We're ready to leave!

We are all done with our packing and the taxi will be here in less than 2 hours time. At last, the day has arrived! For those of you who don't know, we will be going back to Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year this year! Woohoo!!

Our plane will leave JFK around midnight tonight and we'll have a 12 hour layover in Seoul. Since both Kevin and I have never been to Korea before, we plan to go on one of those transit tours. How exciting! We will arrive Kuala Lumpur late Monday night and leave for Langkawi Island for a family vacation on Wednesday. Can't wait for that! After Langkawi, we will fly to Penang (my hometown) to celebrate Chinese New Year as well as my Dad's 60th birthday with our extended family. The final leg of our trip will mostly be in Kuala Lumpur and we might take a short trip to Singapore for a day or two (maybe).

We'll try to update this blog as much as we can. So, the next time you hear from us...we'll be in sunny Malaysia, kicking back and enjoying the nice warm weather with our family and friends!!

Hope for Haiti - Save the Children

* This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Cryo-Cell International. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you remember what you were doing when you heard about the earthquake in Haiti last month? I do. I was surfing the Internet and went to my favorite news website to check out the daily news when saw the breaking news. I was shocked and saddened to hear of such devastation happen in such a small and poor country. My heart really went out to them. I am sure many of you felt the same. Just like me, I'm also sure many of you wondered how you could help, to ease their pain. Guess what? Well, now you can!

Throughout the month of February, Cryo-Cell will donate $25 from each enrollment to the “Save the Children: Haiti Relief Fund”. As people who safeguard the future for their newborns and families, you, together with Cryo-Cell can also lend your hand to help rebuild the future for the children of Haiti. Just so that you know, Cryo-Cell is the only cord blood bank contributing a portion of each sale to Save the Children: Haiti Relief Fund.

What is cord blood banking anyways? Cord blood or umbilical cord blood, is blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta at the time of birth. This blood has typically been discarded following delivery. But once scientists discovered it was a rich source of stem cells, umbilical cord blood became a viable substitute to bone marrow in thousands of successful transplants. Cells taken from your newborn are a perfect match for your baby for his or her lifetime. For example, in the event your child contracts a disease, which must be treated with chemotherapy or radiation, there is a probability of a negative impact on the immune system. While an autologous (self) transplant may not be appropriate for every disease, there could be a benefit in using the preserved U-Cord® stem cells to bolster and repopulate your child’s blood and immune system as a result of complications from other treatments.

So, what else can I say? You should enroll now! Not only will you be safeguarding the future of your newborn but you will be playing a part in helping the children of Haiti get a better future.

Throwback Pepsi & Mountain Dew

I don't know if you have been to the soda aisle at the grocery store lately. If you have, there is a high chance you might notice that Pepsi Co. has two new products out on the shelves. Throwback Pepsi and Throwback Mountain Dew! It's retro looking label caught our eye while we were walking by and since we are big Pepsi and Mountain Dew fans, we just had to try it! It says on the label that it's available for a limited time only and that it's made from REAL sugar. Interesting. Of course we also bought a bottle of regular Pepsi and regular Mountain Dew, so that we can do a taste test and compare it side by side.

First up, Pepsi. We noticed the difference the moment we opened the bottle. The throwback had way more fizz than the regular. Also, when we poured it out, the little bubbles lasted way longer than the regular Pepsi. Now, it really depends on what you like. Some people might think that it's good to have more fizz but I personally like to drink my sodas with less. That's one of the reasons why I prefer Pepsi to Coke. Less fizz. Alright, now the taste test. The regular Pepsi is a whole lot more sweeter compared to the throwback. In the taste test, the throwback wins hands down! It somewhat reminds me of a sweeter and less fizzy version of Coke. If you are one of those who can't really decide if you prefer Pepsi or Coke, the Throwback Pepsi is for you. It's somewhat of a mix between the two...iLike!

Next up, Mountain Dew. Firstly, I must say that Mountain Dew is our all time favorite soda. So, we were pretty excited to try out the throwback version. As opposed to the throwback Pepsi, the throwback Mountain Dew had way less fizz than the regular. In fact, it almost didn't have any fizz. Reminds me of the regular Mountain Dew, after you leave it out sitting in a glass for a while. The taste of the throwback also wasn't all that great. It had this weird after taste, and somewhat lack the refreshing taste that you always get from the regular Mountain Dew. I wouldn't go with the throwback if I were you. I've always loved the regular Mountain Dew taste and I guess, the New Dew wins!

Overall, I feel that Pepsi should just keep the Throwback Pepsi recipe and make it as their regular. It's really good and I'm pretty sure it will give Coke a run for their money. However, please do away with the Throwback Mountain Dew. We love the new Mountain Dew, oh yes we do!!

Hilarious Vacation Rental Commercial

* This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Vacation Rental Organization. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been a big fan of commercials. If for whatever reason I wasn't in the living room when my favorite commercial comes on TV and I miss it, hell would break loose! I would cry, make a big fuss and mop around all day. My parents, in their wisdom, actually recorded that particular commercial on video tape for me. So, the next time I missed the commercial, they would just pull out that tape and play it for me. Problem solved! I related that little anecdote to show you how much I love a good commercial, especially funny ones. When was the last time you watched a good and hilarious commercial?

I was surfing around the Internet earlier today and stumbled upon this really funny vacation rental commercial. It starts off like a regular commercial, with a family checking into a hotel. Then suddenly, out of no where, this guy in a "unitard" jumps out from behind the counter. I just love how he is dressed like a superhero but is super clumsy. No doubt, what he does is like a super hero (he goes around helping families save money on vacation rentals) but the Unitard guy is really uncoordinated, goofy, yet so lovable and funny. I also love the conversation between the host and the Unitard guy, at the end on the commercial. Really hilarious indeed. I bet you want to watch that commercial now, don't you? Just head over to the Vacation Rental Organization website and check out the commercial for yourself!

Charlie Brown's Steakhouse - Clifton, NJ

This is a relatively backdated post. I'm still really busy, trying to settle things before our trip to Malaysia (yes, we leave tomorrow!) but as promised, I'm trying to update this blog as much as I can. A couple of weeks ago, we had dinner at Charlie Brown's Steakhouse. It's the largest steakhouse chain in NJ, with it's first branch opening it's doors in 1966. We've heard quite a lot of good things about it, so we decided to go check it out ourselves.

The moment we pulled into the parking lot, we knew that we had to wait for a table. The huge parking lot of filled with cars! We had to circle a few times and ended up parking way across the other end of the lot. I guess dinner time on a Saturday is peak hours for them :P True enough, when we walked into the restaurant, there were just people standing everywhere, waiting for their table. We had to wait for almost 25 minutes before we got a table.

For our appetizer, we ordered the Three Cheese Crab Dip ($8.99). Jumbo lump crab meat, seasoned with Old Bay seasoning and then baked with three different types of cheese was just amazing! It is served with crispy frybread chips. Just look at how much crab meat there is in the dip. So creamy and yummy!

We had a choice of the salad bar or soup with our mains. We both went with the soup. Kevin ordered the Lobster Bisque and again, it was gooood. I tasted a little of it and boy, it was thick, creamy and really good. There were also quite a few pieces of lobster in the soup.

I had the French Onion Soup. Now, this must be the best French Onion Soup I have had in a very long time. It was so flavourful and hearty. So, up til now...Charlie Brown's Steakhouse has been living up to it's name, really good food.

For our mains, I ordered the Chopped Steak ($13.99). It's about 16 oz. of chopped USDA Certified Angus Beef steak, served with a side of frizzled onions, rice pilaf and mushroom sauce. I ordered the steak medium well but when it arrived, it was way past well done. The outside was pretty charred and the inside was dry. The frizzled onions were also soggy and oily. Overall, it was quite a disappointment really.

Kevin ordered the Fish & Chips ($13.99). Four pieces of tempura battered cod fillet, served with fries and coleslaw. Yes, the portion was relatively huge but taste wise, it really didn't hit the spot. The fish was just alright, nothing much to shout about. We have definitely tasted better. Overall, it was just an alright dinner experience. The starters were totally amazing but the mains really didn't impress us at all. The service wasn't all that great too (we had to actually ask the server to refill our drinks, even though she walked by many times and saw our empty glasses). So, would we return? Well, having to wait 25 minute just for a table, coupled with mediocre service and a total bill of $47.24, I would say that the chances are pretty slim. However, I am so in love with the Three Cheese Crab Dip, so I don't know. It's a tough call on this one.

Charlie Brown's Steakhouse - Clifton, NJ
1296 Van Houten Avenue
Clifton, NJ 07013-1632
Tel: (973) 471-1400
Web: http://www.charliebrowns.com/

Stop Waiting & Start Doing!

* This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don't know about you, but I really hate waiting. Call me impatient if you like, but I just cannot stand hanging around and waiting for something or someone. This is an instant-gratification society, maybe it's now becoming a norm. We have been preconditioned to want everything fast. We like fast cars, fast food, overnight delivery, fast-bake cookies and instant coffee (even Starbucks switched to instant). We don’t tolerate slow. We don’t like to wait.

Since I spend so much time online, there is really one thing that is a must for me. Fast and reliable DSL! We bank, e-mail, play games, shop, share photos and stream videos online almost everyday. Went don't want to watch the progress bar, we want to load the moment we click on it! How about watching that video without looking at the bar go "buffering buffering buffering"? If we waste precious minutes every time we want to pay a bill, or download from iTunes, how many hours of wasted time does that add up to over a year? The Internet we rely on so much in our everyday lives taunts us with blank screens and progress bars inching along noiselessly. We’re losing productivity at a time when we can least afford it. It's time we say “No More!”

Let’s stop waiting. Let’s start doing. That's right, stop waiting and get going! Let’s turn this nation of blank-faced lingering into a productive society again. Guess what? Charter is here to do their part! To kick that off, they are offering High-Speed Internet for 19.99! Get the speed you crave and the instant gratification you demand back in your life. It’s reliable, it’s secure, and once you’ve had it, you’ll see why DSL is the new dial up. Not only that, they will also install it for free to get you going! You can also keep up with all the latest from Charter at Charter’s Facebook page. Head over there to see all that they have to offer. So, what are you waiting for? Don't get left behind. Switch to Charter's High-Speed Internet and start enjoying your online time today!

Two years and counting...

Firstly, I would like to apologise to all our readers for neglecting this blog for the past week or so. We have been really busy running around, preparing for our trip back to Malaysia (yes, we leave in 4 days time!). Also, I have been spending most of my waking hours working on a video presentation for my Dad's 60th Birthday party. It's almost done now, I hope to get it all done by tomorrow or Thursday, latest. Remind me to post the video up here after the party!

With that said, let me return to the my intended post :P Two years and counting....yup, that's right! It's our 2nd Anniversary today!! Boy, time really flies. It seems like it was only yesterday when we said our vows in Pittsburgh. I guess time flies when you are having a good time. The past two years has been nothing but awesome! Life has been good and I'm thankful to God for such a wonderful, caring and supportive husband. So, here's to the two years and may there be many many many more to come!

P/S: I promise to return to my normal blogging once we got all this video and packing stuff organized. I'll try my best to blog at least once a day from Malaysia, so you can all stay updated with what's happening on that side of the world! :D