Alex does the shovelling...

Thanks for shovelling Alex.... I know how much you love SNOW!~! How could you leave us tomorrow for Tampa, FL... you LOVE SNOW!! We're gonna miss you... *muaks... the girls...

Birthday wish to Mr. Rodgers...

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday dear John...
Happy Birthday to you!!

Many happy returns of the day old friend... seeing that we both share the same twisted sense of humor... I wish you much love, joy and may you not grow old too quickly and *wither!!

Lotsa love always... Sher & Claire
*me thinks the same as me master

why the Longhorns?

A little update and mini write up with regards to the movie.. Tommy Lee Jones.. is TOMMY LEE JONES.. there is no other. The Longhorns.. shall remain as #1 (to me!) to matter what. I think that Hollywood made a great choice in selecting UT as they have one of the most unique traditions and school spirit.. EVER!~

From the Texas Exes reunions, the Hex-Rally (against 'em Aggies-Texas A&M) to the Longhorn Hook'Em Horns signs... Hollywood could not have portrayed UT any truer than in Man of the House. Next to the great one-liners from Jones and the cheerleader jokes... scenes and shots of the campus were gorgeous.

I would have loved it if they were to show more of the beautiful campus.. like more of the South Mall a.k.a. 6 pack (6 dept. buildings with a beautiful center green lawn & prominent figure statues), Littlefield Memorial Fountain (I passed it every morning on the way to class), the Mustang, etc ... but they did have plenty of shots of the Longhorn's Stadium and the Tower. This brings back such wonderful Summer 2001 memories... all the parties, being out on the lake, the ranch, and attempting the Texas 2-steps... all my lovely friends back in Austin.. I miss y'all!~!

And speaking of friends from Texas, Alex is on his way to Buffalo as we speak... he's driving up (I think!) from Springfield, MA and is spending a few days here before he leaves again for work. I told him over the phone that this has to be my luckiest 6 months since I get to see him 3 times instead of the once a year thing! Hurrah... so more catching up on days of our lives when he get here tonight!~

hook 'em horns...

Thursday has come and about to be... gone. Survived the presentation today at the graduate student symposium.. don't think I was too shabby. Anyhoos.... you know what this mean... it's the weekends again!~

Dad & Mum called this morning... Mum's planning a trip here in May... and Michele's parents and brother, Chin Khee are coming too.. talk about a nice big family reunion gathering happening over at our place. On top of that.. Shen Hoei is definitely stopping by too in early May. He has a wedding to attend in Montreal... so we coordinated our schedules and he is definitely stopping by here before the wedding and we are going to meet up again in Boston or NYC. I can't wait 'till May... I had better write down a long list of things I want from home :P

Sharon leaves for Boston early tomorrow morning ... ickie.. morning drive to the airport! She's got a job interview with the Harvard Medical School-or something like that. Wish her all the luck!! As for me, work all day... gotta make up for the hours I missed today due to the symposium.

And this weekend... no more waiting because Man of the House opens in the theaters. Why the sudden eagerness from my side... well, Tommy Lee Jones is starring in it.. but most importantly... it centers around all things LONGHORNS! Go TEXAS!!

maps maps maps

Thanks to a heads up from Wei Chien... Google's maps is up and running.. and to those of you who just love to have an aerial view of all things around you... happy map-googling!! Here's a map of where my neighborhood. Got the links on this post on my favorites...

My gloved-hand is UP!~

I know that it is a little early.. to some about what the picture above is depicting... but instead of me complaining about all the school work I have to do... such as catching up on major readings, research on countless topics and assignments... in a nutshell...
Sher's this week in perspective:-

• readings
• papers
• research
• presentation at GSE conference
• airport rides

Let me now switch the blame-game of school to the weather. I know that most of us here in Western New York, and especially Buffalonians love to talk about the weather.... therefore, I am blaming all my worries and stress upon the weather. Another reason for this being.. maybe if I were to see Mr. Sunshine more frequently than not.. I may be a lot more cheerie than I am at this present moment. Oh, the agony of schoolwork!~

Let there be NO more snow... or rain... I can't wait for Sring Break... Lisa are you counting down the days as I am?? 26 days and counting..

Seeing and Looking...

*pic from cartoonstock.com

I had my eyes checked out today... if you have not realized this yet, I have been donning this pair of glasses which I received in December 2003 when Peter and I went back to Penang. After 22 years of 20/20 vision... and after being hard at work and especially many countless hours in front of the PC, I am dependable on some form of sight assistance.

Oh well... so this morning... I received my first pair of contacts... trial pair that is.... what made me decide to go for it?? Well... next to the fact that I only have that one pair of eye glass.. and I quite often misplace it.... I thought that it was time that I move to the next step up. My eyes checked out okay... and then my little workshop on becoming a new & first time contact lense user. Wacthed a 5 minute video on how to put on contacts and then, it was my turn to put on the contacts by myself. I did so successfully and in record time... hurrah!~!~ I had to take it off after a while to show that I am capable of doing so comfortable.. and put it back on again. After some more instructions on contact lense care and use... I walked out of the doctor's office feeling NO frames around my face again... *sigh.. brought me back to my pre-eye-glass wearing days!~!~

To me, this means.. a new outlook on things from my new "eyes" !~!~

red red everywhere...

A big Happy Valentine's day to everyone... it's 10.37pm and I just got back from school... hungry for food and love... and as the great Michael Bublé exclaims.. I wanna go home.... missing you lots Peter!~!~

snow tubing fun...

After work on Friday, the three of us girls set off for Rochester... we were gonna have a birthday dinner get together with Peter, Nancy & Mario.. so we got there, went to Olive Garden.. waited and finally ate... and we ate a lot!~!~ Can you believe that I actually said no to desert... chocolate cake nonetheless!~ Well.. we had fun.. a nice birthday and get together celebrations for us all.

The next day.. we girls mustered up all the courage we have, bundled ourselves warm and went tubing outside Peter's house... they have a somewhat slope out in the front and a not so slope-y backyard... we had fun!~! Nancy joined us and later took us to the Mendon Parks about 10 minutes away to this semi- monster hill.. there were quite a number of people there but we all got our chances on the slope. What a workout it was climbing up again once we got down... on our last ride... Sharon, Michele and I hung on tight to our tubes and went down the hill with 2 big bumps towards the end... and Michele literally flew up and I think Sharon landed on her!! Yikes... after that.. we were all sore and aching from all the climbing and bumping!~!
Can't wait to do it again!!

Sharon's Birthday - February 11

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to my dearest sister, Sharon!~!~
Happy Birthday to you!!~!~

22 years old dee... big girl.. nono.. 22 year-old pretty lady!! Thanks to Dad & Mum for Sharon's younger-self picture :D

Question: So what is so different about Sharon from age 10 to her early twenties?? Let me know!~!~

newlyweds...

Updates on Cathy's Wedding...

It's official... both she and Irving are hitched!~ If you missed previous comic strips, be sure to check it out on her web... click on the link here or click on HERE link on my blog (bottom left on my Favorites) Congratulations to both newlyweds.. looks like they both finally have each other for Valentine's Day!~!

Gong Xi... Gong Xi....

It's Chinese New Year eve today... and by 11 am later... it's a brand New Year for everyone back home in Malaysia !~ Wishing you all a prosperous and HAPPY new year!~!~

By the time you read this blog... today, tomorrow.. in a few days time... you would have received plenty of ang pows (red packets), drank a few liters of Orange Crush, eaten lotsa kuih kapit (love letters), gambled a few rounds in Chor Tai Tee (Chinese Poker), and just as many open housing going/visiting and merry making!~~

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

superbowl Sunday...

Patriots won!~!~ Hurrah for New England... what a year for Massachusettes... the Sox won and the Patriots remained as returning champs for this season's superbowl...

After Dim Sum this morning... we all hung around and got ready got our little superbowl get together feast.... ate too much!~!~ From dim sum to pizza, wings, a few kind of dips and chips... you know what that means for this coming week.. workout to burn all those grease off... but then again.. we are talking about me... Sher + Workout = THINK again!!

It's back to classes again tomorrow... Mondays are my longest days... got 2 classes back to back from 4 to 10pm.... yikes!~ And Wednesday... which is like in a few days... is Chinese New Year... and this year it is MY year... year of the Rooster!~

I wanna go home.....

Saw the Wedding Date... Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney.. what chemistry!~ Favourite and best line in the movie...if my memory serves me right.... Nick Mercer(Dermot Mulroney) "I'd rather fight with you than love somebody else."

Anyways.. what a treat.. even Peter thought it was a nice movie... with some great one punch liners!~ But another extra... the soundtrack... was beautiful... I thought I knew who sang Save the Last Dance (at the end of the movie) and that sensual slow ballad... Home ... when Kat Ellis (Debra Messing) and Nick had that big fight at the wedding rehearsal dinner.. it was non other than Michael Buble!~!~

Michael's new album comes out on February 8th and I can't wait.. I already have some of the songs from that album (the two songs that I mentioned earlier ofcourse!) and I have been playing them non-stop from my room since I got home from the movie. I won't put it up on my blog just yet... don't want to be caught for distributing new songs from the album that has not been officially released yet!~ But.. if you are a fan of the crooner Buble... visit the link I have above and check Home out... which was personally penned by Buble himself and Amy Foster-Gillies. A HAppy Valentine's Day treat to anyone!~

...click HERE to listen to a clip... from Reprise Records

Another summer day
Is come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home...
Mmmmmmmm
Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home...
Oh I miss you, you know...

Girls of Summer 2000

I talked to Minah (in the orange T) the other night, we've been friends since Summer 2000 when we were in U of Hawaii at Manoa. We were just catching up and updating each other of all things current. She is doing well, finishing up her last few courses for her Masters at the U of Georgia. We are planning to meet up sometime this summer... we did promise each other!~ Why couldn't we meet earlier? Well, in some weird ways... UB's spring break this year actually coincided with Minah's spring break... but we could not meet because I have to work through the break. Now, you all know that I would not miss a chance going over to see a dear friend.. but there's a reason behind this hard at work girl... *blek!~

The catch is... a conference in California the week right after spring break. Due to the weird scheduling which I had earlier thought would fall during spring break... I had to reshuffle my plans. There is the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society held in Stanford University from March 22nd to the 26th. I am not presenting at this conference but I am attending it to see how I would fare the following year when I do have to present!~ Way to go Sher!!

In a nutshell... I am working through spring break and then leaving right before classes starts again to Orange County to visit Matt and later fly to San Jose for the conference. Peter's cousin Lisa is coming with me... so Matt.. watch our for two girls at your place!~ We want our very own guided Blizzard tour, trips to Disneyland (15 minutes from Matt's place) , Huntington Beach (20 mins away), Newport Beach (20 mins) and lots more fun under the California sun.

While at the Bay area... I am in hopes of meeting up with the gang from St. Mary's College who were also in Hawaii-Summer 2000. From the picture, there's Marsha (blue dress), originally from Russia and she is one cool girl. Then, there's classy Tara (black top) and Juliana (white hat), who is now back in Sao Paulo, Brazil. So... I think I might only meet up with Marsha and hopefully Tara. Not forgetting the guys... although I am not posting their pictures... there's Arturo who is now back in Barcelona visiting family... but he did say that he would probably be in town when I am there and last but not least, George. Arturo said that he is getting married soon... welll... Congratulations George!~!~ Can't wait to meet up with you all!~

p.s: Don't want to leave out anyone from the picture... far left in the grey sweats is Michaela from Alaska, back then she attended Wellesley College and was the sweetest person ever in Hawaii. And glowing in her black strap top is Akiko who then attended James Madison University. How are you girls!~~ Keep writing and keep me posted!!