Silent Scribbler: Jalan-jalan

Showing posts with label Jalan-jalan. Show all posts

Recently we went to NYC to renew hubby's passport at the Malaysian consulate. It was a really short trip but my impression of NY is not too good! Ha ha ha. It's a busy city. Everybody's rushing. People are not too friendly. Taxi cabs are everywhere. Food is surprisingly cheap and plentiful, if you are not too fussy. I liked that they had little carts everywhere selling halal meat. There was also many charming cafes selling all sorts of pastry and sandwich. We found a halal biryani restaurant; I had chicken which was quite good but the portion was huge! It was also rather aggressively spiced so I couldn't really eat the whole thing. Hubby had lamb I think and it was swimming in ghee!

The good thing about the Malaysian consulate was the relatively short time it took to make the passport. We were in by 9am and out by around 12. The officers were rather err... business like and aloof. None of that Malaysian muhibbah attitude. Ha ha ha. You didn't even have to provide passport sized photos; they had an officer armed with a digital camera so that was handy.

After settling the passport, we just walked about but it was so exhausting. The Malaysian consulate was situated near the Empire State Building. We crossed Broadway and Madison Avenue looking for Time Square but the GPS was wonky and we got lost. We tried asking for directions but unfortunately some people did not speak English clearly (e.g. reminded me of London, that had a huge immigrant community), while others were too busy on their way to entertain us. On the way back, in the taxi cab then only we saw Trump towers, Time Square, a huge Macy and Zara store (among others) and Central park. It was too short of a trip to do much, and I did not sleep for two days so I was really feeling grumpy so we headed back to La Guardia since we didn't want to miss our flight. Definitely we needed to take another trip back to NYC for a longer and more leisurely trip. The highlight of the trip was meeting some friendly Malaysians (college students from Iowa), also waiting at the consulate. They made me feel at home (even just for a brief minute).

All in all, I don't think I miss much not living in a big city in the US. NYC is not unlike Chicago. The vastness, noise and frenzied pace scares me a bit. I prefer a more laid back kind of life I guess...

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Emee comes to Ohio!

Last week, Emee came down from Chicago to visit us. She just started her Masters program in UC and her school follows the quarter system so she doesn't have much time off. When she told me she would squeeze in some time to visit us during her spring break, I was really happy to accept.

She spend the first two days at shopping malls, and visiting my campus. We took her to Aurora premium outlet and the Summit mall to get some stuff that she needed for school. The third day, we took her to Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Entrance was so expensive (e.g. adult fee = USD 22); I dare say if you are not a music lover you might not really enjoy the museum. I mean I like to listen to music, but learning about the history of jazz and rock is not really my cup of tea. I did like though some of the displays (e.g. costumes people wear when they perform, giant guitar replicas, original music lyrics scribbled on tattered paper). Dah lah tak boleh amik gambar dalam museum tu. They did though have a decent souvenir shop at the lobby and I got something for someone ehem ehem.

Outside Cleveland R & R Hall of Fame. Source: Google Images

Also outside of Cleveland R&R Hall of fame. Beautiful day!

Sad near the lake

Cleveland town

More enjoyable was the scenery outside the museum. It was located next to some sort of lake (since we don't have beaches in this state, that is the closest thing!) and you could feel and smell the sea breeze close by. On hindsight, maybe it would have been better to go to the Great Lake Science Center next to the R & R hall of fame! The entrance fee was cheaper and they probably had equally interesting displays. Near the two museums, you could see the Amtrac train station across the road and also the Cleveland Browns Football stadium, which was huge! For lunch we took her to Pacific East Japanese/Malaysian cuisine restaurant in Cleveland. Sempatlah Emee merasa mee sup kat US ni. Walaupun tak sedap mcm kat Malaysia jadilah. He he he. Waitress kat restoren tu pun Ipoh mari and she happily chatted away with Emee about their hometown.

Cleveland Browns Stadium. Source: Google Images

On the fourth and final day, we took her to Pittsburgh, to visit the Grove city outlet. I think she was happy coz she found a duffel bag (to carry all her stuff back!) and a good spring/fall trench coat that she was looking for at such a reasonable price. She came by Metrobus, but decided to go back by train since the ticket was reasonable and the schedule for Metrobus was weird. Her train was at 3.45 am and luckily there were other passengers waiting at the station so it was not too creepy to be waiting there alone. So all in all, she stayed for four very short but packed days. I wished she had more time here though. Nanti kalau free turun lagi naa....

It's not often that I get friends visiting me. When they do, it's so nice to catch up and to reminisce. I hope you had a good time while you were here, and that you can come again!

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Chicago the windy city!

Last year, I found out that one of my closest uni friend, Emee would be in the US to continue her Masters. I was very happy to hear that! It's nice to have a friend from back home to talk to. So we decided to help her out when she came to settle down. We knew how hard it would be to settle down in a foreign country without a familiar face, as we had gone through the same process. I was luckier because I had a husband with me, and I was located in a very small, university town so getting around was not so hard (except in winter). She came last month, and as soon as both of us had some free time we packed our stuff and headed to Chicago last week!

University of Chicago: Image courtesy of Google Images

It takes about six hours to get from Ohio to Chicago. She got a place in the University of Chicago, which is actually located in the middle of town, very much like University of Akron, I think. Her apartment is minutes away from her school building, so that was good. Build in the 1890s, its really one of the more established private universities in the US. Transportation was very complicated; it is after all one of the biggest cities in the US also. She had access to subways and LRT but you have to get your bearings right and learn how to navigate the area before even attempting to get on the train. Even getting to the next neighborhood was very confusing for me. And coming from a small town, I was really, really scared in Chicago. Her apartment was of course in university campus, but it's open campus so next door was not a very safe neighborhood. As with Kent, you have police escorts walking with students after dark, but I've never seen so many police car patrolling the neighborhood at such a frequent rate! And of course, I was struck with the living expenses. Where I am, USD600++ for a one bedroom apartment is considered expensive, but she is staying in a studio apartment at the same rate, and that is considered cheap!!! And if you are used to small town driving, it was quite a shock to be back in a big city. I think hubby was given the horn more than once; people are so impatient! You rarely see drivers in small town being impatient. I guess life is much more laid back where I am currently living in. The diversity of the city was evident; you can see people of different races walking around in different parts of the city, and some university cafes even sold food catered to Muslim students.

Another thing that surprised me was the prevalence of halal @ zabihah food in her neighborhood. She had at least one good halal store (Valley of Jordan, I think it's called) and the food pricing was relatively inexpensive too compared to our halal store (perhaps due to competition, they probably had a larger market to cater to there)! Plus, the owner was super friendly. We also found a halal restaurant right near her neighborhood called Numeca. I had the Chicken BLT there which was really, really good. The owner is African Muslim, and there was even a Masjid there near the restaurant.

Chinatown, Chicago. Image courtesy of Google Images

We only spent two days there so I can't tell you much about the great tourist attraction there; I was told they have great museums (Museum of Science and Industry), the aquarium (Shedd aquarium) and the Millennium Park (which I think we drove by on our way to the premium outlet). We did however, see the sears tower from afar, and dropped by Chinatown (to go to the Asian store). (sorry, no personal pictures. I took some, but quality wasn't that good... plus, all three of us were not cam-whoring type of people he he he).

Sears Tower. Image courtesy of Google Images

To Emee, hope you have settled down properly, and we will see you again soon when we have the time. Don't worry, as long as we are still here we will help you the best way we can. It was nice to see a familiar face in Obama land. He he he he. As for me, I am glad to be living in a small town! Sure, it's less exciting, but much less expensive and a lot more 'tame'. Plus, my studies would not be any easier even if in a different place!

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Our summer activities

Source: Google Images

There's only a few weeks left for my summer holiday. Sigh. After enjoying myself for quite a bit without thinking about my PhD, I am feeling very sluggish. It will take a lot of effort to get back into study mode. Last year, we went back to Malaysia but this year we decided to stay. Summer is quite nice here; even though certain places in the US have been hit with terrible heat wave (e.g. Texas, Florida etc) we've been quite fortunate to have a rather breezy and windy summer here. That's been spots where we've had scorching hot weather, but it's been rather bearable. This short break has also been good to me; it feels good not to think about schoolwork for a while, and I've been feeling really happy and relaxed.

Here's a few things that we did to while away our summer holiday; for one, we took a short trip to Pittsburgh Zoo. It's about two hours from our place, and I've been itching to go there. It's pretty huge and tiring! Since we got there during the week day, it was not so crowded but the train service was not working! So we had to walk the whole way from the entrance to the exit. I think the best parts were the African Savannah exhibit and the aquarium. There were a lot of varieties of different animals, and I thought the way they organized each exhibit was very orderly, and they attempted to preserve as much as they could of the natural habitat of the animals. It was just rather disappointing that the polar bear did not make an appearance; it was too hot and they were probably sleeping instead of baking in the hot sun. Here are some selected photos:

The angry snow leopard

Yikes, sharks!

Can you spot the fish?

Sad's favorite place; the aquarium!

We also managed to visit some nearby parks. Monroe Park was nice. Sad wanted to take a dip in the lake but he changed his mind upon seeing the muddy waters! He he he. But it didn't deter others. There were plenty of kids and adults enjoying a cool dip in the lake, fishing or boating/canoeing. Since we don't have any beaches near us, this is the nearest body of water so it will have to do.

Lake Monroe

We also had some visitors from Athens and Indiana who came by for a short visit. After being entertained by the visitors in their respective homes, it felt really good to return the favor! Next in our plans is probably a visit to Lake Erie. Niagara Falls (the US bit) and Cedar Parks (an entertainment park) is also pretty close to us and we haven't been there. We only have two more years here so we plan to cram in as many things and visits to as many different places as possible. It would be a waste not to!

All in all, this long, relaxing and hot summer is definitely a much welcome break for both of us. How I wish the summer break would not end.

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Our 'college' road trip

Indiana university: a typical American campus

Although I still have an ongoing online summer class, we still wanted to take short summer trips to relax. So last Friday, me, hubby and Haru packed our bags and headed to Indiana.

Why Indiana? Sad had a colleague there who's also doing her PhD and she and hubby welcomed us to stay. She was very helpful; we managed to book two apartments which were not only cheap but comfy enough per her advice. We debated whether we wanted to stay at her house (she initially insisted that we did) but I wasn't comfortable with it. She already has three kids (one, a newborn) and we didn't want to impose. I've had people who attempted to 'impose' on us a couple of times already and I know how that feels. And I'm glad we didn't. When we arrived, her student apartment was so cramped! Although it was two floors, the kitchen was tiny and they had just enough place for a sofa and dining table in the living room. And I was amused to see that although the place she stayed in was in the outskirts and far away from town, it was more expensive than our place! The impact of the recent tornado was also evident; a huge tree was cut off outside the house and the roof of the apartment appear bent as a result.

What I loved the most though was that she had other Malaysian families staying nearby and also some twenty odd undergraduate students in the same complex. It's really helpful and their camaraderie was genuine enough. You could tell. Students dropped by her apartment late at night and they even played with her two young sons. She's very lucky! We aren't as lucky; having other students in the same boat really will help you, I think. At least you have others that can share your experience and help you in case of trouble. And yes, they might be less judgmental when you tell them you have lots to do and aren't able to entertain them if they drop by or if you can't participate in certain events.

Maxwell hall: Indiana cut limestone building

Saturday we spent having a barbecue in the nearby state park. It was sweltering hot! The food was good and the park was beautiful so we had a really good time. We wanted to visit the lake nearby but it was closed because the recent rain had raised the water level and it was considered dangerous to be in that area unless you had a boat with you. After lunch, they also brought us to see the campus. I loved it! As typical as most other US campus, it had tons of trees and undisturbed animals (e.g. squirrels, rabbits etc) running around campus grounds. The unique part about the campus was the preserved Indiana-cut lime stone buildings. I also loved the student center (unfortunately it was closed for the weekend) which came complete with cafes (we spotted one Star Bucks and Burger King), bookstore and even a bowling alley! The downtown was even more interesting. I loved the food fusion there; they had not only American restaurants (e.g. little Italian pizzerias, burger joints, fast food) but also Middle-Eastern, Japanese, Chinese, Indian and three Thai restaurants! For a small town, it was impressive (and better than Kent!). I saw a theater there too, but apparently it's not a movie theater, but showcases old films and things like that.

After Indiana, we stopped by in Columbus. Again, I am struck with the community unity and am pleasantly surprised with the hospitality of the Malaysian and Indonesian families there. Other people are so lucky! There were about 3-4 families there and even though we didn't know them we certainly had a good time getting to know them! They were friends of Haru that she met during her previous Fulbright conference. Columbus is a much bigger town than Kent, and more expensive. The university housing was comfortable but costly. From one family we met, the wife had to work part time at a nearby hotel as a cleaning crew just to make ends meet. And she did it so cheerfully too, and I respected her for that. Instead of complaining of being bored by having 'nothing to do' and lack of money etc (like some people we know! ha!), or being ashamed at having to work in such jobs, she said simply 'I have no choice, I have to help my husband'. On top of that she had two young children to take care of. Her patience, humility, and cheerful disposition really humbled me. We also met a very nice young Malaysian couple just embarking on their PhD program, with two young children. Needless to say, we will probably be dropping by there again now that we have people to visit! (and it's only two hours away). Plus, there is a halal fast food Popeye restaurant there that I will want to go again. Ha ha ha ha. We didn't have time to visit the OSU campus (reportedly also beautiful) too so that's also a good excuse to come back!

This short trip was tiring, but in a way refreshing. I was really going on a downward spiral of being totally drained with my studies. Meeting other people who successfully juggle family and their studies, intercultural challenges and still being able to maintain a positive outlook was definitely inspirational. I also appreciated the hospitality shown to us by the Malaysian and Indonesian families that we visited. See, there are nice people out there! Plus, US is really pretty during summer. We will plan more short road trips in the near future.

ps: Kalau rajin nanti upload lagi gambar. Heh.

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"I'm going to miss her so!"

My colleague was here for three days and we had so much fun with her around! She had a conference in Cedarville, which was three hours away. So we took a road trip on Saturday to pick her up at the house of her host. Cedarville is a very small town, farming community and along the way through Dayton you can see the corn fields, cows, and charming farm houses alongside the road. I dare say it's pretty boring though, and if you want a quiet life, that would be perfect. :-) What was funny though, on the way we saw a town called "London". I was amused to see their signage around town. Even the fire station is called "London fire station". Kalau tak percaya sila rujuk gambar dibawah. :-P

Before she got here, we weren't quite sure where to take her. The host suggested going to the Amish community in Kent, and rather ashamedly I admitted we haven't been there yet despite already staying here for a year! The next day though a friend of ours had a daughter who was graduating from high school. The ceremony was in my campus, so we took her there for a short tour. The graduation was quite interesting; it was novel for me because in Malaysia high school graduation is not that big of a deal, but yet here it's done so informally that the students were just there to celebrate and enjoy, and most parents didn't bother to dress up. You can imagine how formal a convocation would be in Malaysia so that was a nice change. :-) That night, we just had fun catching up. I think we must have spent hours chatting, it was 4am when both of us fell asleep!

Today we took her to an outlet just to get a few stuff for her kids, as well as souvenirs for other family members and friends. Of course, no trip to the US is complete without a quick run to Walmart. He he he he. I am glad she had a chance to look around and shop, but the time was so limited! What's nice about having a familiar place here? I haven't seen her in two years almost so that was so good! I have a nice bunch of colleagues back home, and it struck me that I really missed their support. Of course, it was good to hear that everyone goes through ups and downs for their PhD and I am really not a unique case. :-P How I wish she stayed longer! Sigh.

It also made me realized that true friends are actually not easy to find so treasure the good ones that you have...

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