malaysian cuisine restaurant... Looked at what we had ordered: Nasi Lemak with curry chicken, Belacan Fried Rice and Belacan KangKung!! Delicious!!!!!!!!

Having Karaoke-session at Chinatown Houston.. The settings was great! Comparable or even better than Neway! haha XD we had great fun there! And not to forget those videos that had been taken huh! HAHAHAHA

Real NASA offices! Houston Space Center! This is sooooooooo COOL!!!! =DD

Once a real space shuttle =)))

Having our "faceprints" on the screen =)))

Chinatown-Hong Kong City at Houston!!

On our way back to Louisiana from Houston! Hey Charles, don't pose so much! Keep your eyes on the traffic please! hahaha XD

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Louisiana

Fifth Stop: Baton Rouge, LA

Local Louisiana food a.k.a Cajun Food at The Chimes, BR. Tried Poboys (sandwich) with crawfish and alligators meat! I love the food there! By the way, alligators meat tasted like chicken with more chewy texture! LOL

Sent May Chong to Greyhound Center after the meal and a short rest at Charles' apartment.

Had a fun laundry session on that midnight! hahahah XD

P/s: Charles' bed was sooooo comfortable! LOL

Sixth Stop: New Orleans, LA

After sending Charles to the airport early in the morning (he needed to catch flight to New York for his following winter break trip, and our flight were at 3 in the afternoon leaving down south to west coast San Francisco), his Louisiana friends brought us to hang around New Orleans.

New Orleans is such a pretty and neat city... Weather was cozy.. We're just hanging around the city center, I wondered if that's the reason that i didn't see much on how hurricane Katrina had affected the city few years back...

Bourbon street, the most famous street in New Orleans... It's the best place to hang out at night for all the entertainment that you could think of! Strip clubs, liquors +++ XD

New Orleans Cathedral =) Such a decent building!

Charles and his wife - CHARLE5 which had been pulled over by the state patrol twice! lol... Drive safely, k? Anyway, not to forget to give special thanks to his wife for the whole trip!

Fall 2010

Trying to remember what I've done in Fall 2010 is such a difficult task.. In a sense that I had been living to the real FULLEST...

Well, let's do a quick review:
18 full credits, tutoring, preparation for professional exam, mathematic research, IS research, Actuarial Club, Malaysian Abroad Diversified (MAD), working...

Life was so busy that I don't feel like I have enough of 24 hours per day. It's like once I have somehow done with my job loads, it's already time for bed. I was really exhausted and life was so full that i'm glad i've been through it and i'm still alive enjoying every moment of it. It was wonderful.

I was so depressed at one time but it made me realized what's really about life. I'm just me after all. But way stronger, tougher and hopefully prettier, haha. Obstacles are things that we have to face. Life isn't that interesting when you don't have the opportunity to be able to get through all these matters regardless how bad or how wonderful they are. Failure, so what? If i could step over it and keeping my faith. I was once beaten down, badly. I knew. Yet, i'm not giving up. Not this easy. I will stand up and prove it. Not to the world, but myself.

Alright, i'm gonna write a summary now, for those events that had been taken place for the last few months. (for things that i still remember, lol XD)

- Been to Travelers' Actuarial Case Competition for 2010 Program at St. Paul, Minnesota with 5 other American coursemates (we're in a team representing the university). We're staying at Hilton Garden Inn hotel. Guess what, the case of the competition was about expanding Travelers insurance company in other nations other than US, Canada and UK. We're given 4 countries for selection. Malaysia was on the list! and we chose it. I think our team did a great job, and i'm pleased that i did contribute to the team. To be honest, i was so afraid that i'm gonna bring down the team before the competition. Kris (our professor) and our team thought that we're gonna win after our presentation. (at least we have certain level of confidence on that, lol) However, i think we're the second or so, 'coz only the first place was announced and it wasn't us. Anyway, it was a great experience after all. Haha.

- Went for job/internship interview with Humana and Travelers. Been to RA interview for KT hall too. I should say, worthwhile experience. LOL.

- Tutored two 10th grade students and one 7th grade student on their Maths subject. It was fun and well-paid! haha.. Was working as security in the dorm. It was so chilly as i have to stay for 3 hours at the lobby. Anyway, it was a nice job and i could do my own works and earn money at the same time! hahahah

- Finally got my Wisconsin driver license after failing once due to "Dangerous Act". XP. My score for the first time was a passing score, yet, DA was the one that failed me as i violated the rule at the junctions. LOL.

- Boon Han visited us in Eau Claire all the way from Nebraska during their spring break! It was awesome hanging out with old friends! haha

- Went down to Madison for Halloween Freak Fest. It was a crazy night and i was impressed by people who wore just a set of bikini under that freaking cold weather. Haha. Everyone was dressed up amazingly and whole State street was filled with people and great live music performance. Met up with Kathy, Vinod and Fernie there.

- Thanksgiving break: wasn't able to celebrate that with host family as Aunt Mary and Uncle Ray both visited their daughter at St. Louis. We went to Albertville Premium Outlet during Black Fridays sales. The sales and markdowns were insane! We got ourselves lots of good deals! I still couldn't believe how crazy it was when we lined up outside Coach outlet for 4 hours (I only stood there for 2 hours) under a negative fourteen degree celsius with strong winds! Most of the shops open at 10pm, but some (such as Coach) open at 12 midnight. We shopped from 10pm to 5am and then continue shopping at Mall of America until we have our lunch at hong kong noodle near U of M in the afternoon. That was EXTREMELY exhausting! I swear! Anyway, it was a blast for bumping into a lot of INTI friends at the outlet. Xiao Wei, Juliet, Boon Han, Joshan, Yan Ming, John, Fernie and a lot more... Some that we haven't meet for like a year or so, all the way from iowa and nebraska! haha XD We have say, we're nearer to Albertville okay? It's like an hour and half to 2 hours drive from here.

- Classes! Classes were not easy. I've been putting so much hard work. Got more than 100% for my P exam class; A for IS class; A for Finance class; A for the hardest math class ever, MFE class. MFE class was so challenging, the theory part was really FASCINATING, i'm so glad that i got it done with the just-nice score which gave me an A. haha. Yet, stupid english professor gave me a stupid grade out of no where for my english course and that hurted me, dang!

- Fell sick! Real sicked. That was during the finals week. I woke up at 7am on a tuesday which i was supposed to have my Math 470 (MFE class) finals at 1pm. I puked for several times and was having a bad diarrhea. Luckily Kelsey was here to look after me. Kelsey helped me to notify my professor about my situation and he was so nice to let me postpone my exam to whenever that i feel better. I kept resting in the room. I thought i would be better off in the afternoon, but thing got worse. Pauline came and look after me in the evening. I was sent to Sacred Heart Hospital by Zjen Thak and Pauline at night. I think i got a stomach flu or something. I stayed in the hospital from 9pm till 2am. Thanks so much for Pauline and Kelsey for accompanying me there the whole night. I was so thrilled! Ohya, i got 3 pokes by the nurses as they couldn't find my veins for IV. hmmm... Here goes my insurance medical claim. I havent receive my bill yet. haha

*Alright, i'll keep writing if i could think of more. Let's stop here for now. Haha XD.

~Enjoy my facebook update of pictures, there're more of my life there!~

Hi, the few days of US summer!

After super tiring + exhausted flight, here I am, the United States of America again!

Regarding the long flight, my luggage was too over weight that i have to repack at KLIA.. alright fine, things went good until i reached Los Angeles. The Hong Kong security check (before boarding the flight to US) was so smooth and funny that the officer uncle didn't really examine my items as he said i looked "innocent", LOLX...

Originally, we're about to layover at LAX for like 6 hours, but indeed it turned out to be like 8 hours due to the delay of Frontier airlines. We ended up boarding United Airways and had our luggage free for delivery. Yet, the about 10kg handcarry was about to kill me as i had to walk a long way to the terminal. But anyway, we reached Minneapolis safely after a transit at Denver~

Twin Cities Trip:
Hello Nick and John!! Finally we made our promise of visiting you guys!! Although we're just 1 and a half hour drive from each other! LOLX
U 0f M campus~!

Day 1: Visit St Paul capital, Mickey's brunch and the Cathedral~ (Nicholas who had never been to the capital building although he's already here for a year!) good chance that we could go together huh?~! hehe

Silly face while waiting for the bus~~

Funny Kang Aun in the bus~~

Mickey's for brunch!! Extremely yuummmmmy! hehe =)

the menu~

Fooooood, the breakfast-styled, taste really good! =) The workers were very friendly too!

Our reflections~ John, Pauline, Nicholas, YLing, Thong Yang ^^

If you could see us from his sunglasses! LOL

The capital of Minneapolis, St. Paul.. why did those capitals to be under repair everytime that i went...

Funny nicholas!! hahahhahaha walking towards the capital~

Capital and us! =)

Our pose!!! HAHAHA

Nice?! Editted by me~ hehe i like it! LOL

Tiny little squeeze of nicholas! wuhuuu

The random guys! LOL

4 of us and St. Paul city as the background! Thanks to photographer Thong Yang! hehe!

Walking to the cathedral under the BIG sun, yet, it's a comfortable and windy day~

Inside the cathedral~!

The FUNNY us! hehe

Outside the cathedral while snapshotting the St Paul city~

Strong winds that blew~~ hehe

Weird John, I think he was about to curse something.. HAHA, bad impression huh.. hehe

John the chef! cool! Dishes that he cooked taste so much like home!!

Alright, here we are, the minnesota state fair!!

It was funny of how we rushed for the bus and trying to take a picture of it!! hahaha

Oh Cotton candy! We had a lot of American food during the fest... Such as onion flower, fresh milk, turkey drumstick, caramel apple and cinnamon ice cream +++!!

The parade... and we went to the haunted mansion right after that.. It was fun! and i remember how Jonathan screamed after me... Both John and Jboy were like trying to make it scarier by screaming at my back! LOL

Well, it wasn't that horrible, but it was a total fun with friends! =D

Sitting on the road "block", hahaha =)

Resting, eating, gossiping~! =) Hi gang!

Pauline and i with our drumstick!! Yummy!

Last day at, erh... i forgot the name of the fast food store but it's about chicken fingers! Oh, i guess the name is "Cane's"! Nice food!

We're about to visit the lake Calhoun and the garden yet we canceled the plan due to some reasons.. will do it someday, no worry! haha

Party night at Michelle and Han's apartment house warming~!

The INTI fellow.. Hey, Gab, can you please respect the camera please? haha

Huge bunch of people during the state fair!!! and that day was sooooooooo HOT! lol

I really like John and Nicholas (+JBoy and YanMing)'s apartment.. with lotsa people(eg, Gabriel, Thong Yang, Ka Yee++) who loiter around! haha

It was so coxy! and i really appreciate Poppy John's bed! Thanks so much!! =P

And i miss the time when you guys just kept using vulgar phrase! Feel so SYOK! hahahha

That was a nice trip, we're all so relax and try to have as much fun as we could!

School wasn't started at that time and all we do were just hanging and joking around..

Miss that =)