I think many times we take things for granted. I have always been quite a patriotic Singaporean, and my one year stay at US only made me even more so. I told MAS that I am a Singaporean and that is how I will serve the society. I told my programme chair at SMA that as one of the very few Singaporeans in the course, I will do well to do the country proud.

Friends tell me that life is really tough in Singapore. Some of them grew up here, some of them came from neighbouring countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. I agree, though my life has always been very smooth. Too smooth sailing, sometimes I felt like I’m in a computer game or in a controlled greenhouse where someone has very precisely planned and paved the way for me. Might not be a good thing, many times it didn’t feel real. It’s like, how is it possible that only good things happen to me? When life has always been perfect for 30 years, it just doesn’t seem real isn’t it? I have everything I need, so there’s nothing I should ask for. For the things that I want, I have them in excess.

Or it’s a matter of perception and contentment. Though I can objectively conclude that life has been kind to me.

Had philly cheesesteak for 3 consecutive meals!! Must try them from where it originated from.

LOVE

This was taken on 15th February. Yeah, you must be thinking, why not take on Valentine’s Day? Yup… everybody wants to take picture with this on Valentine’s Day… whole bunch of people queuing up for it. So we went there early next morning to take the picture… nobody compete with us, haha.

The Liberty Bell

There is one whole museum dedicated to this liberty bell. What is the significance of this important bell of Pennsylvania? Visit the museum to find out. (because I don’t know).

University of Pennsylvania

This is the University of Pennsylvania.

Singapore Flag

There is a street with 2 rows of flags. I believe the flags of every country is represented.. cos it is really a very long stretch of road. Haven’t seen the Singapore flag for a long time? It was not too long ago when I have to sing the national anthemn every weekday morning..

Enjoy it on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge

Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Very windy… nice breeze. Haha. Let me just enjoy the moment..

See the other photos of Philadelphia on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67481&id=569158105&l=0da53

A frozen fountatin near Kennedy Plaza

There were a few speciality of Rhode Island. The Johnny Cakes, that started since the colonial times. It is made with corn meal and water, and fried like a pan cake. We also tried the State Drink, the coffee milk. It is mild and comforting, with a hint of coffee and caffeine.  Clams are removed from their shells, mixed with potatoes, celery and other stuffings, and finally baked in its shell to create the stuffies.

Breakfast at The Aspire: Johnny Cakes

We saw the first baptist church in America, called the First Baptist Church. The State House, where houses the Rhode Island Charter of 1663 and other treasures. The dome of the state capitol building is the world’s 4th largest self-supported marble dome. 

Rhode Island State House

Rhode Island is very quiet, so quiet there is hardly anyone on the streets. A relaxing getaway, to enjoy the nature and the snow. Other photos are on facebook.

Places we went to:

New York
Statue of Liberty
Brooklyn Bridge
Metropolitan Museum of Art
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park
Grand Central Station
5th Avenue
Empire State Building
Wall Street
Rockfella Ice Rink
Time Square
World Trade Centre
United Nations Office

Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge

Empire State Building

View of Chrysler from Empire State Building

View of Times Square from Empire State Building

Washington DC
Capitol
Washington Monument
Lincoln Memorial
Pool of Reflection
White House
Museum of Air and Space
International Spy Museum
Museum of Natural History
Museum of Art

The Capitol

Washington Monument

Washington Monument (The Base)

Lincoln Memorial

Pool of Reflection

World War II Memorial

It was quite a long but exciting trip. Fraught with ‘dangers’ such as…

1. A rude young man on board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.. that I had to ask him to sit elsewhere.

2. A drugged and drunk man on a 5 hour bus journey.. kept pestering that he wants to get off the bus, throughout the journey repeatedly telling the whole bus his story of…
[start: parental alert]  his 22-year relationship with another man. [end: parental alert]

3. Almost having no place to stay on New Year’s Eve, when a landlady at Flushing did not honour her agreement to give us a room. We found out only when we arrived at New York with all our luggages. Fortunately managed to check into Hotel Wolcott on 5th Avenue at a good price.

Other photos will be on facebook.

7th December: Started with very light snow…

Light snow on the field

Memorial Drive

Ice on trees.

Opps. Don’t tell anyone that I said this is a tree. Cos’ this is a bush.

Simmons Hall, on the field

17th December:

Slightly more snow then previously..

The cars...

The cars are cute…. all covered with snow.

Snow covered playground

19th December 2008: Snow Storm

MIT declared an early day off due to the impending snow storm today. And due to that, Yu Qian and myself had our appointments with our advisors postponed to next Monday. It all started with…

It is beginning...

With some ice along the sides of the path

The shuttle bus stop..

All was well… then I went to Galleria. And when I left Galleria at 4:30pm…

Big snow outside Galleria

At Kendall

Feels like Christmas

Our room

Oh, ice formed on all sides of the windows, and I can’t open or close it…

The field..

Snow...

Like Christmas

Tang Residence

More photos from my friend Yu Qian..

Someone lying there..

View from her room

The road

Poor cars..

Winter..

Dinner at Royal East

My Fujitsu has been good for 4 years, but it’s time for it to go… so I have to buy a new laptop!

My new laptop!

Sony Laptop

Large screen… cos I need to watch movies on it

Reese at Prudential Tower

Hibachi Steak

Some asian food.. not good...

Peanut cake.. nice!

This is our dinner. The hibachi steak is nice… japanese style. Even the mash potatoes are wasabi flavoured.

3 bears.. cute.

Bought some gift cards from Cheesecake Factory… and it comes with a free bear!! We bought all 3 designs…

Reese at Hyatt

Me at Hyatt

Beef Short Ribs

Espresso Steak

Our Dinner

Desserts. Very nice!

We went for a dinner at Hyatt. It’s our 3rd anniversary so thought we go somewhere safe where the food has been tested to be nice. Turns out Reese’s Espresso steak was really bad.. my short ribs is ok but tastes very asian. The desserts is the best.

My tidied table..

And this is how my table looks like after the exams! Great… beautiful… neat… oh no. This was taken on the night before the optimization exam… I realised it cos I see the textbook there.

CDO Classmates

…with Laura

Dinner at Royal East

This is our SMA Christmas dinner. I love crispy chicken… haha.

At Boston, black friday is over hyped. Things are not really much cheaper.

MIT

 Before we start our journey….

Penang

 We filled our stomachs in between shopping…

Newbury Street

Newbury Street.. me.

A very nice street to shop where Zara here is 3 storey high.

Very cheap DVDs.

And came back with only these. I bought a lot of dvds cos they are really cheap…. ranges from US$5 to US$10… It’s scary that I already have about 40 original DVDs here now… dunno how to bring back to Singapore… haha.

Out to Galleria

On the way out..

Reese

Me...

Beef Ribs.. the 3rd time we having this..

This shows u proportion

This plate is for one person, but you can see that we really have to share it..

Snickers Cake

Shopping and Feasting with Classmates

Were out shopping with Chen Si, Zhang Hui, Wang Jie, Yuwei, Yu Qian and Qinwen today. Started the day with lunch at Quincy Market.

Bread Bowl and Lobster Roll

Christmas is Coming!!

Christmas Tree!

Reese and Me

Vegetable Plates

Raw Meat to be cooked..

Almost done!

Life seems good for me? Haha. Some people asked why are all my pictures are showing me having fun. And did I ever study? Haha, nobody takes pictures of themselves suffering or studying right?

But I am quite enjoying myself

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6.

Origins of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving originated in the 1600s when God delivered the Pilgrims from England to America.

In 1534, the Act of Supremacy made the king the leader of the Church of England. However, Bible believing Christians wanted to be loyal to God and true to the Bible. They called themselves Pilgrims, as they began leaving England for Leydan, Holland in 1607. In Holland, they were penniless and being foreigners, they qualified for only the lowest paying jobs. And to preserve their worship practices in their native language (English), they are convinced that God wanted them to sail to America and begin all over with.

102 men and women set sail across the Atlantic. They met with a storm, and on 9th November realised that the storm had blown them to Cape Cod, 100 miles north of their planned destination at Virginia. The storm had been providential, because at Cape Cod, they are free from obligations to the New England Company, which had business dealings in Virginia. So they believed that God wanted them to be at Cape Cod, and they settled there and form a new kind of government.

In three months from December 1620 to March 1621, 45% of the men and women died from diseases, but they were thankful because it is half the death toll at Jamestown. Good and bad things happened during that time, but the Christians were full of thanksgiving to God for His mercies.

Governor Bradford proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving to God to be held. As pilgrims to a foreign land, they invited their neighbours to 3 days of feasting – Fat turkeys, many types of vegetables, cornmeal pudding, fruit pies, maple syrup, popcorn.

Thanksgiving celebration spread throughout the regions of America. George Washington, declared in 1789, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour… I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, Who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country….”

in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a national holiday, when family became the focus of the holiday. In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s adminstration declared Thanksgiving to be on the fourth Thursday of November.

(Paraphrased from Bill Perry’s American Holidays, Multi-Language Media, 1995.)

The Pilgrims had 3 days of feasting in Thanksgiving. Me too, I went for 3 separate thanksgiving dinner. One hosted by the Boston churches, one by SMA, and one by Westgate.

Thanksgiving with Boston Churches

Reese and Me at Thanksgiving

Table decorations

Our Food

Thanksgiving with SMA

SMA CE. Classmates from China, India, Singapore.

Food

Really good apple pies

My Food

Thanksgiving with Westgate

Buffet Table

Our Food

Reese and her food

 And this concludes our 3 days of Thanksgiving feasting

We went to Burlington Coat Factory today. It was a very long journey! Things are cheap there but not really that nice. What’s worth mentioning about this day is…

Dinner at Shabu Zen! With Chen Si, Yuwei, Nirjhar, Chin Soon, Yu Qian and Reese.

Before eating...

Many types of soup to choose from. We have the regular, and the “spicy chinese” (which I suppose is what we call 麻辣. It’s great, though we didn’t make it spicy enough.

Surf and Turf, Meat Platter

The meat is great… thin and tender. We’ve been to several Chinese restaurants here in these 3 months. This place is clearly the best… highly recommended. Fantastic.. very satisfying meal. Even Nirjhar enjoyed it, haha. His first time trying steamboat, haha induction into Chinese culture.

10th November 2008: Dinner at Legal Seafoods

Dinner at Legal Seafoods

Boston Clam Chowder. It was said that this is the best chowder you can get over here. Not great… pretty average. The best is at Hyatt.

Fisherman

Tastes… alright..

Fish and Chips

Tastes bad. Won’t recommend this place to anyone.

8th November 2008: Cambridgeside Galleria

Outside Student Centre..

This was at MIT. Many leaves were falling from the trees at that moment.. but didn’t manage to capture it.

Nice red tree

Nice red tree outside the medical centre. This is really pretty…

Dinner..

Dinner.. enough to feed a cow again, haha.

2nd November 2008

Outside Stata Centre

1st November 2008: Cambridgeside Galleria too

Memorial Drive

Nice row of trees along the street that I always walk along the way to school. Oh not actually, I seldom walk to school these days, have been taking the shuttle.

Beef Ribs

Beef Ribs. Is good! Used angus beef. Angus beef seems pretty common here.

Strawberry Shortcake

Dessert.. I like.

Other Random Photos

Yellow Tree

A tree near Westgate..

Can you spot the same tree?

The same tree looks like this 2 weeks later. Haha. All the leaves dropped to the floor.

Selfmade Lunch

I packed my own lunch to school today (5th November). Nice looking sandwich right!!

Reese Made Dinner

Reese prepared dinner on most nights. This dinner was on 7th November. 麻油鸡，肉骨茶, vegetables, kimchi radish, and white rice.

Dinner on 9th November

Reese prepared dinner. Black pepper beef, green lettuce and crabstick salad.