An evening at the Nautical Mile

The Nautical Mile, which is located in Freeport (2 towns east of where we live) is a street with dozens of seafood restaurants and unique shops. It is located in a canal that leads to the Atlantic Ocean.

As this week is Kong Kong's last week in New York, we decided to go there for a stroll and to enjoy some seafood.


We went to a restaurant called the Crab Shack. Yes, it does serve crabs and no, we didn't order crabs. Po po had salmon, kong kong had tilapia, hubby had mako (a shark species) and I had striped bass. The food were delicious!

We also discovered something interesting. The first boat that crossed the Atlantic Ocean was built here at the Nautical Mile and the ACTUAL boat is on display among the restaurants. The boat is only 26 feet long. Check it out.

Tagged: 6 quirks about me

I have been tagged by Ann to share 6 unimportant or shall I say, unknown habits about myself.

The rules for this meme are easy:

1. Link to the person that tagged you - Ann.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag someone

I bet you didn't know that:

1. I am a clean freak. In fact, I just realise this the other day. I simply could not stand if there were crumbs on the dinner table, while dinner is still progressing.
2. I can lazed around the whole day, no nothing and not feel bored.
3. I play the piano and took the exam till Grade 8.
4. I used to collect stamps and first day covers. My collection is still in my childhood home.
5. I am so frugal that hubby would call me tight wad. Sometimes, I would think for so long before spending $2 that it wasn't worth the time thinking about it.
6. Once I make up my mind to do something, I must go through with it or else....is that stubborness or inflexible?

I'm tagging:

Puteri
Cat
Beachlover

Super stroller

I took my parents to my old neighborhood in Queens last week to 'jalan-jalan' (walk around) and 'makan' (eat). Where I used to live is really convenient because shopping and dining is within a few steps of our apartment.

Anyway, we were walking around and saw this really cool and sophisticated stroller. It looked very different from the regular stroller. It is higher and you don't have to bend down to put in or take your baby out. The carriage could also be backward (facing you) or forward facing. A few minutes later, I saw another one.

Curiousity got the better of me and I decided to look it up online. It is a Stokke Explory stroller, like this one below.

My eyes almost popped out of their socket when I saw the price - $899!!!! It is indeed a nice gadget to have. Would you buy this for your baby?

My name in Japanese

I was blog hopping and came across Momsie Tales and a cute post about what your name would sound like in Japanese. I decided to try it on my name.

TRANSLATION:

A - ka
B - tu
C - mi
D - te
E - ku
F - lu
G - ji
H - ri
I - ki
J - zu
K - me
L - ta
M - rin
N - to
O - mo
P - no
Q - ke
R - shi
S - ari
T - chi
U - do
V - ru
W - mei
X - na
Y - fu
Z - zi

Hooi Imm - Rimomoki Kirinrin

Eeerrrr.....interesting....sounds like the name of an exotic island! LOL. Join in the fun. Let me know what your name sounds like.

Miserable weather

This year's May weather in New York has been anything but. It has been raining a lot and is cooler than usual. It feels more like April.

I had purposely scheduled my parents visit in May so that they can catch a bit of the cooler weather and then the warmer weather will be here. Unfortunately, it is not the case this year. They have been here for 1 1/2 weeks and the weather has been miserable.

Just last Friday, I took them to Flushing, a town which is like Chinatown but on a smaller scale, and it rained the whole day and it was cold!

The weather forecast is predicting some good weather next week and I hope it stays that way so that my dad can enjoy some nice weather before he leaves at the end of the month.

A visit to the animal farm

Today, Olivia went on her first visit to an animal farm. There are goats, cows, llamas, deers, zebras, camels, monkeys. She enjoyed herself tremendously and had a great time.

The first animal she encountered were goats and she kept saying ba ba.


There were 2 llamas in the same enclosure (the animal with the long neck below) as the goats and when she saw them, she said 'neigh neigh'.....hahaha.


We spent about an hour there and Olivia had a fun time running around and feeding the deers. The highlight of the visit was a pony ride. I was initially concerned that she would be too scared but look at her. She loved it. This girl is fearless.


I think one of the funniest photos I took was this one. This llama looked like he's saying "Who ya looking at?" LOL.

First encounter with Kong Kong and Po Po

Since my parents reached New York very late on Friday night, they did get to see Olivia until the next day. When Olivia first saw my mom, she was a little bit shy but 15 minutes later, it's like she has known her po po her whole life!

Of course, kong kong and po po are very happy to see Olivia. They are amazed that she know so many words. She even imitate her kong kong when he is exercising....haha. These are the first photos of Olivia with kong kong and po po.

Toddler gibberish

I think the toddler stage is the cutest. Your child is becoming his/her own person and they are trying to walk, be independent and is more verbal. I find it cute and funny when Olivia tries to say certain words that only mommy can understand.

Poon - Spoon
Shwing - Swing
Papi - Paci (pacifier)
Meow - Cat
Neigh Neigh - Horse
Hata - Hat
Dog ah - Dog (I think she is trying to speak Manglish...LOL)

Mother's Day card from Olivia

On Friday, Olivia came home from daycare with a little gift for me for Mother's Day. It's wrapped in very thin red colored paper.


Hhhmm...I wonder what it is. I carefully open the paper so that I don't tear it and voila......this is what I got.

A flower shaped card with Olivia in a green moustache ! Hahaha......

Where is my baby?

Who replaced my sweet baby....

with a rambunctious toddler??


Well, she is still sweet and lovable but where did the time go? Olivia turned 18 months a week ago! It seemed just like yesterday when I held her in my arms, a tiny newborn. No matter how old she is, she will always be my baby.

Spaghetti pie

Oh my, I'm on a roll these days. I keep trying new recipes that came out pretty good. I got this recipe from an online mommy group I belong to. I thought it was pretty unique as the pie crust is made from spaghetti, so I decided to give it a try.

This was the result.

Even though it needs quite a bit of ingredients, it is pretty easy to make.

Recipe

6 ounces spaghetti (8 ounces linguini)

2 T. butter

1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs, well beaten

1 pound ground beef or pork sausage

1/2 c. onions, finely chopped

1/4 c. green pepper, finely chopped

1 - 8oz. can tomatoes, chopped

1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 t. sugar

1 t. dried oregano, crushed

1/2 t. dried basil

1/2 t. dried marjoram

1/2 t. garlic salt

1 c. cottage cheese

1/2 - 1 c. sour cream

A few grinds of black pepper

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate

2. Cook spaghetti and drain well. Stir butter into hot spaghetti and thenstir in grated Parmesan cheese and eggs. Form spaghetti mixture into acrust in pie plate.

3. Mix together cottage cheese and sour cream. Spread over bottom ofspaghetti shell.

4. In skillet cook ground beef (or sausage), onion and green pepper, until meat is brown and onion soft. Drain off fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, basil, marjoram, black pepper and garlic salt. Cover cheese mixture with meat mixture.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes and then sprinkle mozzarella chesses over topand bake about 5 minutes longer.

6. Freezes well. If you plan to freeze, do not add mozzarella until final baking.

Serve with garlic bread. YUM!!

Kong Kong and Po Po

In less than a week, kong kong and po po will arrive in NY for a visit. I'm so excited! My father has not seen Olivia since she was a week old and the last time my mom saw Olivia was when she was 1 month old.

Since she is still too young to travel such a long distance, they are coming instead. I do send my parents photos but it is not the same. They missed out on interacting with her. She has grown so much and is talking a lot.

I hope Olivia won't be too shy but she will get used to them.

Up, Up and....

...away!! This would describe the price of gasoline here in US. In my town, it is now up to $3.77 per gallon. The first 4 months of this year has seen the highest increased in gas prices. As a result, groceries and other goods are also getting expensive.

I used to be able to buy a week's worth of groceries for about $50-$60, now it is costing $70-$80! It is getting ridiculous.

Cost of living went up more than 10% but salary either stay flat or only increase by 3%. How do middle class families like ours survive? The only way is to 'ikat perut' and be very frugal.