life as a house maker~~

muahahaha... life as a housemaker has been so far peaceful, rewarding, creative and fun.. though i would still miss waking up in the morning and getting ready to squeeze on the bus to work....

now, depending on Mr Ong's classes, i'll wake up make breakfast for him then head to the gym for some cardio... then head back home have a light breakfast, rest a bit then prepare lunch for Mr Ong....

on days that Mr Ong do not have any classes, we will head to the gym together for workout, then come home for a hearty brunch...

in btw the spare time would be either cleaning the house, look for new recepies, watch all the tv dramas...planning where to go during Mr Ong's break etc...

have recently join Knitting, quilting and cooking classes, which shld commence in Oct 09. All these classes are organised by a non-profit organization for women like me who came along with their hubby, cannnot work and have lots of time on hand... muahahha..

of cuz there is more things to do.... i'll be visiting the various museum ard the campus.. will post the pics up as soon as i get them...

hmmm sure am enjoying myself here...

damn what will happen when we go back?? will i be able to adjust to the hot and sunny weather in SG?? will i be able to find a gd job?? will the economy be gd when i go back??? muahahah well... all these will not be a prob till 2011 when we are back....

random thots

am reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" book. Coincidentally, the story is set in Chicago, the next place Mr Ong and myself will be visiting during his fall break in oct. here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The writer is a local here.

Beautiful story and set me thinking, how we always take things for granted and only regret when we lose it... always crying over spilt milk....

Like how we take our parents for granted...
take our lifes for granted...

Hence, perhaps whenever u feel anger, breathe and stop for a few seconds and think it thru, you might just find out why it just happen...

facts abt living in US

after spending close to 4 weeks here in ann arbor, i've slowly gotten use to the pace and life here... so gladly im adjusting well.. alot of things i would like to share but dunno where to start... so i tink coming up with a list of 'facts' will more or less sum it up for me.. so here goes:



#1: the americans are super friendly and they are polite. They will say "How u doing" or even smile on u on the street, but that does not mean they want to be frens with you...

#2: The portions of their meal are super huge.. you cld order just one main entree and one appetizer and you can feed 2-3 ppl.. but because they survive mainly on tips, they prefer you to order one entree for each diner.. but the good thing is you can ask for take-away box that you can "tao bao" back...

#3: Salt and sugar is basically FREE. every dish they cook is alway too salty... even the frozen food or bacon hams are damn salty.. tats why always request for less/no salt or purchase food lablled 'low sodium'... gd thing is that you will always not have cramps...muahha

Sugar is also basically free.. for ppl like me with sweet tooth, it taste gd for the desserts, but it might just be too much sometimes...muahahah.. the diet pepsi taste just like the normal pepsi... imagine the original pepsi...


#4: Its left-hand drive here in US, hence cars are always coming fr the left side... 1st few days was really not use to it.. lucky have Mr Ong to hold on to me.. muahaha

#5: the interesting thing here is that for the car plate, you can choose to get the given combination by the authority.. or you can pay USD$35 annually and choose ur own.. and of cuz as and when u can choose to change it anytime.. wekly, monthly watever!!


one of SG undergrad's car plate is "KAYABUN" lar... so authentic...muahaha.. another one we saw on the road says "DURIAN". for sure we know that drive is fr SG.... muahaha



#6: Laundry machines only accepts quarters aka USD$0.25. Each time u wash and dry will cost abt USD$2.25 and the process is 1.5 hrs for washing and 1hr for drying… at least when collect ur clothes, they are warm and fluffy… muahahah

#7: The homeless here are also very friendly and polite. They look hygiene and they don’t look dirty. They also dress better with no torn clothings. They will greet you “how you doing today” before asking if u have any spare change for them. If u say no, they will not haunt you till u give them. they just thank you and even wish you a gd day then they walk away

#8: whenever u visit a supermart, always head to their customer service to check if they have any loyalty card/ program. Because if u have then the things u purchase will have huge discounts.


#9: US does not have that many public holidays. But when they do, usually it comes with mega discounts for shopping. The discounts they give is really huge and u can see and fee the impact, not like in SG, only they few miserable cents discounts. Hence I realise if u need to buy anything, wait till their public holiday. The next mega sale to look out for it “Black Friday”. It’s the next day after Thanksgiving. The discounts will be fr 25%-65% and sometimes even have additional discounts after the total cost.

#10: Different parts of US have different sales tax structure. For Michigan its 6%. The highest if I’m right would be California, which is abt 10%. And usually the price on the price tag are before tax.

#11: Squirrels, deers, goose, ducks are common animals u see running around and crossing roads too. U can also feed the squirrels and they usually come close to you when u have food in ur hand. There is also a university club that is call “feed the squirrels club” and yes they go around feeding the squirrels ard campus.

#12: when its ur bday, you can go ard the local shops to get FREE food and drinks. Stores like Ben & Jerrys etc. Basically u can eat for free the whole day if you want.

#13: Online shopping in the US is basically free ground shipping and takes usually 7-10 working days.

#14: As long as you have internet connection in US, you will be able to watch TV programs online by the 4 major TV station namely CSB. FOX, ABC & NCB. Series like Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Amzaing Race, CSIs, Criminal Minds, Big Brother etc… who needs a TV set when u can watch these on ur notebook or desktop. Of cuz can also watch BPL online!! Don’t try to watch in SG, it will never work!! Muahahhaa



#15: Weather in Ann Arbor is cool and dry, unlike SG is hot and humid. However when the sun shines on you to give you warmth, u will still get sunburnt. After 1 week here, I already have slippers tann lines lar… something that will not happen in SG. And yes, im still dark….

#16: They are a lot of events to welcome back the students for the fall semester. And usually these events have freebies, free food and drinks. Their goodies bag are also very interesting, they have tees, pens, pizzas, wraps, ice-cream, posters, snacks, sweets, chocolates, discount coupons and also free condoms!!! Muahahaha again with the free food and drinks, no need to cook at home!!

#17: Running is the cheapest sport here in Ann Arbor. All you need is a gd pair of running shoes and ur reliable ipod and off u go. The sceneries are also very pretty.


#18: Over here the buildings are not very tall unlike SG where by HDB now is at about 40 stories. I guess due to the abundance of land, you can have individual buildings for shops and houses. Imagine the shopping malls here only have 1-storey. Its just like taking Plaza Singapura combined with Suntec City Mall, but all flatten to 1 storey. This is how big the shopping malls here are.

#19: There are 1-dollar shops which is still much cheaper after conversion versus Daiso in SG lar… the things they offer are pretty good quality too. Household cleaning products are a good buy. Some snacks and candies are great find too…






#20: Courtyard/ garage sales are very common here. There are always posters ard the bus stops of bulletins boards on these events. Things that are sold at these sales are pretty much in good conditions.

#21: PPL here are very into recycling. Most of the places have 2 trash bins. One for recycled materials, and the other for general thrash. Even at home, we are encouraged by the community to separate our trashes. We now have a bin for papers and all our empty drink cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles etc are kept to e brought to the supermart to recycle and each of this item will be cash bk to you… it’s a gd way to save the environment and at the same time get a little cash bk.

#22: Whenever u feel homesick, the best way to curb besides calling bk via skype is to visit places that SG have.. places like IKEA, Starbucks etc. Of cuz visiting Chinese restaurants also helps!!

#23: When the weather is warm and sunny, grab a gd book and a cup of hot drink and u can sit the whole day outdoors..


#24: US BBQ basically consist of hotdogs and beef patties with the various condiments and potato chips.

#25: Beef is always cheaper vs. chicken, pork or fish. However, chicken thighs and drumsticks are cheaper then chicken breasts. Guess its more tedious to clean up and prepare the thighs???

#26: and if you have proper health insurance, the cost of giving birth here is basically FOC as its covered, even for complicartions during child birth!! how cool is that. No wonder so many couples had their babies here... Well that also means that withour health insurance here, medical expenses is very high. and the cost of Insurance can be high too..

There are actually a lot more things but I can recall all. But I will contto work on the list and expand it as much as I can…. Muahhahahaha