Am I dreaming?

I got an invitation from SJU Finance department to visit Mr Warren Buffet at Nebraska in March. 10 students got picked and I'm one of them. This is wicked exciting and it is the best thing that has ever happened to me! Plusssssssssss they're paying for everything, including my airfare and hotel expenses.

O

M

G

I feel like I'm living in a surreal world.

My Last Leg of Winter Break

I spent my last few days of my winter break with some awesome people at New York :) Well, Kangya (ex-council mate from RJ) is at University of Michigan for an exchange program and Nina is with her! Given that Monday is a nice holiday for everyone, Nina and Kangya flew to New York city for a short holiday. All it took was a phone call from Nina on Thursday night, and I was on my way to New York on Friday! Kudos to those Chinatown buses we have here in Philadelphia that leaves every hour for New York and DC. They're way too convenient!

The moment I arrived at New York at 7pm, we made out way to 44th street to watch a broadway show which started at 8pm - The Phantom of the Opera. Nina bought the last-minute tickets in the afternoon and managed to secure seats at the theatre boxes for 40 dollars. Eh, so cheap already lor! Normal price is 120 dollars :)

We walked through the cold weather (negative 8 celsius) to watch the show.

Phantom is famous, so obviously there was a full house.

Anyway, if you were given the choice, do not choose the box seats. Though it's cool and you get an upclose view of the performers, you have to practically strain your neck to see the stage. Haha.

So much for our first Broadway show at New York City. I give my experience a 3.5 star rating :)

Then we proceeded to have some seafood dinner at Bubba Gump at 1030pm. In New York City, practically everything stays open at Times Square, even at that ungodly hour.

The most exciting part of our trip was none other than shopping the next day at the premium outlets at Woodbury, New Jersey! Cheap cheap cheap stuff! (Mummy, if you're reading this, be rest assured that I've taken a copy of the brochure and I have directions to go there!) My mum has always wanted to shop there. The last time my parents came, we tried to drive to Woodbury but we got lost. Hehe.

Ride on the train. Take one.

Take two!

After 1.5 hr of train ride, we finally arrived at Woodbury Common and off we went on our shopping spree!

At the end of the day, I bought a top from Banana Republic and a top from Tommy Hilfiger and 3 bags from Coach for my mummy! I spent 500 dollars. Die lor. Mummy, don't kill me ah. Things are so cheap there especially after discount, but too bad I can't get my sizes. Even XS size from the petite section was too big for me.

For Nina and Kangya, they both went back happier as well with bags from Armani Exchange, Banana Republic, Aldo, Calvin Klein, Espirit, Coach and Guess :) Awesome trip!

And at last, it was time for me to say goodbye to them with a Korean meal next to our hotel.

Silly faces of us!

Basically, we were bo liao la. Period.

University of Washington

I'm getting a little tired of writing so much, so I'm just gonna let the pictures speak for themselves.

Both Qianhui and I were making the "W" sign at University of Washington.

Gorgeous scenery :)

Yuan Yang ducks in the pond :) A nice reflection of the building at the school campus.

Anyway, the highlight of the day was to discover something like that at Seattle's library:

"Malaysians celebrated the New Year at Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur".

The funniest part about this picture is none other than the words beside the picture: "Malayalam Puthuvatsara Aashamsakal". Hello? Excuse me? Since when Tamil became Malaysia's national language?

And then at Taipei 101, they illustrated it by putting :" Chinese Cantonese - Sun Nien Fai Lok" What is this manz? These Americans got it all wrong la.

Guess what I discovered at Uwajimaya, a Japanese Supermart at Chinatown in Seattle: Julie's Biskut Beraneka and Kuih Belanda! I want that in Philadelphia also!

I think my mummy would faint when she sees the price: US6.19 for one box of biscuit.

Ferry ride to Bainbridge Island

We had a great ride with an amazing view of the city's skyscrapers.

Zi Pai no.1
Zi Pai no 2 - The wind was too strong.

Qianhui couldnt take it already. She had to use her hands as substitute earmuffs. Lol.

Need I say more? Titanic pose with myself feels great obviously.

And this is us seeking refuge in the ferry away from the strong winds =p

Pike Place Market

Don't underestimate this tiny, unglam Starbucks shop. It's the first ever Starbucks in the world! Yeap, Starbucks is founded at Pike Place Market, Seattle. That's a little funfact for ya today :)

So what is there to see at Pike Place Market?

There is this picture-worthy piggie. Haha, don't ask me why coz little piggie here is featured on most of the postcards sold in souvenir shops.

Like the name implies, Pike Place Market is a marketplace, selling fresh seafood. Yummy!

And there is of course candy shops all over the place selling sinful sweetstuff like this:

Apple covered with caramel, chocolate and whatever sweet coating you can think of!

There are cool stuff like the figurines here made out of St Helens Volcanic ash.

Cute decorations for your home.

And lastly, cheese cutter board made out of old glass bottles.

It's amazing how human beings can think of doing things like this. They melt the old glass bottles and merge the two layers together to get a board.

The Underground Tour

Seattle has subterranean storefronts and sidewalks entombed underground. Gasp! The current city was rebuilt on top of its old city after the Great Fire in 1889.

Seattle was initially built on a hill. To level out the land, they decided to build walls covering the first level of the shophouses such that the pathway that we walk on today is exactly on top of the older ones, and the second level of the shophouses became the first level instead. Soon, people totally abandoned the first level shophouses and operated their businesses from the second level upwards.

After so many years, people are now trying to restore the underground lots and turn them into underground apartments, cafes and shophouses.

Typical pathways back in the older days.
Underground Hotel

The city tried to reinforce the newer pathways by putting iron reinforcements below them. Weird thing though, the reinforcements are not attached to the side wall. So folks, the pathway you're walking on could easily collapse anytime!

Now, see the crystal-like glass on top. It is the pathway that people walk on now (see next picture)

We tried to stand down there and whenever someone walked past, we yelled for help. No one stopped to investigate the source of the sound though. Bummer.

This would be the first Nordstrom shoe shop ever at Seattle. It's really a sight to see both sides of the shop lined with shoe boxes!

I found this old advertisement amusing.

In the past, Seattle's man to woman ratio was extremely high. It was so bad that they had to "import" woman by shipping women from NY to Seattle.

HAHA.

Toilet bowls back then was so much nicer than what we have now.