Its Thanksgiving Day

Its a day to share the kindness and thoughts. Its a day to give thanks to others.

Thanksgiving ni actually is a Northern American celebration and holiday. Kalau ikut History Channel, the original idea of Thanksgiving is to celebrate the harvest festival in fall/autumn. Kira mcm pesta menuai kita. Its the time when the Americans celebrate and express their thanks for all the efforts. Kononnya it was first celebrated in the year 1621. Thanksgiving also marked the 25 days countdown to Xmas.

But now, its kinda like a tradition where the American family, dined in at their home and festive themselves with the best meals. Traditionally turkey mesti kena ada, and variety of pies for desserts. Normally the American family will dined in on the eve of Thanksgiving day, which is the fourth Thursday of the month of November. Kira mcm "makan besar" on Chinese New Year's eve la.

People from all over the States will travel back home to be back with their family. This is another big thing selain dari Xmas for the Americans. Ada gak elemen balik kampung diorang ni. Tgk dlm news katanya there will be more than 41 million people traveling for the Thanksgiving. Hebat jugak.

There's another new traditions after Thanksgiving known as the Black Friday. It will a BIG SALES all over US. The stores will be opened as early as midnight after Thanksgiving sampai the weekend. We already have our plan with vivavouge and family plus mr Shan to head down to Woodbury Premium Outlet for Black Friday. All of us really looking forward for this trip. Walaupun kena travel jauh, tapi Black Friday punya pasal kami teruskan perjuangan...

We don't really bother about Thanksgiving since we're not celebrating it. However, for those celebrating it, Happy Thanksgiving.

Makan KFC

Mrs mama terasa nak makan ayam goreng. Nasib baik last week ada beli ayam frozen yg dah siap marinate and celup dgn tepung. So far kat sini takde lak jumpa tepung kentucky yg mcm jual kat Malaysia tu. Tapi since dah ada yg dah siap jual kat kedai AlDean tu, senang gak la.

Tapi semalam since stok ayam tu dah low and kedai AlDean lak tak bukak, kena la cari alternatif lain. Kat area sini nasib baik la ada satu KFC yg halal. Owner dia Afghanistani. Cuma nak ke kedai dia tu jauh sikit la, kat area New Haven/Fair Haven. Bas mmg takde lalu langsung area situ. Kalau musim tak sejuk, boleh la gagah mr ayah pegi dgn Shadow. Sometimes masa kitorang sewa kereta, boleh la pegi beli. Or else, pinjam la keter atuk landlord ni. Satu yg tak best nak kedai ni, is the area is kinda ghetto sikit la. Nampak mcm ala2 dlm movies, tapi so far so good.

Kat KFC ni, bukan takat fried chicken dia jual. Mcm2 ada. Ada burger, fried shrimps, philly cheesesteak dan mcm2 lagi la. Kira variety la food selection kat situ. Tapi so far, kami dok beli fried chicken dgn fried shrimp je. Tak try lagi yg lain.

Oh ya, KFC ni bukannya Kentucky Fried Chicken, tapi Kennedy Fried Chicken. Ada byk gak franchise dia yg kami dah jumpa. Tapi tak semua Kennedy Fried Chicken ni halal kat US ni, kena check dulu la.

Littleman's hair

From now on we will not cut littleman's hair until spring comes. The last time we cut his hair was the day before he has the photo shoot in school. Contohnya, seperti di dalam gambar in previous entry.

Now rambut littleman dah mula kembang. Oo rambut dier mmg cepat benor panjanggg... Tgh tercacak2 kembang la nie... Tak lama lagi nampak bulat la tu. Kena pakai minyak lak nak kasik turun. Perlunyer rambut panjang nie nak kasik dier warm sket coz knowing him, he would refuse to wear a snow cap.

Parents & Teachers Meeting

Selama ni tak pernah terpikir pun kena pegi sekolah, jumpa cikgu and discuss pasal littleman's progress in school. Time really flies, and littleman dah pun kat kindergarten @ Forest School here. In our previous entry, we did mentioned about littleman going to public school here and how did he progressing in school.

Last week, we did received a progress report sheet from his class teacher. Ni mcm report card kita la. Appointment dgn class teacher dia, Ms I was set on Tuesday (Nov 18) @ 9.50 am. Dlm sejuk2 tu, mr ayah pegi la ke sekolah littleman naik motor on that day. There's no public bus route ke sekolah ni.


In terms of academic achievement, according to the teacher, he's doing well. Littleman knows his numbers, most of the alphabets, shapes and colors. Cuma some of the alphabets he gets confused especially yg shape lebih kurang mcm K dgn F, or between C, O dgn Q. Cikgu kata littleman punya strength is in maths, as he enjoys the numbers. Hmm.. mcm mama dia la pulak suka nombor2 ni.

Other than that, the teacher is happy to see littleman progress eversince his 1st day at school. The behavior chart works well, as she commented. Social skills and interaction dgn kawan2 kelas dia mmg cikgu puji. Almaklum la littleman ni jenis friendly. Cumanya littleman kalau dlm music class, dia ni tak berapa minat nak nyanyi or dancing mcm budak2 lain. Cikgu dia kata, dia malu agaknya. And his artworks pun agak comot sebab dia suka rush masa kaler2 ni. Ni pulak mcm mr ayah budak2 dulu. Cukup payah kalau part2 seni ni.


All in all the parents and teachers meeting went well. And as parents, we are proud of littleman's progress so far. We need to practice more with him at home. Hopefully he'll grow up as a good boy, InsyaAllah.

Sejuk....

Rasanya mcm baru 2 week plus we went out to the park to enjoy the fall environment. Tetiba lak, dlm this week weather jadi makin sejuk. Temperature skrg ranging between 6-9 degrees centigrade. Mlm kadang jadi negative. Snow belum turun, tapi kadang dah ada flurries. Sembang dgn Joey, kat Ohio snow dah tebal. Kalau keluar rumah skrg dah start pakai baju at least 3 lapis dah pun. Pokok depan rumah kami pun dah botak dah, abis dah daun. Last few days, atuk landlord ni clearkan daun2 yg gugur. Byk jugak bila dah kumpul, bertimbun dlm beg sampah.


Kalau mlm lak nak tido confirm kena pasang heater. Tapi we still managed tak pasang main heater, takut kena bayar heater mahal. As an alternative, guna la portable heater ni dulu. At least bil elektrik tak la semahal harga minyak. Maybe dah masuk December nanti start kena pasang kot.

Littleman ni pulak dah mmg jadi routine dia balik sekolah nak pizza. So, nak tak nak kena la mr ayah redah dgn motor pegi beli pizza dlm sejuk2 tu. Kalau ada kereta atuk landlord tu, boleh la jugak mengorat pinjam kejap.

Kadang tu risau jugak, especially bila dgr dlm news area northern CT and MA (termasuk Boston) kena tornado warning alert sebab angin kuat sangat. Cuaca sejuk2 mcm ni, mula la start rasa alangkah bestnya dok kat Malaysia. Takde masalah nak pikir2 pasal sejuk ni. Tak payah kusut pikir nak ada baju utk season apa. Takpe... sabar... tak lama lagi dah nak balik ni...

Shadow First Service

Monday @ Nov 10, 2008, I sent my dear Shadow for her maiden service at Libby's. Senang hantar kat situ, beli motor dgn accessories semua kat situ, servis pun kat situ. Tambah lak dgn orang2 Libby's dah kenal dah.

Kalau ikut service manual, first schedule maintenance is at 600 miles. Tapi memandangkan cuaca pun dah start sejuk, better get it done before winter comes. Masa hantar service, the mileage was clocked at 450 miles. Kira lbh kurang la.


For the first service, the mechanics needs to run a complete engine tuned-in apart from the normal oil change and oil filter change. And since winter is coming soon, I've requested for the Shadow to be "winter-ready-to-be-hibernate". So diorang letak la sekali fuel conditioner and stabilizer. Jgn ingat shampoo aje ada conditioner, motor pun ada.

The mechanics also recommends a battery stabilizer and charger. Cucuk kat cable elektrik motor yg sambung kat bateri. Dgn benda ni, it will keep the bateri at an optimum power level since the bike will be hibernated in a cold weather for few months. Mula ralat jugak nak beli benda tu, tapi bila pikir balik, nanti boleh gak pakai masa motor dok dlm kontena. Tapi yg sedihnyer... parts cost around $80 je termasuk battery tu, tapi labor cost sampai $200 lebih. Tax la aper la... endup more than $300 gak!

Tapi bila dah bawak balik Malaysia, senang sikit la. Tak payah nak susah2 dgn benda2 ni semua. Standard servis je la. So now, my dear Shadow is ready to be hibernated for a few months, or at least sampai abis winter. Nasib baik atuk landlord ni offer pakai garage tempat dia simpan kereta dia yg satu lagi tu. Ada gak la tempat berteduh dari snow and cold weather.

Beautiful Fall in CT

The weather was nice,though a bit chilly. Nasib baik la angin tak berapa kuat. Balik dari Yale-New Haven Hospital, Anis dtg pick up kat rumah. Destination: East Rock Park Summit, Hamden. Dekat je pun dgn New Haven ni, around 15 minutes drive je.

Once sampai kat summit tu, we were mesmerized by the beautiful view of the park and the aerial view of New Haven town. Dari atas ni nampak la area Downtown New Haven. Budak2 la seronok kat sini. Main berlari sana sini. Harith dgn Amin sakan la. Alyssa yg baru 18 bulan pun sama gak nak join abang2 dia ni berlari. Siap ada sorang budak pompuan ni, join diorang sekali sampai tak nak balik la. Seronok tgk diorang enjoy berlari. Biasanya main dlm rumah je, sekali sekala dpt lepas kat park mmg la seronok.

We did take pictures while we were there. Cantik sungguh la tgk daun2 kat pokok2 yg dah mula tukar kaler jadi kuning and merah. Ada lagi yg still hijau, and ada juga yg dah takde daun. Bila hari dah mula gelap, kami pun gerak balik.

Fall is really beautiful, tambah pula dgn berita gembira lepas kami balik dari Yale-New Haven hospital hari ni, it really makes our day.

Daylight savings time

Today at 2am, is the end of daylight savings time in US. We are now adding another one hour late, which make us 13 hrs behind from M'sian time. Nak ganti puasa pun sgt sesuai skrg nie coz maghrib masuk kul 4.45pm and makin cepat by day.