AS's Chilly New Home in Seattle

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Looking out from the dining table, it was sunny outside. AkiraSabine could see the water very clearly from her home. It was so blue and so welcoming.

Akira was having her breakfast. It felt so good enjoying the hot brewed coffee in the chilly weather. The aroma from the toast she made blended into the lingering coffee aroma. How heavenly!

As she walked her kiddo boy to the bus stop this morning, she was introduced to her neighbours, kiddos friends and parents. These would be the faces she sees every weekdays morning from now onward.

Walking in the sunny yet chilly weather felt so awesome. Not a trickle of sweat rolled down her cheeks. “Good morning, it’s a lovely day, huh?” a mom greeted her. The dog she was walking seemed to agree as well. “Hi Allison,” she was greeted from behind. Oh, it’s a young girl she met yesterday but couldn’t recall her name. Bad AkiraSabine!

“Oh wow, don’t you feel cold?”

“Uh-uh”

AS was under 3 layers of tops and a jeans but her young friend was in a Tee and short skirt. “Oh well, I’ll be able to get through this later if not now. “

Salami with cheddar cheese and tortilla chips with a choice of Salsa or smooth avocado+basil leaves dip! Deeeeelicious!!!

Grilling terrace...

In Bangkok, it was 7-11 every 100 metres. In Seattle, it's this because it's born here! AS hardly see any 7-11 over here in Seattle.

Any postcard printers out there?

As AS went for a stroll....

God's creation!

Nope, we're having spring now.

Resort like neighbourhood, don't you think so?

And AS was only walking and shooting...

What's exploration without a trip in a local bus...

Awesomely A W E S O M E!! (borrowed these words from her kiddo)

Arriving at The Great States

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It was May 3rd when AkiraSabine(AS) arrived at the USA. Flight chronology was as follows:-

Depart – KLIA (Kuala Lumpur) @ 2am
Arrive - Pudong Airport (Shang Hai) @ 7.30 am
Depart – Pudong Airport (Shang Hai) @ 12.30 pm
Arrive – San Francisco Airport @ 7.30 am (May 3rd) which was already 11.30pm Malaysian time
Depart - San Francisco Airport @ 10 am ( 1 am on May 4th Malaysian time)
Arrive – Newark Airport @7 pm on May 3rd (7am on May 4th Malaysian time)

Jeez! And that totalled up to 29 hours! GRRREEAAT!! That was the longest May3rd AkiraSabine had ever had in her life!

There were lotsa APs like her as she went down for breakfast the next day. Everyone looked so excited being in the USA. They were excited to meet up with their new American families and living in the new neighbourhoods.

“What would you do when a child had difficulty in breathing and couldn’t speak? “
“What would you do when you meet with a car accident?”
“What would you do when a child refuses to listen to you?”
“What would you do when the teenage girl you care for told you to keep a secret from her parents?”

Those were among the questions raised and discussed during the 3 days’ academy. In the evenings, short trips were made to catch sights of the New York city.

A bus ride from Terminal 1 to 2 @ Pudong Airport

A friendly uncle narrating his life experience in the USA

"Thank God, they served you!"

Arriving at The San Francisco Airport

Was it snow down there?

Brazillians, German, Kiwi, Malaysian - cracked their heads

The city famous with yellow cabs!

Looking out to the remains of the World Trade Centre

This Time Last Year

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This time last year, I was an office executive.
This time last year, I travelled to Bangkok once every 2 weeks.
This time last year, I stayed on my own all by myself.
Bla bla bla, I ended mails with 'krob khun mak ka' and introduced myself to many yummy Thai food.
Bla bla bla, PI, PP, SCM, Evap were my main vocabs.
Bla bla bla, morning - meetings, evening - meetings, night time - work.
... ... ... I worked with fathers and brothers and it was fun.
... ... ... I would have to ask 'what, why, how, who, where,' about the dairy processes.
... ... ... Vendors called me to make appointments for profile presentations.
... ... ... I had to know how much money we'd spent.
... ... ... I had to keep track of our assets to ensure that hey were really coming down to us which I still think it was unnecessary.
... ... ... I watched us being bullied.
... ... ... I felt myself bullied.
... ... ... I kept track of the dismantling, crating and transportation of equipments larger than I was.

That but not all made me an overwhelmed, frustrated chap.

The Story of A Young Chef

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Hello peeps,

AkiraSabine(AS) is right now reporting from Seattle, Washington. Woohoo! Things have been great so far and today's the 4th day she's here after her 3 days in New Jersey. Yesterday was BBQ day with the host family and the extended family. AS is impressed with her host mom. She used to be a caterer, by the way and yesterday she saw her expertise put into use. Throwing a party to her seems to be just at her fingertips. We had salami with cheese, grilled lamb ribs and steaks, Italian-style baked cod fish, chips with separate salsa and lime avocado dip, corns, salad and not forgetting wine. Talk about super yummy dummy food!

AS thought her host kid's cute but his cousins are just as cute! But hey, her kiddo is no doubt still NUMMER EINS! Guess what he did today. A nine year old boy preparing breakfast for his mom on MOTHER'S DAY! AS's like so impressed with him and no wonder he's the pride of his mom! Hash brown for breakfast! That's what we had this morning!

The Mission Just Kicked Off

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34 hours delayed publishing due to limited access to the internet....

AkiraSabine(AS) has arrived at New Jersey since 2 hours back and the time here is 12 hrs behind her home country's.

OK, so all packing fuss has finally come to an end. Akira's family threw a farewell BBQ bash for her yesterday and she's indeed touched with the effort. Family and friends alike attended and it was great catching up before her departure.

Today, Sunday (May 2nd, 2010) nope.. it's already Monday the 3rd. So yesterday, she did her final packing, bought a lip balm. She was advised to get one as the weather in her destination is very dry unlike what she's been experiencing in her home county, hot and humid all year round.

Throughout the whole evening, she was in her room solving a major issue. Things she planned to bring couldn't fit into her backpack so, she unloaded her bag, went through everything, thought hard if it's an essential , get 1 or 2 items out, and reloaded the bag. She hoped it fitted this time but NO! so you can imagine the number of times she ran through this cycle.

Geez.. there must be a solution to this and of course it had to come to that. So, God bless Akira and she was ready to go. So yeah, it seems the gate has opened and she's supposed to be waiting there instead. The flight's gonna take off 30 mins from now! Ciao!

The satisfied Akira felt a self accomplished. Fuh, finally!

Engrossed in her blogging right at this spot!