Bees are disappearing from the world...

Today I bought a copy of Straits Times and found that the horrific myth about disappearing bees that Mark Wharlberg was lecturing on in the film 'The Happening' was in fact, happening.

Sad but true. Bees are disappearing from the face of this earth. The horrible truth in the film Bee Movie could possibly come true. Our earth will no longer have greens, flowers would all be gone and no more strawberries, raspberries, almonds and whatever that needs pollination.

This sad truth is startling and I wish I could play a part in doing something to help. Like how we've developed the habit of having a 'recycling bin' in our home after we came back from the United States. People in the US have such a habit of separating the recyclable stuff from the garbage.

Even when we went to Giant supermarket earlier for groceries shopping, the cashier could not handle our 'green bag' when we shoved those used NTUC and Carrefour plastic bags to her for bagging our groceries in. She missed out scanning one item and if I didn't check the receipt, we would have gone home bagging a free box of Meiji ice cream.

Singaporeans really need to learn from our counterparts in the developed countries on how we can all play a part in recycling. The world is dying. Can't we all do something to help?

Walk out of Tiffany & Co in NYC with a bag in hand - Check!

Tiffany & Co. New York City - Wall Street

We finally got the necklace I've wanted for the longest time at Tiffany in New York at Wall Street. This obviously is a delayed entry, considering the busy schedule we had while journeying the United States.

This was a belated anniversary gift from Chris. I actually had to drag him in cos he absolutely detested entering Tiffany's because of their snobby attitude which we had encountered at the store in San Francisco. But of course, the lady that attended to us in the Wall Street store was not much better. But we sealed the deal cos that was the one I had wanted.

There were some problems with the necklace's pendant after we walked off. Some scratches/abrasions could be seen so I insisted on returning back to exchange. The lady did the exchange for me and I went off.

After returning back to the hotel and upon close examination, the pendant just didn't look right. There were still abrasions on it and it just did not look brand new. Not like the brand new you get from buying silver at Perlini's.

So we went to the Tiffany's at Fifth Avenue and finally met a decent staff who willingly exchanged it for us. Good thing the lady at Wall Street did not do any receipt amendments cos I would then have problems exchanging it again. This time, I was satisfied. The pendant looked brand new, sparkling new and even came with its original tag.

We concluded that the previous 2 necklaces we got were owned before. They were probably returned back after someone purchased it, as was the norm in the States. People are given 30 days to consider if they like the item and if not, they can return it back for cash. Such convenience often gets abused. Thank God this one was perfect!

Oh and did I mention that we bought it just 1 day before the price hike? :)

Day 39: 17 May 08
Elsa Peretti Round Pendant on sterling silver

My first floral arrangement

My first official work after graduating from the basic floral design course in California.
So what do you think???

This took me a looong time but it was for my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary which they celebrated yesterday night at dinner.

I used hydrangea, white roses and carnations.

Happy Father's Day!

This one's for daddy!

Day 55: Martha's Vineyard - Oak Bluffs

- backdated -

We awoke at 4.30am and climbed out of bed to get ready and dashed out of our B&B to catch the sunrise. Boy was it gorgeous and it was the first time I've ever seen such a beautiful sunrise. The sun was big and literally red. The sky was magnificent. It was really quite a sight that will take your breath away.

Here are some pictures of our day. We rented a moped (motor scooter) and rode about the island in frustration since it was cold and the street signs were terrible. Got lost so many times and had to figure out the map which was hard to decipher.

But one of the highlights of the day was our visit to Island Alpaca. Sadly it was closed but we did not miss taking pictures of these really adorable alpacas. I love alpacas!

There are many gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs.
This is one of the nicest we saw.

Some others that are as nice and cute. Look so good you wanna eat it.

Detail of one of the gingerbread houses.

Alpacas! So cute....
They belong to the camel family and are from South America.

You can buy one and keep it as a pet!

They are kept for their wool. These alpacas are recently sheared.

Chris does his best impersonation of an alpaca.
Only I will think it's cute.

The sun sets on Oak Bluffs beach.

Day 60: Back at San Marcos

I am writing this in San Marcos. We've been out of action for a while because my ibook is full and I have run out of space to store images.

We're back from Martha's Vineyard and all out adventures ended on Day 58 when we flew back to San Diego from Boston.

Yesterday was spent playing with my nieces and nephew (first time I've ever met them) and these are a bunch of gorgeous looking kids but they are quite a handful. Noisy and talkative and very hyper.

We went to shop at Carlsbad Factory Outlet yesterday and I grabbed those last minute purchases to go back home with.

Today is a stay-home day. But I hope to go ride the bicycle with Chris later. We'll see how things go. Need to get a luggage to pack out stuff to take home.

Day 52: Cape Cod - Eastham

We visited Fort Hill after Provincetown. Fort Hill offers a spectacular view from above. Chris loved the view especially when we followed the trial down to the bottom. We saw an endless length of marsh, land and sea. It was unbelievably peaceful when you just look at that sight.

Unfortunately our cameras were not able to capture those amazing views cos you'd need a huge wide angle to capture that panoramic view. It was truly very therapeutic just looking at it. There was only silence, occasional bird sounds and the wind. Peaceful.

Wildflowers on grass.
This was taken just before we reached the top of Fort Hill.

The road leading up to Fort Hill.

Only a small part of the view we saw from below Fort Hill.

Day 52: Cape Cod - Provincetown

Other than the lobster, we did take quite a few good photos on day 52. We've been hungering for good photos and finally the opportunity came in Provincetown. Here are some shots of this gay saturated town. Oh and did I mention that we were supposed to catch the whale watching ferry but missed it by 10min. So we rewarded ourselves with the lobster lunch. :)

Some marshland type of place, frequently sighted in Cape Cod.
This was a detour we took enroute to Provincetown,
thus missing the whale watch ferry.

Lobster buoys hanging on the walls of a lobster shop.

I love this shop. It's so photogenic.

Day 51: Cape Cod - Chatham

- backdated -

We didn't take many photos initially in Cape Cod as it wasn't easy to find the right places to take the shots. Those that we did find, looked better when you see it there and then. On camera, this place is a little hard to photograph.

But we did manage to capture some nice shots of the Stage Harbor Lighthouse in Chatham in th evening. We hiked about 30min to get to the desolated lighthouse and our efforts paid off. Right below is a decent shot I took. The one above it are our portraits taken in the setting sun's light that was just irresistable for portraiture photography.

Day 43: NYC - On Broadway

- backdated -

We headed straight to TKTS booth at Broadway (Time Square) to queue up for half off broadway show tickets. I was so hoping to get tickets for Phantom of the Opera but we won't know what shows are on offer until the booth opens.

We went 2 hours early cos we thought it opens at 9am and we reached at 8am. Good thing we went early by mistake cos if we had gone at 9am, the queue would have been very long.

I was fourth in line and that was really good. Then when the time came, I was very disappointed that Phantom was not on sale. We thought about giving up but then we did queue for 2 hours and Chris was like, watch something watch anything.


Then 'Mamma Mia' came on sale at the last few minutes and I thought, 'Watching this was at least better for our money since this is a big show and new.' So we got tickets for Mamma Mia and it was Orchestra seats at $62 each. That was a great deal considering I've never watched a musical upfront before and at half price, AND on Broadway!

So we caught the show and it was surprisingly very enjoyable. I wasn't an ABBA fan but the way they came up with a storyline using the ABBA songs is quite amazing. It was quite funny and some of the characters really made the show very enjoyable.

The heavyweight was the lead character - the mom - the actress who played her did a tremendous job. Her voice is admirable, very strong and solid and full of power. I just love her voice.

I'd recommend this show to anyone else. A pity we didn't get to catch Phantom. But this was just as good.