Great News!

We are happy to announce that we are now proud homeowners!!! The process started end of May where we began looking at houses. We found this one ... actually, our realtor suggested this one, in the town where we are currently, but it was at the high end of our budget. But, it was the most updated and move-in ready among the houses we looked at, plus it has nice curb appeal, a good sized backyard with deck and pool! Not a big one coz it's an above-ground pool but good enough for wading and just soaking when it's hot. It's the right size for Finn (^_^) It also has enough living space for us, and a finished basement which will be our game room (woohoo!!!). So anyway, we made an offer on my birthday and lucky us, it got accepted after haggling a bit ... neat birthday present right? From then, there were a lot of things that had to be done and prepared and just this Monday (August 25) was our closing ... we got the keys!!! We immediately moved some stuff in, bought new knobs to replace the front and side door knobs, and slept there that night on the borrowed airbeds. Finn and I have been going back and forth bringing stuff in during the day so that on Saturday, the only things to be moved would be the furniture and other heavy boxed items. Today, Sears came by to clean the air vents and was there for about 2 hours. Tomorrow, I'm expecting our dining table to be delivered. Right now, I'm still boxing stuff to be brought back there later. So I guess I have to go back to packing (the only thing I don't like about moving =P)

Reunion

August 17, Sunday: My sister and family arrived in the morning. We picked them up from Newark Penn Station, then had breakfast at a nearby diner. Spent the day in the house (^_^)

August 18, Monday: Picked-up the rental at 7.30am, then drove to Six Flags Great Adventure a little past 8am. Went to the Wild Safari first, then to Great Adventure. Wasn't able to ride any thrill rides coz nobody wanted to ride with me (-_-). What they went on was the go-kart and the 3-D simulator. The 3 of us went on a family friendly coaster and the carousel. Won a lot of prizes with the games though (^_^) At past 7, we started our drive back but instead of going home, we went to Minado for dinner.

August 19, Tuesday: My sister and her kids plus Jojo and I went to NY today (Finn was left behind with his grandma coz they didn't want to leave). We had lunch at Yoshinoya then walked to Kinokuniya Bookstore where I was able to buy a Beijing phone charm (BeiBei) and then to Image Anime where we bought Finn a 1-up mushroom keychain. We took the subway back to Port Authority where we had a snack before catching the bus home.

August 20, Wednesday: We played Wii at home (^_^). Jojo and I left to go to church before 7pm, then went straight to JFK airport after the service to pick up my brother and his family. When we got home before midnight, Jojo cooked some meatballs for our midnight snack.

August 21, Thursday: First in our IT is to go to the Empire State Building. Had lunch at Sbarro after, then took the subway to Central Park. Watched a few street performers there, walked around, took tons of photos, then took the subway to Chinatown to have some very tasty congee. Took the subway back to Port Authority, then the bus home.

August 22, Friday: Went to Battery Park in NYC to take the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. Went to Nintendo World afterwards, walked around Rockefeller Plaza, then walked back to 42nd St. where we had dinner at Yoshinoya. Took the bus home.

August 23, Saturday: Jojo and I accompanied my bro and his wife to Costco and 5 Below to buy some stuff. We stopped by White Castle to buy a crave case for our lunch back home. At around 3pm, my siblings and I, together with my mom, went to our aunt's house. Stayed there for about an hour. When we got back, my sis started packing already. Jojo took them to Newark Penn Station before 6pm.

August 24, Sunday: After church early in the morning, we borrowed our friend's car so that we can all go to Jersey Gardens. Did some shopping there where we got all excited in KB Toys coz they were on sale. Was also able to buy Mario Kart in Game Stop (^_^) We then went back to 5 Below. After all that shopping, they had to start packing already since their flight back is tonight. Jojo took them to JFK airport after 6pm.

So now it's quiet, and it feels spacious in our apartment. We miss them already. Till next year!

Wedding

One of Jojo's co-workers, Bernadette, tied the knot yesterday in Roslyn, New York. It's about a 1.5 hour drive but with the traffic, it took us 2 hours and we were at the hotel by 4pm. The ceremony was at 5 but we had to dress up and make ourselves pretty first (^_^) But one little boy (our friend's 2-yr old son) didn't want to get dressed in his suit so that took a long time of convincing and finally, with just his shirt and pants on (no vest, tie or jacket), we were able to leave for the ceremony at 5pm. So of course we're late and traffic was horrendous. We arrived at the church 50 minutes later, just in time to hear them announce the newlyweds and see them walk down the nave to get ready to receive the guests. We waited until almost everyone has gone before falling in line to congratulate them (^_^)

After meeting other co-workers outside of the church and some photo taking, we left for the reception at Roslyn Harbor, another 30-minute drive. The Swan Club was beautiful! There was a cocktail hour first held in the garden in a tent, with a buffet that could very well have been dinner. The bar was free flowing and I think most of the guests had their fill of the buffet. After that we were asked to transfer to the Garden Room for dinner. The entourage was introduced and then the couple came in. There was dancing first, saying for every couple on the dance floor, 3 years would be added in making their marriage last. So for the 2nd time ever (the first was during our wedding), Jojo obliged to dance with me. After that one song, we sat at our table and the waiter took our preferences for the main course. There was an appetizer of crab meat with salad, then an intermezzo of lemon sorbet, the main course (Jojo and I had filet mignon) and a dessert table with an international coffee selection. We didn't have room anymore for dessert ... we barely ate half of our steak! We just had coffee afterwards and gave our well wishes to the bride before leaving (I took one choco-covered strawberry as we passed the dessert table). This was after 11pm. We got home before 1am.

I can't say anything about the ceremony since we weren't able to witness it, but the reception was beautiful. The place was beautiful, food was aplenty, an open bar, dancing and just plain good fun with good company. We wish Bernadette and Andrew many many happy years of togetherness (^_^)

Meet Mario!

Today we went to the city coz my mom was applying for a Canadian visa. We were at the consulate at 9am and was there for over 3 hours (-_-*) Since only applicants were allowed inside, Finn and I had to wait outside. He was playing with his DS while I was listening to my music.

After 10am one of my co-actors, Jo, in last year's The Vagina Monologues came to see me. It's been over a year since we saw each other last but we keep in touch thru plurk, twitter, and our blogs (^_^) We parted ways before lunch. Had lunch at Dean & DeLuca right across Nintendo World. After lunch, you know where we went (~_^) And lucky us, Mario was there! Not the real physical mascot Mario but Mario on screen, inside the virtual Nintendo World, talking to people. So Finn was there talking to him almost the whole time we were there. He kept telling Mario about the games he has played and the techniques he uses and what happens in the story and all that, and Mario was simply amazed! He kept telling Finn how amazing he is because he knows more about Mario games than most people he knows, especially at 6 years old (^_^) He also got to talk to Wario. Then Finn wanted to play the games so he said see you later to Mario. After playing, he went back to talk to him again and show him the Super Mario backpack he bought. We also asked Mario to say hi to his dad on the phone (^_^)



At 2pm, Mario said it was time for him to have lunch so he said goodbye to everyone. We were lucky Mario was there today. Last time we were at NW, he wasn't. Hopefully the next time we go there (when my siblings are here) he'll be there too. I bet if we lived in NYC, we'd be at NW everyday (^_^)

We left NW at around 3pm and went to M&Ms World and Hershey's. Hershey's wasn't a big deal, nothing much to see. But M&Ms World was great! They have every color imaginable for M&Ms and lots and lots of merchandise. I just bought a magnet set and Finn had to have a bag of M&Ms with colors that he chose.

After that we went back to Port Authority to rest and have popcorn and soda while waiting for Jojo. Fun day!

Soccer Camp Ends

It's the last day of soccer camp. In the 5, 4-hour days of training, I can say that Finn has learned some. He has never played soccer so he's a total newbie at this. Dribbling he's ok at, passing - not so much. Lunge he can do sometimes and stealing ... no (hehehe). But he had fun and that's good. They were given tickets everytime they performed a move correctly, or hit the target or scored a goal. This morning, all the kids had their tickets with them and the head coach raffled out prizes by calling out the numbers on the tickets. Finn won a collectible Giants Blimp (^_^) Everyone was also given a Vikings Soccer Camp shirt and their own soccer ball! Finn is excited about that but I already told him not to play with it in the house ... don't want any broken windows here (~_^)