Virginia Beach

Updates from my Goddess!~

Today is my off day again! Hooray!

A few of us went for the Company trip to Virginia Beach.

On the bus all ready to go!

Welcome to Virginia Beach!

The place is really beautiful and clean. The sand is fine and the water big (but cold). The waves are really huge too!

No spewing of vulgarities

X-(wo)man

Bikini Babe!

We then had a picnic at the beach (as usual).

More group pictures

No paparrazi please

Dinner was at this seafood buffet. It supposed to be a must-do thing at VB. Though expensive, the food was not bad, though the service was. The crab was huge and there were fresh prawns, clams, oysters, mussels and lots more!

And at the end of the day, both of us were really burnt.

Red saussage

Not to forget, we both bought ourselves a souvenir from VB - something really suitable for us - lifeguard attire!

Maymont Park

Yesterday's was my Goddess off day again! This time round, her friends and her went to Maymont Park.

The park is really pretty with lots of big, colourful and beautiful flowers.

The park belongs to a super rich man called James Dooley. Here is how his house looks like. The house is super grand. They had a tour around it and were super awed.

There was even an animal farm at the park!

And they saw 2 bears!

And there was a waterfall!

Then there is the Japanese Garden.

And an Italian Garden.

And finally, picture of the month...

Old habits die hard!

Yan can cook!

My Goddess culinary skill are improving day by day! From day 1's Chow Mien (mee goreng bowl) with corn/baked beans, it has become zhap cai beng!

Day 1: Pathetic chow mien with baked beans and tuna

A few days later, yummier rice with corn and chunky chilli beans

Another week later, maggi mee with banquet!

Next, instant flavoured rice with brocolli, carrot, mushroom, with garlic fish, banquet and chicken soup (courtesy of Yanling)

And just now, white rice with brocolli, carrots and mushroom in oyster sauce, fish in oyster sauce, and carrot and mushroom egg!

As you can see, the oyster sauce is a treasure! It really made things taste so much yummier!!!

Fruitful Day

Today, or should I say yesterday was a fruitful day for my Goddess for she did all the things she said she want to do in U.S. even before she came to U.S.

First, the horny devil, her friend and her went to the Science Museum. The entrance fee was not cheap! It cost $9.50!!! It was quite an interesting place though.

The section she liked the most was the optical illusion place.

See the Incredible Freddie transform

Then we saw live demonstrations of a snake devouring a mice and a mice basketball match.

After which, they headed to Willow Lawn, a place where my Goddess has been wanting to go there for a very long time because there's Krispy Kremes, Bath and Body Works and Victoria Secrets there!!!

How exciting! She has finally got a chance to experience the Krispy Kreme experience for herself after much awaiting!

Yummy!

One dozen of donuts all gone within 15 minutes, devoured by 3 people!!!

After that, shopping at Willow Lawn!!!

There were sales going on at Victoria Secrets, Old Navy and Bath and Body Works, so she bought like a 101 things!!! All the pay and hard work gone down the drain!!! But it's those kind of feeling that "if you don't buy now when there's a sale where everything's so cheap, you will super regret it later!". Even the horny devil bought a lot of things.

Don't ask me why she bought sunglasses again - it was spoilt just the day before yesterday all thanks to a guest.

But things are really cheap after discount! The sunglasses costs only 2 bucks, the tops 6 bucks, and the Bath and Body Works stuffs on average 4-5 bucks each!!! See what I mean by "if you don't get it now, you will super regret it later" although there is a little regret from the hole burnt in the bank account.

Finally, the wonderful day was ended with dinner at the Chinese cafe (again) at Carytown. But how can they resist the good food with lots of vege??

Carytown was chosen because they wanted to catch a movie at the Byrd Theatre. The tickets there only costs 1.99 bucks, and there's a pipe organ performance every Saturday night. This place was highly recommended by the people at King's Dominion, so they wanted to experience the culture for themselves.


It was really crowded on Saturday nights, as compared to the last time when we passed by. They caught 300, a show watched by my Goddess before but it was all worth it!

So the night ended late but well, painful (because of the deficit) but worthwhile!

Kiasuism

I thought Singaporeans are kiasu - queue for Hello Kitties, queue for freebies, chop seats using tissue paper and rush for sale. Well, I was wrong. At least we queue. The other International students that I know of from the European countries (mainly Russia and Siberia) rush for everything - they push and shove to get onto the bus, sit right in front, and push and shove their way down again from the bus, even if they are seated behind and all those standing in front has yet to go down. They also don't bother to move to the end of the bus when standing, but standing instead at the front portion. They are also the first to sign up for company trips. It is really madness every morning and evening while getting onto the bus to and fro work. It is really survival of the fittest and fastest. I think a war is going to start soon here...

Virginia Commonwealth University

My Goddess has finally got Internet access!!! I heard her spoke to me on Skype earlier on but I didn't know where the sound came from, so I kept looking at mom who held me up. Anyways, here's more updates:

We have moved! And yes, that was like 2 weeks ago - the exact time period where I MIA-ed, all because we didn't have Internet access since we weren't given an ID and password. Everyday, I feel like a Singla (a term borrowed from Bangla). We just work, come back to the dorm, bathe, cook our own food, eat and sleep (since we have no Internet). And on our off days, we hang out at Chinatown (instead of Jurong Point or Little India). Glad that we have Internet connection now - at least I'm connected to the other part of the world now.

There's still some slight problems now so I don't intend to shut down my laptop till things are settled on Monday...

Anyway, here's what's missing for the past 2 weeks.

We have shifted all our barang barangs from Quality Inn to a VCU campus dormitory called Rhoads Hall.

It was sure damn tiring and confusing.
Here's how my room looked like initially.

And here's how it looks like after shifting of the furniture. Doesn't my shelf look like some minimart?

The campus is a city campus. So it's pretty near fast food restaurants which are affordable like pizza hut. Ever since the Mexican meal, this pizza hut buffet was the 2nd time I ever feel full.

Remember I said that I had Internet connection from Coldstone Creamery? Here's some pictures from there... The place is really cosy and the ice cream is super super duper yummy! And sinful of cos. I like it that we can create and mix our own ice cream with the various toppings. Yummilicious!

A few stores away from Coldstone is an equally yummy eatery called Five Guys. The burger is affordable and huge. And the fries - undescribable.

Work is tiring. We worked 6+ hours from Mon to Thu and 9+ hours on Fri to Sun. We stand under the sun or in the water most of the time with only a 45minute break. I am super tann now, and my skin is dry and wrinkled like a granny's. Luckily for us, we have off-days. And the very first off day that we had, we decided to explore Richmond, where we are staying.

Our first stop - Virginia War Memorial

And then American Civil War Museum

Picnic Lunch at Belle Isle - a nice place to chill out. It's actually a small island which used to house prisoners of war.

And finally, our last stop - Carytown, a little nice and quaint place with nice boutiques selling super expensive but pretty dresses, and cosy little dining places and bars. Before we went back, we discovered a treasure!! A eatery selling cheap Chinese food!! The portion is really huge and the price affordable! We especially love the vegetables there! This was the third time I felt full!