Home Cooked Thai Food for Dinner =)

Today, the 5 thais and i cooked our own dinner. It was realli fun and nice to get together to cook a meal. Haven had home cooked meal for some time. Although i always make my own food, i dun hav the luxury of time to cook different dishes. Things i usually eat here include salad wif sausage, sandwich, cereal, muffins (bought in supermarket), porridge, instant noodles and fruits.

Today, we cooked Tom Yum soup, stir fried minced pork with sweet and sour sauce, stir fried mix veg and rice. It was my first time cookin rice and im glad that it was a success. Hee coz we didnt had a rice cooker, i had to estimate how much rice and water to put in. I realli didnt had a clue and could only depend on my gut feeling. Luckily i usually cook porridge so i roughly had an idea how much rice and water to put into the pot.

See... Everyone liked my rice. At least it wasnt too wet or wad. We also cooked Tom Yum soup with cabbage, carrots, mushroom, chilli padi and shrimps. Although we used the instant tom yum paste, the soup tasted ok =)

Ben and i cooked minced pork with sweet and spicy sauce. It tasted realli good especially with the rice.

Our last dish was stir fried cabbage, carrots and old kailan wif oyster sauce.

Our masterpiece:

Arm washing some of the utensils and Ben being a pest... Hee...

All of us preparing to eat:

Eating the yummy food...

This is the joke of the day:

We were resting after finishin the delicious food when Arm suddenly jerk up and started fanning his hands in front of his face. He was eatin the baby carrots from the soup before he made those sudden actions. And when he was fannng, he said "red carrot red carrot". All of us burst into a big laughter. Do you know what he actually meant?

Look at the food on his spoon. The one on the left is baby carrot and the one on the right is chilli padi. Ha that silly Arm ate a chilli padi thinking that it is a carrot. And the most stupid thing is he actually said "red carrot". Well i had an enjoyable night =)

Life in school...

Hello all my precious loved ones! Missing me and my blogs? Hee sorry for not posting for the past few days. Coz there wasnt much to blog about so i decided not to blog. School's gettin on fine and good. I kinda like schooling here more than in spore. Is it bcoz its juz the beginning? Well we'll wait n see k... Im currently taking 5 classes over in USC. 1. Global Strategy. 2. Global Marketing Management. 3. Consumer Behavior. 4. Advertising and Promotions. 5. Marketing Fundamentals. No 1 & 2 are kinda overlapping as the topics taught have some similarities.

I love all the classes im taking... except Marketing Fundamentals. The lecturer keeps on "erm erm erm" and its realli kinda irritating. On top of that, i had already taken Principles of Marketing in spore so i kinda know wad he's teaching already. Thus, it gets kinda boring for mi.

And the worse thing is, out of all the classes im taking, this happens to be the one class whereby i dunno anyone =( Means no one to tok to me to entertain me and prevent mi from falling asleep.

The lecturer... (P.S. I was tryin realli hard to stay awake. But i was too bored so i decided to sneak some photos of the lecturer)

Eventually, i gave up tryin to concentrate... I decided to do this....

Hee super artistic right! Well its not that i dun wan to pay attention. The lecturer keeps blabbering stuff that i already know, and he speaks wif a kind of funni accent (he's dennish), and he keeps adding "erm" in EVERY of his sentence... The way he speaks has a kind of hipnotising effect on me... So in order not to be portray as disrespectful (if i were to fall asleep), i just had to display my artistic talent...

The 2 classes which im taking with Kookkik and Ben are A&P and Global Marketing Management. These 2 classes are realli quite fun. Too bad Ben might have to go to another session for Global Marketing Management coz he didnt manage to take the session Kk and I are taking and there's minimal chance that he's able to add it coz there are many ppl on the wait list.

Me, Kk and Ben in class... Look at Ben's retarded face...

Now he's trying to look serious...

My eye candy is also in Global Marketing Management as well as Global Strategy. The best part is, we're having a compulsory field trip to Mexico for Global Strategy. The teacher will be allocating us into groups, which would be revealed next week. Omg cant imagine if im in the same group as him.... Haha my eyes will drop up from looking too hard. Hee..

That is all for school. On wed night, i met up wif a Sporean fren who introduced mi to his fren who has been stayin here for many years le.

Me, Candice and Icy in a korean restaurant cum drinking place.

Both Candice and Icy are in UCLA. Candice has a degree in mkting le but she's doing some post graduate dunno wad thing. Candice is sporen while Icy is from HK.

Mikkeal is actually a common fren of 2 of my frens in spore. I seen him a couple of times in spore. Before he left spore to return to states from his summer break, Baby told him im here so he got my no from Baby and he texted mi on tues night. Mikkeal is a nice guy (super rich i think) but hmmm... maybe he's those hua hua gong zhi. He's an undergrade at i forgot wad uni. And, he drives a veri nice white BMW 328i... 2 doors. He said he bought it for bout 50k USD and his mum sponsor him 8k. The rest he paid himself. Not bad for a 23 yr old. But, he has 3 cars (another is a BMW M3) so he's gonna sell off his 328i. I dunno bout the story of his cars coz it was quite complicated. Anyway none of my business. Ha. But, i realli like the inbuilt GPS system in his car. Its super cool and convenient man. Juz key in the address and the "robot" will tell u where to turn n stuff.

Anyway, after chilling at the korean restaurant, Candice bought us to her fren's club. Quite a nice place. So nice to meet fellow sporeans.

Me nd Mikkeal.

Bookstore + Dnr wif Singapor Association in USC

Sunday was pretty fulfilling. Woke up early to make breakfast and pack house. However, as i slept really late on Sat, i felt realli tired during the noon so i took a nap. Woke up at 3pm to get ready for the apartment meeting at 330pm. The whole gang of us went to the meeting but left kinda early coz we wanted to go to the bookstore to buy our books.

The text books here are super duper expensive lor. On average, one new book cost bout 150 USD and a used one would cost bout 110 USD. Hence, i decided not to buy the books first. I took down the ISBN number so i can either ask my sis to buy it for me in spore (which she already did. She bought my Advertising & Promotions text for me. Its the same title and author but diff colour for the colour. But i dun care coz it's so much cheaper), or purchase it online.

However, i bought one of my text le coz its like 56 USD and its like a magazine so i doubt they will have it online or in spore. And since its relatively cheap le i might as well juz buy it here.

This textbook is realli interesting. It looks like a magazine but the contents are like marketing fundamentals. Its realli costly for a magazine, but considered cheap for a "textbook" in states. We also bought a printer coz there are lots of homeworks and handouts that we have to print. 6 of us (including the 2 guys) shared the costs which summed up to 190 USD including paper and the cable. So each person paid bout 33 USD.

After buying the textbookds, i rushed to get prepared for the outing with the Singapore Association of USC. The sporean couple had told me bout this dnr outing and i decided to juz go and make some frens. So, there were actually 9 of us but 2 of the sporeans didnt wanna go so left wif bout 7. The president Ellen and another guy Glenn drove us to a Korean BBQ restaurant named MannaKoreanBBQ. Its a bbq buffet with tons of meat. They also hav side dishes and salad.

I love the beef as it tasted really good. Its realli top grade beef. The salad was also very nice as the dressing was really appetizing. I ate hell lotsa food which made me felt that i was going to burst. Pretty worth it for 20 USD.

Jacelyn, Me, and the president Ellen:

The sporean couple and me:

From left: 2 new sporean freshman and Glenn (he has been here for 2 yrs)

Before cooking:

Side dishes:

COOKING!!

Happily eating...

After dinner, i went back to pack alittle things and went to bed early to prep myelf for 1st day of school on MONDAY!! So excited...

Hee so today i went for my first dae of school. Things were realli good and i love school! (at least for now... hee). Lecturer is humorous and teaches well. Lotsa cute guys in my class. Nice and warm classmates... So far so good =) Most imptly, my eye candy is in the same 2 classes as i am! And he talked to me! Oh gosh he is so gorgeous. He's a Dennish and he's from Koopenhagen Universityin Sweden. Hee... But well, juz for the eyes only. Nothing more.

During my Global strategy class, Ellen was in the same class as me. For that class, i suppose to get a course reader which cost bout 120 USD. So, i asked her whether i could borrow from here to make a copy and she allowed. Oh she's so so nice =) Really appreciated it. So i went to the copier place and asked the person whether i can copy it. He quoted 70 USD to copy and bind it. At least i get to save quite alot of money =)

When school ended, i went to the bookstore to get some stationary. Then, i went home to cook a big bowl of vegetables as i onli had breakfast at bout 830am all the way till ike 5pm. I was realli starving. At bout 710pm, i went for a jog as i had not been jogging for many days due to my tight schedule.

At nite, i read some of the readings that were posted and then went online to try to buy my books. I managed to find one of the books from Amazon.com and it costed only like 32 USD. In school it would cost like 150 USD. It was so cheap that i was kinda skeptical whether im getin the right book; whether they will realli mail it to me, or whether it is in good condition. But the description states that it is brand new. Well guess i will wait and see =)

Palmstring Factory Outlet - Best In LA

Today, Kk's mum's fren brought us to the factory outlet in Palmstring. As it would be a pretty long drive from Downtown LA, the initial plan was to leave around 9am so that we wont reach home too late. However, dunno wad happened and kk's mum only reached around 11plus. So, by the time we finish procastinating, it was almost 12nn. We then hoped onto the car and quickly head to the outlet. The drive was about an hr plus and we reached palmstring close to 2pm. Whao the outlet is HUGE! There were different wings so we didnt manage to finish shoppin at all outlets as there were simply too many of them. It was located at a very out of the way area as it looked like a deser there. The backdrop was all sand. There wasnt any other buildings around except for some fastfood restaurants.

Joy and me:

Group photo:

We then set a time to meet at around 6pm (which we of course didnt manage to meet) at a certain point. Ben and Arm went together, Kk's mum and her fren went together and the 5 other girls (including me) went together. My first stop as Bebe and i was so surprised at how cheap the clothes were. To think i spent so much money on my Bebe clothes that i bought in spore. Even the classics that werent on sale were bout half the price. Tat is so amazing.

After Bebe i went on to a couple of shops before settling down in Ralph Lauren. This was the shop that we spent the most time in. We were to spoilt for cheap deals that we couldnt decide. The skinny polo was so cheap and it was available in so many pretty colours that we didnt know how to choose. In short, limited money unlimited choice. After spending half a century and buring tons of cash, we decided to have lunch as it was 4plus and we were starving. Actually i didnt feel the hunger coz i was so happy shopping =)

We went to a foodcourt nearby for lunch.

Lunch was good and fulfilling. After satisfyin our hunger, it was time for another round of shoppin. We conquered only 10% i guess and we already bought so much. Hee... We decided to split up so it would be faster. I went alone to Dior but im not so much of a Dior fan so i didnt really browse around much. I tend went to fossils where they sold really cheap watches. Those watches were supposed to be refurbished watches that may hav minor imperfections but most of them were perfectly ok (well at least to my eyes). They were going at onli 29.99 bucks. DKNY, fossil... etc.

Then, i went on to Gucci when i almost wanted to buy the whole shop. The bags were way to cheap. There's no way i could ever get such a discount man! And being a Gucci fan, i couldnt help but bought some stuff. Ibought a belt and a shoes (which i paid MySeLf) and a very nice black bag (which i called mummy and told her i will buy using credit card but will pay her back once i get back). Mummy thanks for not sayin no. Juz to let u know i truely appreciate it =) I so wanted to buy everything but due to limited capital i couldnt. Next time when i start working, i will save 5k to come here and shop shop shop.

By the time i was done wif Gucci, it was already 610pm. So i went to look for kk who was in coach. I didnt wanna look around anymore as i didnt wanna chance upon something i like and start spending money again. So i went to look for Ben and Arm who were around the area restin. We chatted abit and Joy and Vee came to join us. After some time, we decided it was pretty bored so we went into Tod's and saw kk's mum, her fren, kk and Jay inside. They were trying on Tod's sneakers which costed only like $130 USD as it was 50% off outlet price. Damn Tod's sneakers at that price! And those sneakers look good. But well i didnt got any coz i didnt wanna spend another 100 bucks on shoes.

So, we went to kippling where there were like 65% sale! So, Joy Vee and I bought some cheap stuff there. After all these shopping, we went to the meet at the car and drove to the other side (I didnt even had time to go to GAP, Burberry etc...) Kk's mum's fren wanted to get some starbucks which was located there. I then bought my last purchase of the dae: A Guess wallet for 20 buck. It was almost 9pm by then.

We then headed towards Downtown LA for dinner. We went to a noodle house which had a wide variety of asian noodles. The portions were like super super big lor! But the good was nice.

The wide variety of food from the menu:

Me and my bubble tea:

By the time we got home, it was close to 12 midnight le. It was such a long long day. But well thats not the end. I have a special entry of all the stuffs i bought! We girls had so much fun unpacking and comparing what we bought...

Special post of ALL THE THINGS I BOUGHT!! (*family members pls read)

This is a special post which contains of all the things that i bought. I will tell you the individual prices of these products and you will know WHY I BOUGHT SO MUCH. Its like i believe no one can resist it. I know i burst alot of money but mummy, out of those money that i spent today, about $500 USD is my own money. And on top of that, i will pay u the $560 USD for the Gucci bag when i get back to Spore. So, in short actually i didnt burn that much of ur money. Im realli worried that you will kill and deal with me so i got to explain my stand. Firstly, these things are things that i really like and will eventually buy when im in spore (when i hav the money la). So, since they have it here and the price is half, one third and sometimes even a quarter of wad it will cost in spore. So, i rather buy them here then work my ass off to pay u back =) And knowing that you are a shopaholic yourself and how much you love me, i know u will understand right? Hee and since school is starting on monday, i will scrimp and save for the month of september. So, THANK YOU for giving me the green light to buy the Gucci bag (it really made it my happiest day here).

The ralph lauren here is SO SO SO cheap! I wanted to buy for mummy, papa, meimei and korkor but then i decided that since you all are coming to visit me in dec, i will let you guys come here to choose and buy like crazy yourself =) And kor, the burberry, GAP, Adidas and Fossil Watches are so cheap! I think the burberry tee onli like 50+ USD per piece. Jie, the Gucci is SO cheap, Kiplings bags, Guess, BeBe, TODs, COACH and many more are SO cheap too! So you know wad, u guys shd STOP buying any branded goods in spore and save up to buy here. One piece there could probably get u 3 pieces here! So, one of the most impt stop in our LA itinery would be PALMSTRING FACTORY OUTLET!

Before i took the things out of the bags:

Me and the girls... and all the shopping bags!! All of us went crazy shopping today...

Now, lets start our shopping journey =)

Watch on the left is DKNY and right is FOSSIL. Each of it costs $30 USD. In spore i believe one of it would cost bout $90 USD. So, it's 1/3 the price. Nice and sweet right.

Guess Wallet. $20 USD. I bought it coz my wallet here like gng to spoil le and there isnt a coin compartment.

Kiplings Bag. The big one is gd for travelling and sch. Costs $25 USD. Small one is for meimei coz i tot she'll like it. BUT im going to use it here first. HAHA. It costs $17 USD =) Kippling is pretty ex in spore too but im not too sure of the price though.

Clothes from BeBe! Clockwise starting from the black shorts dress. 1) Black shorts dress costs $40 USD (it was on 65% off outlet price). 2) Red tank top costs $35 USD. It costs bout $50 USD in spore. 3) Orange and white tee costs $38 USD (it was on 30% off outlet price). 4) Orange BeBe costs $26 USD. This is for KeJiao. 5) Silk top costs $24 USD. In spore it cost bout $100 USD i think coz i wanted to buy it last time but too ex le. So in tot, i spent $170 USD for 5 nice pieces from Bebe.

Now its Ralph Lauren. It is so cheap lor! I almost wanted to buy every piece in diff colours... Ha but i didnt la. From left: Long sleeve polo tee cost $32 USD. Plain white tee cost $12 USD. Stripped pullover costs $37 USD. Well i guess i dun need to tell you how much RL costs in spore right? And one impt thing is its not like the shop is in a mess and there are no sizes. There are multiple sizes and colours available and the clothes are all in gd condition!!

From Left: Stipped polo costs $37 USD. Cap costs $5 USD (HAHAHAHA! I think they calculated wrongly. It should be about 20 USD but well.. who cares as long as if they dun over charge me.) Green skinny polo costs $37 USD. Polo sweater costs $50 USD.

And lastly, my best buys from Gucci =) Well all my buys are realli good but since i am quite a Gucci fan and i had always wanted to buy these things, i feel really X 100 happy that i manage to get these things at this kind of price. It is even cheaper than buying in Paris man.

Gucci Bag. This is like one of the newest model (if im not wrong). Jie, u remember we saw this girl holdint this black bag in Gucci the other time when u wanted to get ur bag then we liked it alot. I think this is the same material. It Suede. Mummy i think u will like it too so we can all use it when i get back to spore =) It costs $560 USD after tax. I believe it will cost a thousand plus Sing dollars or 2 thousand coz of the material. It looks realli nice when u carry it and Jie, u will love it.

This is a Gucci heels which i had seen in spore and wanted to buy. It's close to 1k sing dollars but i paid like $230 USD after tax for it. Gosh i cant believe i attained my wish of having a Gucci heels at this price =) Its realli nice n comfy.

And this belt can totally match my shoes. I had wanted to get a Gucci belt in spore forever but then cant bear to. This one costs bout $170 USD after tax. It would cost close to 600 sing dollars.That's bout it =) Now u see how cheap the things are right =) Im like so so happy but kinda guilty too. But at least i paid some myself too so not that bad =)