Flight Review, literally #2

Okay, I just have to share this. Since my flight from Roanoke to Charlotte was on a tiny plane, there are just 2 seats on each side - and I always prefer the aisle seat. I was kind of excited because no one's sitting beside buttt....a cute guy sitting behind me asked if anyone's sitting beside me and I said no. So he apologized to the lady sitting beside him and asked if he could take the window seat beside me. I said yes, of course, not just because he's cute but also common courtesy :P 

Hence that flight was way shortened because we were talking and time seemed to fly. While I was heading to NY, he's heading to San Francisco, and both our flights were delayed. So we went to get some dinner together and talked again until my departure time's up. Fun huh? At least I don't have to wait for my flights alone..and I got a new friend!

So, US domestic flight #2

This time around, the plane's way bigger than the first. It's still under US Airways and it's my first time on an Airbus 320. Journey's about 2 hours I think and there's no entertainment whatsoever on board. No food was provided but drinks were. Choose anything from wine to juices and soft drinks. I took plain water - need to rehydrate because it's soooo dry it's hard to swallow! 

This flight was not as comfortable because it was so HOT inside. I was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and the air blasting out of the "hole" was neither hot nor cold. It might be because the plane was full, but they could still control the temperature. I could not sleep and was awake until I reached JFK at a little after midnight.

Here's the exciting part. I'm supposed to spend my night at JFK because my flight to Hong Kong is at 10 am the next day. Lucky for me (I'm always lucky :P), I met an Australian at the Air Train and she's going to spend the night at JFK's Terminal 4 as well. Her flight back to Australia is at 11 am the next day, so we went in search of sockets so that we can use our laptops. we found one in front of a closed pastry shop and sat right in front of it, on the floor. I didn't sleep at all but at least I wasn't alone.

Why Terminal 4? Because it's the only terminal operating 24 hours. No worries of getting hungry because there're McDonald's, Au Bon Pain and other cafes open as well. Unless you can find one, most of the seats will be occupied by sleeping people. It's fascinating, really. Oh yea, internet's available for a fee hahah! Since I'm stingy and was not too desperate to use the internet, I just watched a few movies on my computer to pass the time.

The view in front of our "resting place". See the others "resting"? lol

Can you see a person somewhere in the picture? Oh, and the stall in front of us was open too.

The pastry shop we sat in front of :D

Stay tuned...

Flight Review, literally #1

It's been a century since I've updated my blog. That's because I'm back in Malaysia now!! This time around, my journey back is WAY better than the one I've had when I first arrived in the States. Still, it's a looooonnngggggg flight.

Since I wanted to depart from the airport NEAREST to Blacksburg (which is in another town an hour's drive away) and CHEAP tickets, I had to take a redundant flight. I took US Airways and Cathay Pacific this time, which is definitely cheaper than most flights available. Here is my itinerary:

Roanoke, VA (ROA) --> Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT)
CLT                           --> Queens, New York (JFK) 
JFK                            --> Hong Kong (HKL)
HKL                           --> Kuala Lumpur (KUL)
KUL                           --> Kota Bharu


US Domestic Flight 1

I took US Airways from Roanoke and it's not too good. Weather's bad and the flight was delayed for about 45 minutes. If one's afraid of small planes (like some of Firefly airline's fleet), this one will scare the life out of you. I was not bothered by the fact that I could see the propeller blades rotating when I look to my right, but the engine sound instead. It was basically "screaming" during take-off and about 15 minutes after. I felt like I was in a factory with loud, heavy machinery blaring in my ears. It's as if the engine's trying VERY hard to lift up. Thankfully, the plane stabilized and I arrived safely at Charlotte. =)

This was the redundant flight that I had to take. Since there's no direct flight from ROA to JFK, I had to fly downwards to North Carolina's Charlotte Douglas Airport first and then upwards to New York. Flight period was short but waiting time's forever.

This forever is short compared to the one I'm bound to have next. I'll update this next because the blog's getting tedious. :P

Do I have Greenfingers?

I'm really bored and stressed from all the studying for the past few days. I had an exam each day from Thursday through Saturday (yes, Saturday) and another two this coming Tuesday. And then I'm done for the semester!

Remember I planted a few plants earlier this year for my Plant Propagation class? I actually planted more than that because I have greenhouse lab every Wednesday (not anymore now).

Here are some of the plants I've planted and those that have grown in that period of time:

My two tomato seeds planted at the beginning.

Then they began to germinate. The feeling I had when I saw this was priceless :)

And they got bigger..

And bigger..

Until they finally bear fruits! Tomatoes after I forgot how many weeks lol.

Flowering Forsynthia..not available in Malaysia. (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) Don't have the mood to Google today :(

Below are some pictures of narrow-leaf evergreen cuttings that we had to root. I can say they are quite successful.

Ornamental pepper. They look extremely pretty when all "grown up"..which explains why they are ornamental.

Leaf cuttings --> Pepperomia. I got the green ones instead of the variegated ones, as you can see from the neighboring plants.

Sweet shrub, which I think looks really cute.

Red buckeye planted from the seed as can be seen below. It's supposed to grow into a very big tree, like an Oak tree.

My Kentucky Coffee plant that grew quite well after I'd scarify them by scraping them against the concrete floor of the greenhouse.

Air layered a rubber tree to get the branch to root..that's just a name tag for me to recognize my masterpiece lol. It's not sold to me.

My Granny Smith apple graft (in front) and Fuji apple graft (the back). I was kind of worried they won't grow.

And I was wrong! They were successful! My professor said the plant will need at least 5 years to grow before I can actually think of getting apples from it. I can't even watch it grow up :( I would have graduated by then.. Goodbye, zai jian, zoi kin, selamat tinggal, annyeong, sayonara etc. etc. etc. :'(

That's it! And I'm still bored and my shoulders are aching. And two exams on Tuesday! I seriously need some motivation right not!! Help!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

To all mothers around the world, Happy Mother's Day!

Food, Glorious Food

A compilation of good food pictures taken with my beloved Panasonic Lumix digital camera given to me by my parents before I come over to Blacksburg.

My third Third Pounder before taking a picture of it. This is McDonald's Angus Mushroom and Swiss, but I personally prefer Angus Bacon and Cheese. I also did not take a picture of the limited edition Angus Bacon and Cheese with Chipotle Sauce. Not available in Malaysia! :P

Don't judge a book by its cover. It's not up to my expectation, but not too bad nonetheless.

 International House of Pancake's (IHOP) Belgian Waffle set (mine) with two sides. I chose scrambled eggs and sausage. Very good and seriously filling. My stomach felt like bursting after finishing the whole plate. It doesn't matter because I heart waffles very very much =))

My friend's chicken set. Very large portion as well and really good too! Grilled chicken breast, brocolli and cheese sauce, steak fries and a toast.

Another friend's Blueberry pancakes. I did not try this. I used to be addicted to pancakes but I don't really like them now because I eat them all the time. To all pancake fans out there, please forgive me XD

At a friend's place in Roanoke for lunch. Tandoori chicken! Some Malaysian food at last, eh?

Beef curry. Yum yum! Miss curry a lot too. I don't know how to cook good curry..Too bad.

Chicken with potatoes and vege in soy sauce gravy I think. So good! I skipped the Acar picture because I don't like Acar. Haha!

American food that I tapau-ed from Owen's Dining Hall here at Tech. I always get my food from this booth because I love all the carbohydrates and protein (if you get what I mean. If not then go figure). Clockwise from top left: Mac & cheese, Mashed potatoes and gravy, Southern-style green beans, roast pork.

All dishes below are prepared by none other than Yours Truly.
My first batch of oven-baked chicken wings- I made four wings. Looked a lil' dry but tasted heavenly! (It's true!)

Close up of the wings. Let me know if you are drooling because I need to know if they look good :)

Second attempt for dinner at my friend's place - made 19 wings this time. A success of course! And they didn't look as dry! Everyone said they are really good. *on cloud nine* My mum will be jealous of my Pyrex bakeware if she sees this, especially when they're so cheap here :D

The "Ais Kacang" or Malaysian-style Snow Cone that I made during Virginia Tech's International Street Fair. I was kind of sad because I missed the whole thing :( Had to man my snow cone booth :P

Korean somen in Herbal Chicken soup. Thanks to the dried herb sachets I brought over from Malaysia.

My American Breakfast. Sort of. I was too hungry so I took a bite from the whole-wheat toast.

Spring, Spring, Spring

My first Spring in Blacksburg is not bad at all: plenty of wind, rainfall and beautiful flowers! It's been a long, long time since I've published a new post because 24 hours in a day is just not enough for me (Okay, maybe it's my fault :P) Good news is, the semester will be over in less than a month's time. Bad news is, I don't know how I did for this semester *fingers crossed*

I did not take as many pictures as I used to because I kept leaving my camera at home >.<

I'm really thankful that I got a job at the dining hall. I get experience, friends, salary, free food, free food and free food! Last month, we had this annual (I think should be every semester, not too sure about it :P)" Student Starz" activity for all dining halls' student staff. Food, games, fun, you name it. Food looked really good that day, but too bad, I was working that day and I took my dinner break. Just got some snacks. Also, what's more important, I met up with some of my friends and we enjoyed it a lot.

It's held in D2 this year. It's my favorite dining hall --> New, beautiful, and BUFFET STYLE lol!

 
My friend, an exchange student from China majoring in Food Science and Technology.

My plate of snacks. Clockwise from 11 o'clock : Hazelnut gelato, Chocolate mousse, I-dont-know, Raisin roll (I think), Mango pudding?, and the winner = Raspberry crumble! I think most people know how Waffle fries in the middle taste like. (We call it Waffle fries here. Do we call it Criss-cut fries in Malaysia?)

My friend's. Notice the cute salad cup behind the Choco mousse. There is a baby carrot, green bean, purple cauliflower and something else in it. Very creative, but living in the United States will never make me eat raw salads! XD

Then Isabelle joined us; she's a Biochemistry major, and we are all under Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences!

Hope we'll have this again in Fall semester. Cannot wait to enjoy the hot and humid weather of my beloved Malaysia =) Final exams' next week anyways. Wish  me luck!

Joy of Spring Break ~ Day 3

I have to apologize again for delaying my post :P I've been really busy these days and exam week is here again! So, back to my Spring break trip, day 3 is the day I walked A LOT! You can rent a bike or take a bus I think, but as a student, money is a major player so I take walking as exercise :)


We went back to DC that day because we have yet to visit a few very important location. Weather was really good that day: sun was shining brightly but the wind was still cold and really strong. 


On the way to The Castle, we stopped by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (I went to this one already) - I don't know why I like this building a alot :P

The Castle - We should have stopped here before going anywhere else because this is where you get all the maps and details on the Smithsonian Museums.

Interior of the Castle.

My brunch at The Castle - expensive chicken wrap, more than $10 including tax :) Sorry I took a few bites before taking a picture of it.

Another section in the Castle. Very beautiful when you see it in person :P There are preserved animals on the shelves and they really spiced up the whole place!

The other side of the picture with different animals on this side.

On our way to the National Monument. It seemed so close but that was optical illusion. It was so far that we need maybe half an hour's walk there. Fuhh..

Ok, getting closer now but still seemed far and had to walk in a circle (the pavement is around the monument, not straight to it lol)

We're finally at the bottom of the National Monument because the pyramid at the top is not in sight anymore! Hahaha...Mum, I made it!

Don't forget to touch the National Monument and take a picture like I did :P  They do give out tickets to go up the structure (just like our very own Petronas Twin Towers' Skybridge), but you'll have to queue early. The tickets were gone by the time we were there :( Oh yes, there were soldiers there..to maintain peace there I guess ;D

Next, we walked some more and reached the World War 2 Memorial. Very impressive structure, with each state's name on each pylon. I went and searched for Virginia's of course, under the Atlantic section.

Moving on, now on the way to the Lincoln Memorial. The rows of trees are endless as you can see. Advice: don't complain or think that you are tired. Otherwise, you will not want to walk on anymore.

Ohoho, the Lincoln Memorial is finally in front of me, but obviously, there's still a long way to go, across the plain and up the staircase :D

Can you see Mr. Abraham Lincoln looking at you from his chair? He looked really comfortable while I was worn out from all the walking.  *envy*

Hello Mr. Lincoln, how are you doing? I'm Yi Lin. It's very nice to meet you :) You have a good day ok!

Next up, Korean War Memorial. There are so many war memorials here >.< 

If you are a fan of the drama series "Bones", you will know this structure. It's the Jefferson Memorial, and it was too far away so I did not visit this one. I'll definitely visit it one day :)

I was really excited to see the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) lol. This is just one part of the building. Could not take everything because it was way too long and my camera doesn't have panorama function.

Another exciting part: I saw a few flowering Sakura (Cherry Blossom) trees but now I realized that Virginia Tech has so many of them all around the campus. All my excitement went poof..

The very famous Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, filled with aircrafts etc. I'll visit this one another time. Oh, I forgot that I'm actually on my way to The Capitol, where the Laws are made hahaha!

If you are a fan of NCIS, CSI and many other American drama series, you will always see The Capitol. Very beautiful building but I did not go in (I don't know if I can at that time). If you realize, the real building is way at the back, pass the reflecting pool. And we walked again.

A pair of Mallard ducks swimming in the cold waters. They came towards me, but I had to apologize  because I had no food for them. The colorful one is the male while the other is the female.

Walk sommore and you'll see the National Postal Museum. If you are a fan of stamps etc, this is a good place to stop by. I spent quite some time here.

Please put your bags, cellphones and everything from your pocket onto the conveyor belt. Walk through the metal detector and you're done! Felt like I was in an airport all over again. I guess this building has some other functions or they won't be so strict about what you're bringing in :)

Stamps on the ceiling.

Grabbed some ice-cream before going home. I had this at Union Station. I think this cup is about $5 including tax, which is absolutely cheap!! Haha! Butter Pecan (white) and Peanut Butter Chocolate (chocolate)..Hmmm , so sinfully good :D

At Union Station (metrorail), waiting for our train to bring us back to College Park! 

That's it! Can't wait to go back to Malaysia in summer!! The weather difference will suck for me but home is where I belong :) Till then.. I think I'll be hibernating for a while. Will be back soon ;)