Family Visit Week 2, 3 and 4  

Posted by hidayah

The next trip pulak, gi Chicago for Thanksgiving Shopping Spree and Detroit untuk buat Canadian visa Mr Hubby... wuhuu... so we all bertolak hari Selasa pagi, around pkl 8pg...and balik hari Sabtu... sakan ah jalan, bila lagi khennn... So dalam perjalanan we all singgah la Uni of Iowa... saja jalan2 tgk campusnya... Then perjalanan diteruskan sampai la ke Chicago..letih gilerrr... tak larat sungguh... lepas tu merentas Indiana nak ke Detroit tu paling la tak larat... mmg sampai hotel pun tghmlm.. masing2 terus tido tak sedar nya sbb penat yang teramat...

The next day pulak aku and Mr Hubby pagi2 lagi dah ke Canadian Embassy... nak mohon visa ke Canada... then sampai sana, visa application decline... wth???? Memula tu ingat Mr Hubby je sorang yg kena reject, rupanya ramai lagi yg kena reject... dah la tu, officers kat situ tak nak pun bgtau sebab musabab kena reject... just tick kat borang je .....sgt tak jelas the reason kena decline... bengong ah... ada satu lady tu siap nangis2 lagi kat situ... katanya dah 3 kali mintak visa tak dapat2... semua documents dah bagi... dia nk jumpa officer kat situ, sampai sudah tak dilayan... kesian... sekali mohon USD70, kalau dah tiga kali tu, you do the math.... kesian sehh... so we all dgn rasa kecewa pun blah la... in the end Mr Hubby decide balik malaysia je la...

So untuk mengubati kekecewaan - huh- we all gi snap pictures around downtown Detroit... kitorang gi jalan2 kat tepi sungai ala2 Kuching Waterfront kat Detroit... yang mana di seberang sungai sana is Canada..

Berlatarbelakangkan Canada


Downtown Detroit

Lepas sesi bergambar tu, kitorang terus ke Chicago.. nak gi jalan2 area bandar dulu, and the next day tu baru la nak bershopping sakan... haha... so since kitorang gi Chicago downtown waktu Thanksgiving day, tak de orang sangat pun... kereta pun tak byk...

Depan Chicago Skydeck

So malam tu we all meredah lautan manusia kat Aurora Premium Outlet.. dalam kesejukan ..hehe.. semata2 nak dapatkan barang2 dgn harga yg murah... gile seh... orang ramai tak hengat donia.. berpusu2... jalan punya jam jgn citer ah... we all jalan kaki je dari hotel gi sana...


Pemandangan di sekitar outlet... around 1 pagi..

Aku and Mr Hubby balik dulu...around pkl 2 pagi camtu.. sebab Fatihah dah tertido... lagipun sejuk ya amat... yang lain stay lagi kat sana.. around 4 pagi baru balik... tido kejap.. then semua pegi balik outlet pukul 9 pagi... sambung shopping lagi... sampailah ke tengahari... hehe...

Then kitorang spend masa gi jalan2 kat tempat lai pulak... Toys R us la... kedai sports la... masing2 shopping mcm tak pernah shopping... tak muat kereta... haha...

Antara barang yg diborong..


So in the end we all pun pulang dengan Chevy Tahoe yang sarat dgn muatan... siap beli canvas untuk letak barang atas Tahoe tu sebab ketidakmuatan tempat nak letak barang.. hehe...

************************************************************************************

So lepas beberapa hari kembali ke Ames, kali ni we all planning nak buat makan2 pulak sempena birthday Fatihah.. dah alang2 semua orang ada kat sini, bila lagi nak celebrate, kan... si budak kecik tu punya la excited... hehe... lagipun waktu nilah mama and daddy dapat mengenali warga Melayu Ames yang ada kat sini...

So the last week tu, aku plan nak bawak diorang gi TJMaxx kat Ankeny... tup..tup.. snowstorm pulak hari tu, sampai campus pun tutup... so memang tak dapat bergerak ke mana2... tapi best la diorang especially Angah dgn Apit coz ni 1st time diorang dapat merasa main dalam snow.. haha... onlye the day after tio baru we all dapat pergi Ankeny... other that that, dok round Ames ni la... trip ke Walmart tu dah ntah ke berapa kali ntah... not to mention JCPenny and others...

All in all, we had a blast... mama cakap insya Allah 2011 nak dtg sini lagi... hehe... waktu tu diorang nak gi Disneyland pulak... waahh... best best... travel lagi... so now tunggu bulan 5 pulaklah... balik malaysia...yippiee...hehe... so waktu tu pulak dah ada dah plannya... wait n see -=)

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Family Visit Week 1: ISU Campus & Minnesota  

Posted by hidayah

16th November 2009...

My family finally arrived in Ames... I was waiting for the bus to go to Monday's evening class, and I saw Adik drove the van, with 4 familiar faces in it. Kinda excited, I ran to greet them at the parking lot -- and ended taking the next bus to class..

19th November 2009...

I took Daddy, Angah and Apit to the campus for sightseeing.. Let them see the place where Adik and I study, and also let Daddy walked down memory lane looking at the places where his classes were held during his undergrad...We covered most of the grounds..including Jack Trice Stadium.. I was pretty ecstatic myself, as I never been to the Athletic Facilities..

L to R: Daddy, Me, Apit and Angah

21st - 22nd November 2009...

We decided to start our trip by going to the Minnesota.. Before that, we rented a Chevy Tahoe for the whole week (9 days)..

Hubby besides the Tahoe

First destination was The Mall of America, and it was well-decorated for the holidays.. We went to the Nickolodeon Theme Park and spent most of our time window shopping..

In front of the huge Christmas Tree in The Mall of America

The next day, we went to the St. Anthony Waterfall, The Art Museum and tour around The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. We had lunch at the Marina Grill and Deli, and drove back to Ames in the evening.


My siblings, the 4 of us -- Apit, Me, Angah and Adik


Hubby and I

We arrived in Ames around 9pm.. So we got the next day to rest before we continued our journey to Chicago and Detroit... We did not do any shopping while in Minnesota, as all of us were waiting for the Black Friday deals..

To be Continue on Week 2

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Back in the blogging business  

Posted by hidayah

Hey y'all... it's good to be back! There are so many things to tell, yet I'm so demotivated to blog..sorry peeps.. this past few months, I abandoned my blog, stacked a bunch of good stories aside.. haven't been blog hopping either. Some folks asked for updates, as in what has been going on in my life. I heard some folks gave birth, got married etc.. so congrats to all those people... As for me, too many things happened, things that I expected and enjoyed, and also the unexpected..

Now it's the end of a year. Big deal, some people say. I beg to differ. I guess 2009 is an interesting year. A fresh start for me, stepping into the other side of the world. I stumbled all along, dealt with so many ups and downs. Some even made me think -- was it worth? The word sacrifice - seems to have a big impact in my life. Whatever it is... what I have been dealing with all these years... couldn't be possible without the support from my family.. and most of all, from The Almighty.

Last year, at the very same day...
- Busy packing all sorts of stuff, as we were scheduled to come over on the 2nd of January.
- Hubby was busy transporting our stuff back to his hometown.

This year, at the very same day..
- I feel demotivated, and in this gloomy weather... kinda lonely... as I missed Hubby that flew back yesterday to Malaysia.. why? More on the next entry.
- I am swamp with research work -- the semester break is for the undergrad kids. Definitely not for us in the grad school. Until we graduated, there is no "break". Duh.

Fall semester was over a week ago. The exam grades were out. Some people left to their hometown. The campus is dead, literally. The weather was gloomy. Not so much snow this past few days, but there is a snow storm warning across Iowa. Aahh... what a boring month. I finished watching Desperate Housewives season 5 (all of the episodes) and also the current ones, as I have no time to spare throughout the entire academic year for watching those. So now, what? Read some articles (ha! very funny)? Hmm... watch TV? not in the mood... and someone pointed out I should update my blog. Go figure.

Enuff for this entry. Off to the next entry. I guess I'll blog on the days when my parents came over, the trips we took, etc... maybe post on some pics or two. Or many some other good stuff to write about..we'll see.

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Family Visit Week 2, 3 and 4  

written by hidayah

The next trip pulak, gi Chicago for Thanksgiving Shopping Spree and Detroit untuk buat Canadian visa Mr Hubby... wuhuu... so we all bertolak hari Selasa pagi, around pkl 8pg...and balik hari Sabtu... sakan ah jalan, bila lagi khennn... So dalam perjalanan we all singgah la Uni of Iowa... saja jalan2 tgk campusnya... Then perjalanan diteruskan sampai la ke Chicago..letih gilerrr... tak larat sungguh... lepas tu merentas Indiana nak ke Detroit tu paling la tak larat... mmg sampai hotel pun tghmlm.. masing2 terus tido tak sedar nya sbb penat yang teramat...

The next day pulak aku and Mr Hubby pagi2 lagi dah ke Canadian Embassy... nak mohon visa ke Canada... then sampai sana, visa application decline... wth???? Memula tu ingat Mr Hubby je sorang yg kena reject, rupanya ramai lagi yg kena reject... dah la tu, officers kat situ tak nak pun bgtau sebab musabab kena reject... just tick kat borang je .....sgt tak jelas the reason kena decline... bengong ah... ada satu lady tu siap nangis2 lagi kat situ... katanya dah 3 kali mintak visa tak dapat2... semua documents dah bagi... dia nk jumpa officer kat situ, sampai sudah tak dilayan... kesian... sekali mohon USD70, kalau dah tiga kali tu, you do the math.... kesian sehh... so we all dgn rasa kecewa pun blah la... in the end Mr Hubby decide balik malaysia je la...

So untuk mengubati kekecewaan - huh- we all gi snap pictures around downtown Detroit... kitorang gi jalan2 kat tepi sungai ala2 Kuching Waterfront kat Detroit... yang mana di seberang sungai sana is Canada..

Berlatarbelakangkan Canada


Downtown Detroit

Lepas sesi bergambar tu, kitorang terus ke Chicago.. nak gi jalan2 area bandar dulu, and the next day tu baru la nak bershopping sakan... haha... so since kitorang gi Chicago downtown waktu Thanksgiving day, tak de orang sangat pun... kereta pun tak byk...

Depan Chicago Skydeck

So malam tu we all meredah lautan manusia kat Aurora Premium Outlet.. dalam kesejukan ..hehe.. semata2 nak dapatkan barang2 dgn harga yg murah... gile seh... orang ramai tak hengat donia.. berpusu2... jalan punya jam jgn citer ah... we all jalan kaki je dari hotel gi sana...


Pemandangan di sekitar outlet... around 1 pagi..

Aku and Mr Hubby balik dulu...around pkl 2 pagi camtu.. sebab Fatihah dah tertido... lagipun sejuk ya amat... yang lain stay lagi kat sana.. around 4 pagi baru balik... tido kejap.. then semua pegi balik outlet pukul 9 pagi... sambung shopping lagi... sampailah ke tengahari... hehe...

Then kitorang spend masa gi jalan2 kat tempat lai pulak... Toys R us la... kedai sports la... masing2 shopping mcm tak pernah shopping... tak muat kereta... haha...

Antara barang yg diborong..


So in the end we all pun pulang dengan Chevy Tahoe yang sarat dgn muatan... siap beli canvas untuk letak barang atas Tahoe tu sebab ketidakmuatan tempat nak letak barang.. hehe...

************************************************************************************

So lepas beberapa hari kembali ke Ames, kali ni we all planning nak buat makan2 pulak sempena birthday Fatihah.. dah alang2 semua orang ada kat sini, bila lagi nak celebrate, kan... si budak kecik tu punya la excited... hehe... lagipun waktu nilah mama and daddy dapat mengenali warga Melayu Ames yang ada kat sini...

So the last week tu, aku plan nak bawak diorang gi TJMaxx kat Ankeny... tup..tup.. snowstorm pulak hari tu, sampai campus pun tutup... so memang tak dapat bergerak ke mana2... tapi best la diorang especially Angah dgn Apit coz ni 1st time diorang dapat merasa main dalam snow.. haha... onlye the day after tio baru we all dapat pergi Ankeny... other that that, dok round Ames ni la... trip ke Walmart tu dah ntah ke berapa kali ntah... not to mention JCPenny and others...

All in all, we had a blast... mama cakap insya Allah 2011 nak dtg sini lagi... hehe... waktu tu diorang nak gi Disneyland pulak... waahh... best best... travel lagi... so now tunggu bulan 5 pulaklah... balik malaysia...yippiee...hehe... so waktu tu pulak dah ada dah plannya... wait n see -=)

0 comments

Family Visit Week 1: ISU Campus & Minnesota  

written by hidayah

16th November 2009...

My family finally arrived in Ames... I was waiting for the bus to go to Monday's evening class, and I saw Adik drove the van, with 4 familiar faces in it. Kinda excited, I ran to greet them at the parking lot -- and ended taking the next bus to class..

19th November 2009...

I took Daddy, Angah and Apit to the campus for sightseeing.. Let them see the place where Adik and I study, and also let Daddy walked down memory lane looking at the places where his classes were held during his undergrad...We covered most of the grounds..including Jack Trice Stadium.. I was pretty ecstatic myself, as I never been to the Athletic Facilities..

L to R: Daddy, Me, Apit and Angah

21st - 22nd November 2009...

We decided to start our trip by going to the Minnesota.. Before that, we rented a Chevy Tahoe for the whole week (9 days)..

Hubby besides the Tahoe

First destination was The Mall of America, and it was well-decorated for the holidays.. We went to the Nickolodeon Theme Park and spent most of our time window shopping..

In front of the huge Christmas Tree in The Mall of America

The next day, we went to the St. Anthony Waterfall, The Art Museum and tour around The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. We had lunch at the Marina Grill and Deli, and drove back to Ames in the evening.


My siblings, the 4 of us -- Apit, Me, Angah and Adik


Hubby and I

We arrived in Ames around 9pm.. So we got the next day to rest before we continued our journey to Chicago and Detroit... We did not do any shopping while in Minnesota, as all of us were waiting for the Black Friday deals..

To be Continue on Week 2

Filed under , , 1 comments

Back in the blogging business  

written by hidayah

Hey y'all... it's good to be back! There are so many things to tell, yet I'm so demotivated to blog..sorry peeps.. this past few months, I abandoned my blog, stacked a bunch of good stories aside.. haven't been blog hopping either. Some folks asked for updates, as in what has been going on in my life. I heard some folks gave birth, got married etc.. so congrats to all those people... As for me, too many things happened, things that I expected and enjoyed, and also the unexpected..

Now it's the end of a year. Big deal, some people say. I beg to differ. I guess 2009 is an interesting year. A fresh start for me, stepping into the other side of the world. I stumbled all along, dealt with so many ups and downs. Some even made me think -- was it worth? The word sacrifice - seems to have a big impact in my life. Whatever it is... what I have been dealing with all these years... couldn't be possible without the support from my family.. and most of all, from The Almighty.

Last year, at the very same day...
- Busy packing all sorts of stuff, as we were scheduled to come over on the 2nd of January.
- Hubby was busy transporting our stuff back to his hometown.

This year, at the very same day..
- I feel demotivated, and in this gloomy weather... kinda lonely... as I missed Hubby that flew back yesterday to Malaysia.. why? More on the next entry.
- I am swamp with research work -- the semester break is for the undergrad kids. Definitely not for us in the grad school. Until we graduated, there is no "break". Duh.

Fall semester was over a week ago. The exam grades were out. Some people left to their hometown. The campus is dead, literally. The weather was gloomy. Not so much snow this past few days, but there is a snow storm warning across Iowa. Aahh... what a boring month. I finished watching Desperate Housewives season 5 (all of the episodes) and also the current ones, as I have no time to spare throughout the entire academic year for watching those. So now, what? Read some articles (ha! very funny)? Hmm... watch TV? not in the mood... and someone pointed out I should update my blog. Go figure.

Enuff for this entry. Off to the next entry. I guess I'll blog on the days when my parents came over, the trips we took, etc... maybe post on some pics or two. Or many some other good stuff to write about..we'll see.

Filed under , 0 comments
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