The unofficial guides...

Last Saturday, RG and I were the unofficial tour guides to a bunch of exchange students from Shanghai. There were 10 students altogether so RG had to drive the university's huge 12-seater van. I was scared to death seeing the size of the van but RG was quite cool about it and he drove it really well!

We brought the students to Boston and our first stop was for lunch at the Chinatown.

There were Chinese men playing chess...just like in China.

Lunch was at our favorite dim sum place -China Pearl....and the kids enjoyed the food as they haven't had authentic Chinese food in awhile.

After the heavy meal, we took a walk to the Boston Commons. That day was really sunny and warm and the park was packed with people - in singlets, shorts and bikinis(!)....everyone was out celebrating the first day of spring!

There was free music too!

Fancy some ivy-league university T-shirts?

From Boston Commons....we walked towards Fanueil Hall and along the way, we saw....

The below was an art installation titled "Iraq veterans against the war". It was made to look like a hearse with a coffin in it....kind of creepy!

Americans are quite passionate about their political views! You'll never see these in Singapore...hee hee. Some of the passing vehicles were honking loudly in support of the demonstration.

There was quite abit of activities outside Fanueil Hall. Street artistes were performing acrobatic stunts, break dancing, balloon sculpting etc.

Guess what are these colorful balls? They are gum balls inside the gum ball machine.

The boy was totally intrigued by the colorful candies!

Look at all the people!!

These exotic "flowers" were HUGE!

The kids were knocked out after all the walking! We decided to head back to campus.

But along the way, RG decided to stop by Plymouth so that the kids can take a look at the Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower.

Our day ended at around 6+pm. The students looked exhausted but we sure hope they had fun!

Myu....

Egoistic me wanna leave a mark on all of my handsewn pieces, so...........I went and got my own label printed by one of the label suppliers at Etsy!!

Crazy isn't it? I never knew it's so easy to get these things done. Online shopping is truly AMAZING in the states.

So "Myu" (there's supposed to be a dash above the "U" but alas my supplier wasn't able to find a suitable font) it's pronounced as "Mew". And that's short for the name of my favorite teddy bear called Mew Mew =)

Mew Mew is a decade old...his appearance a little worn (shows how well loved he is!) but nevertheless still cute as a button. Mew Mew has mellowed over the years and is now old and wise. He loves a good cuddle and just wanna be loved!

Spring is in the air.....

Yesterday was such a lovely day with temperature in the high 60s. RG and I decided to get out of the house to bask in the sunny warmth and to poke around in our yard abit.

We were looking for signs of spring.....and look what we found amidst the dried leaves of spring 2009 and underneath the frost!

I went "awwwwwwwww" when I saw these shy little snowdrops. They look so dainty and sweet!

I had no idea what these shoots were but they sure looked very promising.

I saw some new flower buds already! I sure hope they can withstand the frost if it were to snow again.....

We had to look real hard to uncover the little gems. See these tiny green buds underneath the pile of dried leaves. Don't they look amazing?!

These buds are already looking amazing....I wonder what they'd grow up to be like?

My neighbor has a herb garden...and these are chives. And I've got an unrestricted pass to her herb stash....YEAY!!!

I wanted to photograph the red buds but my camera was acting all weird and not focusing properly. Despite the blurriness....I like how the red, brown, blue and green all blended together so nicely.

My neighbor had her storm barrels all set up and ready to go. She uses the rain collected in the barrels to water her lawn. In this little town where we are currently staying....water is at a very high premium....so the storm barrels are not only eco-friendly but would help save a whole lot of $$$$!

With winter coming to its tail end and spring approaching....we are looking forward to exciting times!

Handsewn gift...

Hope I'm not boring you with all these posts about my sewing...just that the weather last week wasn't too good and we had a couple of very rainy days....so I did quite a bit of sewing 'cos we were stuck at home.

TP said she has been looking around for a new canvas bag but the ones she saw were either too expensive or with too short handles or too small for her liking. So I decided to sew her one as I have some pretty thick canvas-like material on hand (yes, upholstery fabric AGAIN!).

I added 3 front pockets and an inner pocket with zipper for her as she mentioned that she likes lots of pockets on her bags. And I gave her bag very long handles that she can sling across her shoulders easily....and I had sewn the handles all the way down the entire body of the bag (front/back) for added strength 'cos I know she often carries loads of stuffs in her bags. Nothing really fancy...but more utilitarian.

Eco grocery bag....

I hope you've all started using eco-friendlier bags for all of your shopping!

I've made another eco bag - its design a recreation of the plastic bag. Still using upholstery fabrics (good for such bags 'cos of the thickness of the fabric!), I added some pleats and a base for bulky groceries. The seams/handles have all be reinforced to provide for strength and durability to carry heavy weight stuffs.

Sure beats carrying an ugly pink plastic bag or "aunty lucy" bag...which are so unglam!
Again, my eco-grocery bag is reversible. Like I've said before, a gal still wanna look good while doing grocery shopping! (my little Miss Muffet shows her approval with a wide grin)
I had used this on Saturday and the bag got wet 'cos of the heavy rain. Or stains from that leaky tub of ice-cream (yes, it happened to me before and it was a MESS!) or broken eggs, no worries! Just throw the bag into the washer/dryer together with the rest of your laundry and it'd be as good as new again. It's completely machine-washable (but watch out for color runs or slight shrinkage depending on the fabrics that you use).

It's eco-friendly, it's sturdy, it's washable and it can be pretty too. So what are you waiting for.....make one now and I'd sure love to see your creations!

Lunch menu - ORANGES!

We really spoil the squirrels and birds over here. Yesterday, we left out pieces of oranges on our back patio for the squirrels....and they loved it!

Just look at how they were eating the orange pieces....with their two hands - exactly like how we'd eat ours! It was hilarious watching them munch away.

Teddy bear....

Saw this at one of the houses today....isn't it adorable! The giant teddy bear has its own little cot to sleep in. It's definitely one of the biggest teddy bears that I've come across! I couldn't help but gave it a big bear hug...tee hee...