Ivy's caravan

A New House, A New Car ... but not all is good

2007-03-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

It's been over a month now that we've moved into our new house. So we've been quite busy with house remodelling projects. We've gotten a designer in to help with the design aspect so am very excited to see what she comes up with. I have also recently purchased a car. An Audi A4 quattro. Finally we succumbed to the car loving american lifestyle. Tab & I have been sharing a car, but living in the bay area, one really needs a car to get around (public transportation is pretty crap here). So when a friend at work was relocating & was selling his car i guess it was time. Now i had a list of cars that i wanted to get. My criteria is very simple:- It had to be European, automatic, either silver, black or blue. The bonus was that this is an AWD, which is great for making those trips up to the mountains for skiing.

On to the sad news, our cat Fleur, that we've had for 17 years and relocated with us from Sydney, has sadly passed away on the 7th of Feb. Fleur was living with Esther in NY & was on her way to moving over here with us, when we heard that she was sick. We had to finally put her to sleep as it was the most humane thing to do. It was a very hard decision as she is part of my family. She has been with us for so long, I still can't believe she is gone. I thought she would live forever. I guess none of our pets liked the U.S...

Welcome Tara

2007-01-19T23:34:00.000-08:00

I'm an aunt! My younger sister just gave birth to a beautiful girl, Tara, on the 17th Jan 07 (Sydney time). She's really quite a gem, so much hair, looks just like her mum when she was a baby. We were all very anxious to find out whether "peanut" (the nickname Jo called her when she was in the womb) was a boy/girl. She was very shy in womb, not letting us know what her sex was, there was even a betting pool going on whether peanut was a boy/girl. When she finally arrived a few days later after her due date, we were all very excited. Esther & I were waiting anxiously as we are on the otherside of the earth. Wish i was there to hold my little niece. Jo is coping well after the labour, apparently enjoying being a mum. When i spoke to her over the phone, she sounded so happy. I guess i was expecting her to sound tired & exhausted as most new mums are, but not Jo. I can't believe i'm an aunt. 17th Jan 07 is certainly an auspicious date as that's when we closed escrow on our house here too. Congratulations to Steve & Jo on a beautiful baby girl...

Bondi in New York???

2007-01-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

Hold on, where are we? Could it be Bondi or are we in the East Village in the Big Apple? Well, it all depends how you look at it. A fellow aussie expat, who has been busy studying in Columbia U for the last year & half organised this great dinner at this aussie restaurant in the East Village with a whole bunch of aussies. I told him how much i miss home & next thing we know, we're in Bondi Road in NYC. Everyone including the waiters were aussie & they even had lamingtons & pavlova for desserts. Okay, so it's summer now back home & it's freezing winter in NYC, but hei, who's keeping track. The restaurant's interior walls was covered with a panaromic view of Bondi beach, so it was almost like we were right there. To finish the night off, we wondered down to a good olde aussie bar called Bar-ramundi.... it was all good ... mate!!!

Christmas in upstate New York.. and Happy Hanukah

2007-01-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

Tab & I celebrated Christmas in New York with Esther, Dave, Fleur & Hunter. Well, actually it would be Happy Hanukah to Dave. It was a great Christmas/Hanukah upstate and it snowed too. Just as it should. Esther made the best aged prime rib. (almost as good as our thanksgiving turkey... i said... almost) But i must say, some credit goes to Dave for buying the best prime rib cut. I'm still dreaming about that to this day... p.s how fat is Fleur (Esther will you stop over feeding her!!)

In the midst of escrow for a house

2007-01-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

We bought a house. A BIG house. Tab & I were looking for a small condo in the city but ended up with a 5 bedroom ranch style home. How did that happen? Gawd, i don't know. We found a great real estate agent who showed us this place on our first outing with her. It was on the last week before Christmas & we had stopped househunting for the year, thinking we'll pick up again in 2007. But the next thing we know, we put in an offer & got this place & we'll be closing escrow Jan 17th. Well, it was going to be my new year's resolution to buy a place but looks like that's taken care of now. Now all we need is furniture to fill up this place. Looks like Tab's wish of being able to do different themes for each room has come true. We'll have many different rooms to play around with.

Happy Thanksgiving Nov 23 2006

2006-11-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving in the U.S is a huge thing. Maybe even bigger than Xmas here, as families gather to stuff themselves silly usually with turkey. Now turkey is not a meat that aussies are used to. So in an attempt to host a thanksgiving dinner, Tab & I had to embark on an extensive research on how to cook this darn bird. How hard can that be? It's just like a giant chook. As we subsequently discovered it's a little more complicated than that. Luckily, we were prepared, after watching Food Network & referring to Food & Wine mags, we mastered the art of cooking turkey & it turned out fabulous. Ok... Tab did most of the cooking while Esther & i had a hair appointment... what??? a girl has to look her best at thanksgiving. But you know what's the best thing about thanksgiving... leftovers... almost a week later, we are still enjoying the turkey leftovers.... ahh.... turkey.... the bird that keeps on giving.

Tabbert's birthday celebration

2006-11-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

It was Tab's birthday on the 7th of Nov. I won't talk about how old he is as that may be a sensitive topic. The old man... erhh.. i mean my beloved hubby got a personalised turkish robe from me with his name monogrammed on it (just incase i forget his name) and over the weekend i surprised him with a lovely dinner at "The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton". We had the chef's degustation menu and it was fabulous. (as one would expect from the Ritz). There were so many great things about the night. Because we chose the chef's tasting menu, each dish was a surprise as they brought it out (so it wasn't just a treat for the birthday boy but for me too). Not only was the service impressive (the waiters co-ordinated it so that each dish was put on the table at the same time for everyone), we also had so many amuse bouce given to us even before the start of the meal that you really felt you were getting great value (last count was 6). However i can't take credit for choosing this place. It came as a recommendation from some self-proclaimed foodies i had at work. Apparently the chef, Ron Siegel, was the only american chef that beat a Japanese Iron Chef (and yes, that's the Japanese 'Iron Chef', not the american ones which i don't really consider worthy). He also used to be the sous chef at the French Laundry in the Napa Valley. So this guy had great credentials. At the end of the night, not only did we have a great meal, we had a great time, thanks to the waiters we had there. Happy Birthday old boy!!

1st Anniversay Oct 29th

2006-10-31T17:59:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe, Tab & I have been married for a year. Tab tried to surprise me by organizing dinner at Ana Mandara. (but i had guessed it before the day, perhaps i had dropped too many hints.. it wasn't on purpose i swear!!) The restaurant is vietnamese but with a french twist. It's also partly owned by Don Johnson (yes, Mr Miami Vice himself). Something that i'm not sure is their selling point or their downfall. Regardless we thought the food was great & the service was excellent. Don't expect any 80's deco here (which was what i was expecting), it was done up in a vietnamese themed deco, quite romantic with the dim lights and lovely views up in the bar area of the Fisherman's Wharf.

Now, there was a dilemma when celebrating our anniversary. We were married in Sydney, so were we suppose to have celebrated it on Sydney's Oct 29th or California's Oct 29th? Since Sydney is about a day ahead i wanted to celebrate it on Sydney time. Ok, ok, the truth is out, i wanted my present, and i just couldn't wait. So anything to justify getting it earlier..... and it worked... tee heee... I think i'm going to try that again for Xmas and my birthday next year.....

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T15:28:00.000-08:00

My first halloween here in the U.S. So as part of the tradition , Tab & I carved this pumpkin.... a first for me. We're suppose to display that outside our apartment so the tricker-treaters know that we have candy. But i'm feeling rather paranoid that someone will steal it. After all that hardwork, certainly our pumpkin is the best!!! (the truth is, everyone in the neighbourhood has their own pumpkin and if someone is going to steal one, i doubt ours will be the first they'll take) Oh well, hope the kids appreciate all the blood & sweat we put into carving this... and i mean that literally....

Lost in adaptation

2006-09-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

It has been 3 months since we've settled into Sunnyvale, California. We are right in the heart of the silicon valley, but miles away from everything that i know. It's funny how we take things for granted. Back in Sydney, i never had to think twice about where to shop, how to do my banking or my taxes. I just did it. But here, everything is an effort. To open a bank account, i have to provide all kinds of documentation to prove that i exist. Apparently, i don't exist in the eyes of the government until i start paying taxes. So what am i to do? I had no choice but to join the ranks of the working class. True to the fashion of this region, i found a job at a start up company. Only than can i validate my existence.

I never thought adjusting to life in the U.S. would be so much effort. At times i feel lost, not knowing what i am suppose to do. It's not really culture shock. It is really about letting go of a part of yourself and embracing a new life. So there goes the city dwelling Ivy with the slightly socialist views, learning to embrace the car-loving, mostly suburbian, definately capitalistic views of America. Will i survive this change intact or will i rebel and never fit in? Only time will tell.

peek a boo where are you

2006-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Since my last update, we've discovered the wonders of the Washington D.C area & tried some really great restaurants. The Washington that Tabbert remembers in his youth is a far cry from what it is now. He kept telling me there really isn't much to do around the area. It was only during one of the family dinners, that his very hip & happening cousin, Erica told me all about the great food & things to do around the area. So off we went on an expedition to rediscover the Washington area. We explored the neighbourhood of his old graduate school, Georgetown with all these quaint brownstone homes, checked out the cherry blossoms that lines the tidal basin in the Capital, and basked in the old charm of Alexandria. We also came across a pretty good Malaysian restaurant, "Kopitiam" much to my surprise. There really isn't that many M'sians around the neighbourhood, maybe just a handful of Singaporeans. (let's face it, Singaporeans don't actually have their own food, they just adopted M'sian food as their own). In addition to that, Tabbert has quite a lot of relatives & family friends that just wants to feed us, so we've had all kinds of chinese cuisine, ranging from cantonese to szechuan to shanghanese (yes, they are all very different). French food is also a very popular fare with Tabbert's parents so we've been dining on foie gras and escargot too. Dare i say it, i think i'm sick of dining out.

Esther's Animal Farm

2006-03-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

Was it only a week ago we were upstate in New York? The trip that was suppose to take just one week ended up taking us 2 because we got side tracked by the skiing in New York state. It's not to say that it is great skiing here on the East coast, (we were a little late in the ski season), but more like i was overanxious to get my new skis broken into. Anyway, i was very excited to spend more time with my sister in Mountaindale. I was also anxious to see how the cat is doing settling in with her. Imagine my shock & horror to find out how generous she is with the bed. Nope! Not with the 2 legged kinds, but with the 4 legged ones. Not only does Fleur get to share the bed with her, but Hunter as well. He is a humongous german sheppard. (and smelly too) Sure, he is a cute dog & he does have a very gentle temprement, but he is HUGE & HAIRY!!! (did i mention he is smelly? ... tee hee... Esther hates it when i call him that). At least Fleur gets along with him. She usually hates any other 4 legged creatures. I think sometimes she thinks she's human. Esther told me, that she caught the resident mouse just the other day, so we know she is making herself useful. I guess all is well in Esther's animal farm. We were sad to leave

Spongebob square pants

2006-03-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

So i went for my first job interview last Thursday. I hadn't really applied for this position. I had put my resume up on Monster & i guess that's where they found me. It was for a financial advisor position at a pretty well-known American firm. So there i was getting quite excited about my first interview, not really knowing what to expect. Tabbert was being all supportive, helping me prepare for the interview. Even Jo-anne from over Skype was prepping me up for the interview. So i was feeling pretty cool about it when the time came. How did the interview go you ask? Well, i was prepared for a lot of things, but not this. It started out with him explaining what the job is all about and what the firm does.(pretty standard stuff). But next thing i know, he's propelling into this crazy salesman mode, pitching the job at me, telling me how great the firm was, how great he was & how great his friends are too because they are all successful like him. That was when i realise this isn't really an advisor position, it was really a sales position. But what shocked me the most was when he said to me, he was after a 'sponge'. He went on to explain that he didn't want someone who was too intelligent, just someone who will just listen to whatever he wants done because the firm has been around a long time & he doesn't need anyone to reinvent the wheel. Ok... i was thinking .. FREAK!!! At that point i knew the interview was over. Who would want to work for a freak like him. So Mr Spongebob Square pants & i parted ways, with a deep sigh from me. Gawd! I hope American employers aren't all like this, otherwise i'm in deep sh*t....

Giving birth to a cow

2006-03-21T17:37:00.000-08:00

Can you tell the difference between a good steak & a great steak? Once you've tasted Peter Luger's in Brooklyn you will. There's only one cut, porterhouse aged steak. So the only decisions we had to make were the sides. Infact the side that we had was almost as good as the steaks itself, thick cut canadian bacon. Yummieee... absolutely to die for.... (literally, if you think about the amount of fat you're consumming). The deco isn't fancy, and it is rather expensive for what it is, but heck, they've been doing it for a century, so they must be worth it... http://peterluger.com/index.html So how stuffed were we after the night out? So much so that Tabbert said he was about to give birth to a cow... that's how good it is.

On the road again

2006-03-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

Goodbye Rochester. Hello Mountaindale. Took us about 5 hours to get down here. It was sad to say goodbye to Tab's nieces. Uncle Tabbert doesn't see his nieces very often so they get very excited when he comes around, and sad when he leaves. But here we are in Mountaindale, where Esther is based. So far we haven't done much up here other than go skiing. Yes, finally tested out my new skis. We check out a ski resort about 1.5 hours away, called Belleayre. Like skating on ice. We were told it would snow but didn't see much of that, just lots of wind. Cold cold wind.
Update on Fleur, she has put on quite a bit of weight since i last saw her. Esther is spoiling her with good food & a warm bed. She also inherited all the toys from the previous cats that they had but she's doesn't like most of it. I guess her royal feline highness doesn't like the smell of other cats. I'm just happy she's alright and looking very contented.
We're going to head out to New York city this weekend. Apparently there's a great steak house in Brooklyn that's really famous, Peter Lugars. Something about their aged steaks that's suppose to be really good. Don't think i've ever had aged steaks, doesn't quite sound right. Isn't that just bad meat. Oh well, we will soon find out.

Skiing Bristol mountain

2006-03-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Bristol mountain last Saturday, skiing with Tabbert's nieces, Sydney & Addie. Not a bad mountain, conditions were a little slushy but nothing is worst than our Thredbo experience, which was more like ice skating than skiing. Just our luck, if we came a weak later, there would be powder (according to the weather man, but heck, how often are they right). This will be our 2nd day skiing this season. We're gonna try to get a few more ski days in when we get down to Esther's place so at least we have 7 days clocked up. Oh yeah, i also bought my new skis today. It's called "fine thang" by Head. I really wanted Volkl's but the shop didn't have my size, & the guy really wanted to sell me the Head. (must have been a slow day, since it raining cats & dogs). Nonetheless, the ones i got are pretty cool, can't wait to test them out. The best thing about them is they go with my entire ski outfit... tee hee... Anyway, we're off tomorrow to Esther's place in our Beamer (about 5 hours from here if we don't get snowed out). Hope she has internet access so i can continue updating my blog & do some job hunting from there. Otherwise we'll be stuck in Mountaindale, in a very hacidic jewish neighbourhood, eating matzo balls. We're planning to stay there till the weekend so we can check out a few ski spots in the Catskills, and down to Manhattan to hang out. Yipee (sarcasticly), can't wait to smell those subways again. I was horrified by how dirty & smelly the subways were when Esther took me down a couple of weeks ago. This time i'll be prepared, i'll bring my sanitising lotion..... omygawd, starting to sound hypercondriac...

Baby drive my car

2006-03-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Yipee, we now have a car. Actually it's Tabbert's car, but what's his is mine, and what's mine is mine. (as Anna Nicole would say) We flew up to Rochester yesterday, where his brother has been looking after his car for the last 4-5 years. It's looking good. Took it for a spin around the block. (Well, actually we kind off got lost trying to get to the grocery store... in the 'burbs of U.S. every block looks the same). I must say, i do like having a beamer. It's an adult car. No more Toyota's for us, it's sooooo last century. Only problem for me is that it is a stick shift so that's going to be interesting. Not only do i have to get used to driving on the other side of the road, i also need to learn to drive stick with the other hand. Good luck to the other cars on the road.

So while we're here, we're going to spend the weekend skiing with his brother & his family. Tabbert rarely sees his 2 nieces, Sydney & Addie, so it would be fun to hang out with them. I'm now on the prowl for a new pair of skis since selling my last pair to Lilanee. Don't really know what i want yet so i'm going to demo a few pairs here before i buy. It's sale time now so skis are cheap cheap cheap. No doubt Tabbert will be tempted to get a pair too, he's already devising ways to sell his skis to his brother so he can get a new pair. (he only got them like a year ago) Anyway, after this weekend, we'll be heading back down to Maryland with a stopover at my sister's place for a couple of days in upstate New York. Actually, i'm really there to check up on Fleur. Just wanna make sure she's not starving or torturing the cat. I also hear there's a good ski mountain nearby where she lives so maybe we'll check that one out too. Yup, we're really trying to get the most out of this ski season, which surprisingly is still considered peak season. It's tough living the life of the unemployed, but someone's gotta do it....

Smelly pool

2006-03-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

So Tabbert & i joined the gym nearby. The way we've been eating here means we really need to get active or we'll end up like porkers. BTW, entrees here are called appertizers, and mains are called entrees. So when you order your mains, you are ordering your entrees & when you want your entrees you ask for an appetizer. Got it. Anyway, sorry to digress, back to the gym. It's a pretty cool gym with yoga, kickboxing, aerobics classes, great exercise equipment and an indoor heated pool. We went in last week for a tour & managed to score a free 7 day pass before we sign up. Pretty cool. Today was my second visit to the gym & i used their pool. Phew, indoor pools are intoxicating. The smell of the chlorine can be reassuring (at least it's killing off the germs) but not very pleasant. No matter how many showers one takes after a swim, you still smell like the pool. We tried the yoga classes yesterday which was a little too slow for me. I think i need to do something more cardio first & than the yoga classes. Anyway we better sign up with this gym soon, the guy who took us for a tour around the gym keeps asking us what we think of the gym. I'm starting to feel quite guilty about using the free pass. That's how they hook you in, give you a free pass and then guilt you into joining up.

On the side note, i've also started my job search. Well, not really, i've just started Americanising my resume. Making sure that the spelling is American. i.e color instead of colour, flavor instead of flavour (not that i have any of those words in my resume). I also need to cut it down to one page. Apparently American resumes need to be just one page. So all i've done is just shrink the font size. I'm exhausted just trying to find the best font type. One that looks pretty but professional. That says i'm serious but not too dull. You'll be surprised what your font says about you. ;-) I'll keep you up to date with how my job search goes. Till than, if anyone has any advice on job searching please post them on my blog. I need all the help i can get.

P.S. If you're wondering why Tabbert's picture is on this post, well... i just thought this blog just can't always be about me now can it. Besides, i couldn't find any other pictures that made me look good.

Waiting for that smooth transition

2006-03-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

It's been almost 3 weeks since i left Sydney for the U.S of A with 2 large bags, a hyperthyroid cat & a rabbit in tow. After several pit stops in L.A to drop off the rabbit and than Long Island, N.Y. to drop off the cat, I'm left now with just my bags, in Maryland, and Tabbert of course. Not quite settled yet but i cannot complaint, Tabbert's parents have opened up their lovely home to us.

My biggest fear about this move was whether the pets would make it. Sadly, that fear became a reality when Zoe, my precious little bunny, passed away on the 23 Feb 06, only a week after we dropped her off in L.A to stay with some friends. The irony (or rather the regret) is that it was Fleur i was worried about with all her hyperthyroid issues, when it should have been Zoe. I still wonder what i could have or should have done, but i realise there's no point going there now. I miss her.

What can i say about living with the folks in Maryland, other than, anyone over 30 should never live with their parents. I'm sure that's what they're thinking too. Kidding.... it's not that bad. Mom is really quite a good cook so we decided joining a gym is a good idea. Living in landlock Maryland doesn't quite provide us with the sun & surf lifestyle we've been used to but it's not without it's benefits. There are some decent ski slopes just a short drive away. Tab & I scoped out one about 2.5 hours away just last week called Wisp. Similar to our movies version of tight arse Tuesday, the ski lifts are half price on Wednesdays, which we have promptly named Wicked Arse Wednesday. (yes we thought we were really smart too, thinking that one up all by ourselves). Once i figure out how to work out the intricacies of this blog site, i'll post up some pictures. At some point i'll also put up something about little Zoe, in memory of her.

This weekend we're off to Rochester, which is near the border of Canada to pick up our car. Tab's brother has been 'looking after' it while he has been away from the States. It's going to be interesting driving the car back down to Maryland (it's takes freaking 10 hours, and that's if it doesn't snow). Wish us luck..