A New Haircut

Well, not really new because I had my hair cut last month. Seems like my hairstyle is all the rage now.

My hairstylist told me that she's cutting my hair in honour of my obsession towards Japan, so she'll go for a Japanese doll look. LOL

My hair now is shorter than what I'm used to, and I'm loving it. Foong, you know how I look and to find me when (or if) we meet up next week. :-)

AmerAsia – Diem Sum Albuquerque, New Mexico

This restaurant is absolutely our most favorites and every time we are in NM we eat there at least one time.

So what is Diem Sum? Most are small tidbits – usually just a few bites that can be eaten with chopsticks or the fingers. The host or hostess pushes a little cart with all the selections on it. You make a selection and they put 3 on a separate plate on your table. We were at a huge Diem Sum restaurant in Chinatown in Chicago and each host goes around among the tables with only one selection the cart.

There is soy sauce or a hot chile pepper paste on the table as condiments

We always start with a Sichuan Salad and since we are not experts with chopsticks, ask for a fork. It is cold noodles with carrots & celery and slightly spicy.

Next favorite is the scallion pancake – a delicious layered pancake that you can actually taste the scallions / green onions.

Curry Pasty made with flaky crust and curried veggies.

There are too many other favorites to have all in one visit, so gee whiz, we have to go back to get it all!! LOL

Steamed dumping stuffed with beef & garlic then deep fried – Beef Jiao Tzu

Steamed and stuffed with beef and water chestnuts – Phoenix Eye

Raised dough filled with Chinese BBQ Pork & steamed – Bao Zi

Traditional Pot Stickers with Pork, Cabbage and Ginger – Pork Jiao Tzu

And then what we have for dessert –

Sesame Balls – Sweet rice dough coated with sesame seeds and filled with sweet red bean paste.

Snowballs – OMG are these good. Sweet rice dough stuffed with fruit filling and rolled in coconut and a small piece of lemon peel on top.

Fried egg roll skins or wonton wrappers and heavily coated with powdered sugar.

At the end of the meal our hostess counts how many plates and figures the total.

There are many other selections too but these are the ones we like best.

We leave there full, satisfied and feeling good that we ate lots of good, freshly prepared food.
AmerAsia shares the building with a sushi restaurant at 800 3rd St. (3rd goes south in front of the building – north of Lomas). Open 11AM to 2 PM Monday to Sat. and 5:30 – 8:30 Fri. and Sat.

Visa To Enter Japan

Just something to refresh us about visa application to Japan, if we need to go and apply someday. (For some strange reason, the Japan Embassy website is blocked at my office). Weird...

Read about the experience of me getting a visa last year here.

For Malaysian applicants applying for a holiday/transit visa, the documents required are:

1. Original passport
2. One (1) visa application form (downloadable)
3. One (1) photo (4.5cm x 4.5cm) with white background which is taken within 6 months from the visa application and must be pasted on the application form
4. Itinerary in Japan (downloadable) and for transit purpose, copy of visa to the main destination (USA, CANADA, etc)
5. Employment certificate stating your position, department in the company and length of service(using the company letterhead)
   
   *If you are a sole proprietor/partner/owner of the company, you need to submit a copy of your business registration
   
   *For those who are not working: a self explanatory letter stating how expenses will be borne, name and relationship of person(s) accompanying (if any)
6. Personal savings, latest current account statement, fixed deposit, Tabung Haji or Amanah Saham Berhad (ASB) (original certified true copy by the bank) (need to show the applicant’s name as the account owner, account number and current balance)
7. Copy of marriage certificate (spouse) or birth certificate (children) to show proof of relationship between the main applicant and the person(s) accompanying

Applicants are no longer required to submit confirmed flight itinerary issued by travel agent. Instead of that, applicants must submit tentative itinerary in Japan where they do not have to book for ticket. Please take note that tourist/business travelers who hold a short stay visa are required to show return ticket at the entry point.

Although it wasn't mentioned above, we are required to show that we have at least RM6,000.00 per person in our accounts. The three of us should show at least RM18,000.00 to ensure our visa will be approved.

Remembering Hiroshima

64 years ago today, the atomic bombs detonated over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. on Aug 6, 1945 and three days later over Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m.

Do read JahRera's (Kak Lela) post too here and ponder over our need and race for power.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida

I remember going here on my 1st visit to FL in 1959. This spring is a constant temperature and so clear. The water then flows out to the Gulf of Mexico.

As we walked in we saw some peacocks just wandering around. They are always so gentle looking and their call can be heard all over the park

In the Buccaneer Bay area there was a high school group testing out their 1 man self powered submarines. I sort of thought of them as the pinewood car derby for boy scouts. Evidentially there are competitions for these student built machines. (They are powered by pedaling like a bicycle.)

Next we wandered over to the river for a little cruise on a pontoon boat. The ‘captain’ gave all of history about the area and info on the birds and wildlife. Very interesting and it was included in the price of the admission ticket.

But the biggest attraction is the mermaid show. The day we were there the story was loosely based on the Little Mermaid. You enter the “theater” which is underground and has a thick glass wall in front of you –the stage! The curtain opens and there are the mermaids.

The locals – turtles- seemed to like the show too because they kept getting right into the girls faces – to the point the had to be pushed away. Very cute!

The ‘actors’ have air tubes that they use every so often so they do not have to surface or wear air tanks.

And they lived happily ever after. Ahhhh !!!!

It is one of those things that is fun to do and will be a long lasting memory.

http://weekiwachee.com/main/

I Uttered My First Korean Word Today!

Nothing much to write but nonsense today. LOL

I'm just being proud of myself for uttering my first Korean word to the nice Korean lady at the Food Gardens food court. I said "Kam-sa-ham-ni-da" to her instead of merely mouthing "thank you". Kinda felt guilty because she made the effort to say a few Malay words to us (she wrote them down in a piece of paper), apart from the extra food she gave us when we were there. This time she gave a bowl of iced watermelon to Raimie.

Next, I need to learn to confidently say "delicious" to her in Korean.

Trip to Durango, CO through Wolf Creek Pass 7/09

Our drive from Colorado Springs, CO to Durango, CO took us south on I-25 and turned right / west on US 160 at Walsenburg.

This mountain is off the road to the north. It is about 12,000 feet above sea level and timberline is around 9000 feet, so that is why it is bare on top.

We passed this thrift shop and thought it was cute. 2 reasons we didn’t stop – we were caravanning with friends and it is hard to find parking for our rig when we are towing a car.

Our first challenge was La Vita Pass. Even though it is only 9000+ feet, it is steep and the RV was not happy at all. In fact we had to pull off just before the crest to let it cool off. Downhill was fine.

Next obstacle was Wolf Creek Pass. Gotta say we were worried about this even before we left home and even more so after La Vita Pass. The up hill is steep but more gradual than the last one but the downhill is a 7% grade with a few hairpin turns.

The map says it is 10,550 but you can see what our GPS said when we got to the top!!

That is our road still going down and around the mountain side.

I have all the confidence in Gene, but I am a white-knuckle rider. Someone told me, on an RV message board, that the solution for me was easy - booze and a blindfold, LOL. We made it up and down just fine so all the worry was for naught.

Tunnel through the mountain.

We arrived at our RV Park the Alpen Rose – which we do not recommend to others. We are not the most experienced RVers but all the help except one lady was rude and unfriendly. We pulled in and Gene didn’t even have the RV turned off when a golf cart pulled up and the man barked, last name/ reservations? You have to off load the car here!!! No hello, glad you are here, nothing!!

When we made the reservations it was with the understanding the 2 RV’s would be next to each other. Someone switched the reservation and we were on one end and our friends where on the other end. After a lot of jiggling around the nice lady got us close to each other.

The pool closed at 8PM (which is early) and they were kicking people out 15 minutes before. The playground consisted of swings and a horsey on a spring.

There are lots of RV parks in the Durango area and there is no need to go someplace that is rude and unfriendly and 8 miles north of town.

We could see the train go by and hear the whistle so that was pretty nice.

Just across the small road was a field with 4 horses. The kids had a grand time visiting with them and letting go of all the pent up energy from the 6-hour trip.

Next day we rode the train.