Dreams

For the first time in over two years I dream about my mum.

Some of you may know, my mother passed away few years back, and since then its been a long road of adjusting and patience for friends and family.

But though I would share this dream and allow interpretations and analysis for all you budding dream scientists.

I woke up this morning fresh on my mind, no thanks to a pesky mosquito biting me right on the forehead haha.

I dreamt that we were on the underground, couldnt really see which station it was, but the train was about to depart. I could see myself, Tim, my mum and my cousin from China. Who is weirdly in UK for a transfer for 3 weeks as an exchange student. I am going to visit her this saturday.

Anyways we were all running for the train and the doors were about to close, Tim & I managed to get in, and could see Mum & cousin would'nt make it, my cousin who is a 15 year old girl managed to get her bag into the doors and we managed to squeeze her in.

She got in alright and the train started to move slowly. We could see my mum was outside and she started to run along the train. I think she managed to get into the next apartment or something. But I shouted at her at the top of my voice and pointed to meet at the destination. Waving bye bye.....

Most likely Chinatown or home. We arrived at our destination but did'nt see my mum, so we assumed she would be on the next train or something, after waiting for what seemed 15 minutes, but fast forwarded we decided to head above ground and try to call her.

We got outside and I called her, I know she had a mobile, but I didnt actually have her number in real life. But I selected Mum and called. The phone rang a few times and she didnt answer.

Eventually I got through and I could hear her giggling/laughing at something and then the line went dead.

I tried again a few more times to call her, but the line was dead, this in my dream was frustrating me as I could feel anger or distress in my sleep. I think I tried redial a good number of times.

Then I could hear the mosquito flying near my ear, thats when I woke up all of a sudden and I woke up from my dream. Damn that mosquito.

Funny thing is I got bitten on my forehead. Could this have been my mum? sounds silly I guess right? haha.

Ray and Yee said it might have been a visit telling me she is happy and safe. Choosing to appear after all this time etc.

I am taking this thought and keeping with it to keep me motivated.

What do you think? All comments are welcome.

Updates

So its been over a month since Ive been back from NY....why did I almost type HK?

Let me try and cast back my memory, returned back to the UK. The few weeks that followed was full of fun. Numerous dinners at family home, lots of sports and poor weather.

We went to Andys family home last week, even though the weather was poo, we made the most of it and celebrated his birthday. Lots of fun and games and salad! Haha, didnt get the chance to eat as much meat as last year. Im growing old haha.

Football on Sunday's is usually the highlight of the week, Ive jumped ship and turned down the temptations of basketball. No idea why...probably because my fitness level sucks and I play better as a footballer... dunno.

Nothing much has happened lately, just work, go home, eat and faff about then sleep... rinse and repeat. Such is life eh?

Applied for a marketing position at work. Its a junior position and hopefully I get it. Kinda getting bored of events as the team Im working for has undertaken more work than they can handle and its getting me down.

Fingers crossed for me eh? hmm what else? Thats all for now. Back to my boring life, working, saving money and planning my next holiday :)

I have 18 days left to take till the end of the year, and given we usually have a week and half off for Christmas, I got 2 weeks to take off somewhere.... where can I go that doesnt involve over 6 hours of flying? New York again?

Last day in NY :(

We woke up from a nice sleep and knew today was the day we had to return back to UK. Looking out the window I could see the sun shining and thought its a nice day to go home.

I had a nice long shower, washed my hair, shaved etc etc. Breakfast was dumplings, pan fried mind you, and they were really tasty. Dad & Uncle had gone out, prob to eat at Chinatown again. They returned around 10am with some take out. Fresh Beef Cheung fun and congee. Although I had a few dumplings I love eating fresh cheung fun and finished a bag myself! Pig I know!

We finished our breakfast and got ready to head into Union Sq, just to see if there was anything we could buy with our remaining dollars, surprisingly I still had $400 left, and Yee had $200.

We took the bus and it was a quick journey, it was around 11.30 now and the place was already bustling with people. Walked to the sports store to see if I could grab a few more clothes but coudlnt find any t shirts that fit. Once again only Large was on display and no Mediums :(

Annoyed Yee wanted more clothes so we headed to a store and bought some jeans and some K Swiss trainers. Pretty good deal and we savoured our last memory of Union Square before jumping on the bus downtown.

We had pre booked a cab to pick us up at 3pm and it was aready 1.30, we arrived home and did last minute packing. Everything was ready and we locked up our bags placed them in the living room.

Auntie had prepared lunch. Rice, Steamed fish, veg and some fresh crispy pork. Time does fly when you having fun and time was ticking away, I cant believe a week has passed by and we were already finishing our short break. Lunch was tasty, even though I was semi full from breakfast and we took our time eating, chatting.

We finished our meals and watched tv, chilling whilst waiting for the time the buzzer went and we had to go downstairs to say goodbye. It was sad, but recapping the week. My family had a great time and knew we would definatly come again.

Played with the Cat, Bebe. She was chasing her pet mouse around and was not giving up. I miss having a cat, but even though with my allergies it wasnt that bad. I was expecting sleepless nights, constant coughing etc.. but I suppose the cat was old and didnt moult as much as Chiku did.

I made a small video of the house, but forgot to include my Uncle & Aunt...hhaa. Then the buzzer went. It was time.....

We all hurried around panicking and checking if eveything was packed. Dad & Uncle had already gone downstairs with some pieces of luggage. I made a last minute sweep of our room and kissed Bebe bye bye. Gave her a hug and grabbed my things to the lift.

The cab was a people carrier, driven by a chinese dude. The guy looked like a Triad lol, but we said our goodbyes, hugs all round. Uncle was welling up, could see his eyes red, poor guy. First time hes seen my dad for over 35 years! Thats some time. Was a sad moment to say our goodbyes, but hey!! Im planning to come back for Steve & Cher's wedding next year!

Our trip to the airport was pretty smooth, the sun was shining and we headed over to Brooklyn. We mad good speed untill we hit the highway. Traffic was slow, I decided a nap was in place. I probably napped for 30 mins before I woke up and realised we were still in middle highway. Although signs were posted for JFK Airport I knew we were some time away. I stayed awake and around 40 mins later we arrived.

We grabbed our stuff and paid the driver, checked in and threw our luggage into hauling. Their departure lounge is weird, its quite small considering. Dad bought 2 bottles of Brandy for a good price and we walked around checking out bits and bobs. Then we headed over to our gate. Security check is silly there. I found them quite rude but who cares. I was going home!

Our plane was a small airbus, but didnt seem too busy. We boarded the plan and noticed lots of free spaces. The staff seemed nice and we were soon ready for take off. The worst part was the preparation for take off. Even though JFK has 9 terminals it seemed they only had one runway!! haha. We had 35 planes in front of us. It was a good photo oppurtunity. After 25 minutes we were airborn and heading home.

I didnt sleep much on the plane. My family caught some ZZzz's. In flight meal wasnt too bad, Yee managed 2 meals! Where does it all go? hahaha I watched a bit of the departed and Jackass 2, I burst out laughing a few occasions and decided its best watched at home and not while the whole plane is sleeping haha.

We arrived in UK. Sunny day, weather was mild and we headed for passport control. I have never seen the queue this long before! It was crazy, but luckily there was 4 queues for British holders so it was only a 20 minute wait. We grabbed our bags after and waited for our cab. He drove us back to Victoria and dad got off to take the tube home. It was around 8.30am

We got home, tired, exhausted, jetlagged but knew we had to head to work :(

I unpacked, washed my face, brush teeth and had a nice poo :P   Yeh..... nothing better than your own home. Stunk the place out and hoped Sammie would discover the smell whilst she woke up.

Headed on over to work and it was nice to see everyone. Spent the morning chatting about my holiday. Checked my emails and replied to a few. Lunch was round the corner. I was tired. Luckily my boss wasnt around and my Director saw me really tired and told me to go home!!! result!

I had lunch with Emma at Wax Bar, grabbed a chicken burger. Chatted, ate and headed home. I unpacked a little before tiredness hit me in the face. It was only 3pm, so I decided to have a nap......... Yee came home around 5pm and we napped till 10pm hahaha. I was so tired but it was so good to sleep in your own bed.

Its good to be back home. I missed UK.

Katz bound

Today, we woke up normal time, washed and took our time. We were going to meet Lina in Soho to eat at the Infamous Katz. For those who don't know about Katz, its Deli which specialises in cured meats, Corned beef, pastrami, brisket and so on.

We all made our way to Houston and decided because we were early to visit a supermarket. Now.... this was only opened 2 weeks ago and I was mighty impressed with their quality and quantity of fresh fruit and veg. Everything was stockpilled up and washed. So much selection and different types of veg from different continents. Waitrose and the like eat your heart out!

There was meat and fish counters which would have out ours to shame. Everything was laid out and pre made, different cuts of meat and fish all marinaded and placed in such a way. We could test some of the fruits and veg there, as well as salads and meats. I took a photo of their sweet section and they have a self serve dessert counter too. Kinda like a salad bar, but you pick what you want, its then weighed and you pay that price. Very simple and quick.

We wasted 30 minutes there, then headed on over to Katz. I was excited and Hungry after visiting the supermarket. We entered Katz and there was a huge queue for food. Luckily Auntie found a table for 6 and we sat down. The place was buzzing, we looked in awe at the portions that was being served and our waiter arrived to take our order. We ordered 2 pastrami, 2 corn beef, one brisket and a dog. Drinks and pickle sides ordered too. Only 5 minutes after we ordered our food came. It was an immense portion. So much food and we knew were were in for a ride. Not to mention I orderd potato laftes which came with a huge dollap of soured cream.

We tucked in and the flavour sensation that hit our tongues were huge, perhaps we were slightly hungry before that but we tucked in right away. 15 minutes of "hmmm" and nodding heads proved that their food was good.

Finishing the first half of the sandwich we all agreed we coudlnt finish the other half and had to take out. The waiter promptly bought us over some bags and we packed our sandwiches away. Apparently that is where they filmed When Harry met Sally, and the wall was plastered with photos of celebrities, MP's, sports stars and even Jay Chow!

Lina treated us and we decided a walk to Chinatown was a good idea, seeing it was only 3-4 blocks away. My dad wanted some chinese herbal stuff and mushrooms so we slowly crawled our way there. It was a fun walk and very good for settling the stomach. We were stuffed but it was so good we just smiled all the way til chinatown.

After buying what we needed we all hopped on the bus near City Hall and was home within 15 minutes. We dropped off our stuff and sat down on the sofa. My dad and uncle were tired and went for an afternoon nap. Whilst Auntie made soup and I watched TV. I soon fell asleep and before I knew it, we had napped for over an hour.

Dinner was to be at a place called Todai. An international Japanese buffet place...check the site http://www.todai.com/menuMAIN.html I was still full from our lunch and we took the bus to 32nd street 6 Ave. Its actually a nice bus ride there and the time we spent walking to find the place was welcoming for my digestion of the amount of meat we had earlier.

We entered this place and immediatly it reminded me of a place in HK which I had eaten in before. It was very similar and we were bought to our table. Now Im not lying but the walk to our table was around 100 metres, and the 100 metre walk was full of food on BOTH sides of the isle. I was thinking GOD DAMN!! thats alot of food.
We were told the Oysters were good here and I saw the Master opening the Oysters and it looked fresh and tasty. We all sat down, ordered drinks and were away.

I waited whilst most of them went to grab food and then it was my turn. I saw my relatives grabbing 4-6 Oysters each and knew that they must have cleaned the Seafood bar out so I walked slowly over and yes I was right. Completly empty but the Master was ready to open some more. I waited and grabbed 4 myself. Some sushi and prawns and 1 spider crag leg. Headed back towards my table and sat down.

It was an enjoyable day for food today and we stayed for 2 hours. After all the eating and talking/laughing etc we were full and ready to go home.

It was around $28 per person but in my opinion. They would make a killing in UK if they opened one in central somewhere. Shame I forgot my camera that day and didnt get to take much photos today.

Overall I would say foodwise. Today was the best time we had. It even eclipsed the steaks we had the night before but hey.... we are on holiday and Im loving each minute in NY.

Its growing on me and I can imagine working here and perhaps settling one day.... one day eh :)

Anyways thats all from me. Im probably a day behind on my journal. Updates soon :)

Fifth Day in New York

So now Im getting used to NY, even figured out how to take the buses as well as trains.  We woke up early, but mulled around untill 11am and headed out.

First stop was Grand Central station. Took the bus to Union Square and hopped on the express updown. 3 stops and we reach Grand Central. We got off and looked around for the damn place, even walked around the block untill I realised that it was right opposite to where we came out. I was expecting it be a scene out of X Men or something but the outside didnt look the same.

We entered the station and it was a great place of interest. It is so much more than a station and has a very nice atmopshere whilst so many people walking around getting to their destinations. Took some photos and checked out the downstairs galleria. Which really is a food mall.

After walking around another 10 minutes we headed towards 59th Lexington. Which is the home to Bloomingdales. I noticed a Levi's store across the road and decided to check it out. One hour later. I walked out with 3 pairs of jeans and a belt. It works out around £25 for a pair of Levi's. How cheap is that? LOL.

After spending some money at Levi's, Yee wanted to check out H&M, there was many things on clearance and grabbed a few bargains. Next stop Bloomingdales.

Upon entering Bloomingdales I realised the similarity between Selfridges and this place. Its dedicated a whole block for itself and prides itself on high quality.

I didnt buy anything in here, but Yee bought a few "little brown bags" for friends and we skipped going to other many floors that they had. Hunger had struck and we needed some food.

We headed over to 60th and 2nd Ave and found a neat little diner and sat down. It was called the Skyway Diner as it faced a bridge... not sure which one and had a cable car running overhead.

I ordered a pastrami sandwich and Yee had some home chips. Which was like bubble and squeek. My sandwich was ok. Nothing special but it was cheap.

After finishing our food and calculating our daily spending we had to head on over to Maceys to meet my Uncle and co.

Jumped on the downtown express and missed our stop. It eventually took us back to Union square which was funny.

We waited for a bit and met up with Lina, she was a little late and then we saw my dad and Uncle.

Shopped around for Tim and got him some stuff before my dad said he wanted a wallet. Checked lots of place and nothing tickled his fancy. As we were about to leave we passed the LV store. He checked out two wallets and the fashionably outdated dad decided to purchase one. What a tart!! He bought one haha. It was quite nice to be honest, but I am not a fan of Louis Vuitton.

We then headed towards Rockerfeller Square. Its quite a nice place. It was being replaced with a flower exhibition and many flowers and hedges were trimmed to mark Easter. Also Ben & jerry was doing a free ice cream day. The place was packed and queues for around 50 metres!!!

The next place we went to was the place we were to have dinner. Now it was the only that I knew we were expecting good food. Wow... what an interesting place to have dinner.

Its a reknowned restaurant called Smith & Wallinsky. Its a steak house which is a really famous place with a big history. The place was very American and had lots of waiters all over the place.

Checking out the menu I decided to have a lobster Cocktail, which was a small lobster on a bed of ice and seaweed with lemon and 2 dips. It was very juicy and succulent with very juicy fresh flavours. I was impressed with it and my main was to be crabcake. Because we had a late lunch I wasnt too fussed about eating Steak. When my dad and uncles steak arrived it was a good decision as I knew that they wouldnt be able to finish their portions hehe. Side orders were Asparagus, creamed Spinich and garlic buttered mushroom.

It was an excellent dinner and I washed it down with a Apple Martini for started and a crisp Reisling for my main. Dessert was to share a choclate mouse cake and Ice cream. We all shared it and loved every bit of it. Yee paid for it and the bill came up over $390. Which is very fair in my opinion.

We were stuffed after dinner and headed on back home. We got off at Union Square and headed over to Trader Joes, its very similar to Tescos as their food is very cheap. However because of their pricing they had not that many counters and there was a queue halfway through the store. Interesting way they deal with that.

We queued over 20 minutes and Lina wanted us to try the Italian Cake shop, so me and her headed over to Venerios, a cake shop that has been open for over 60 years. Its lovely and the smell that hits you as you enter is unbelievable.  We bought $40 worth of various cakes and headed on over.

Its great chatting to Lina as we both have a very smiliar outlook in life so we had things in common. Plus shes a does medical so we had a few things to chat about.

Arriving home everyone raided our cakes and one box was gone quite quickly haha. It was a great day today. Photos will show the food we had for the day.

Im tired and its time for bed :)