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| Saturday, 16-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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Dallas, TX
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It was the second day of Ramadhan. We decided to go Dallas, the last place I should visit before I go home the next day.
We spent most of the time at a factory outlet,  , just before we entered Dallas. Stan found a bookshop which was on clearance and took us two there. The bargain was amazing!! only $5 a book, and im talking about computing book!! we went crazy!! idayu and stan, bought almost every single computing/programming book! as i'll be flying on the next day, i could only afford to buy 4 books.
we had our iftar at P.F. Chang, their favourite restaurant. i must say, the food was scrumptious!
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| Thursday, 14-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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Cracker Barrel - old country store
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I randomly picked this date to store, to show, my collection of pictures of Cracker Barrel store.
They first took me to one of the stores when we were heading to Indianapolis.
The atmosphere in the shop/restaurant makes you feel like you travel back in time. very country / classic - and i love it!
the stores can be found all over the States. you can spot it almost at every exit, when you are driving on the interstates. stan/idayu introduced me to this board game ( i still don't knw what it's called). the aim is to get rid of the 'sticks' until only one left on the board (which apparently is very very hard), by moving one stick over another one (these two must be adjacent to one another, in a straight line) and place the first stick into the third empty slot. and whoever leaves only one stick at the end is considered genius! and I, managed to do that in my first ever game! i dont consider myself genius, im just lucky! coz i really had no idea how i did it at the first place, let alone to repeat the 'step's / 'pattern' 
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| Tuesday, 12-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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Oklahoma City & Norman, OK
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We arrived home (idayu n stan's apartment) around 2 o'clock in the morning, after about five hours on the road. a good night sleep was the only thing in everyone's mind.
The next day, after we had lunch at a local seafood restaurant (they have the most delicious Caesar tuna salad!!), we went to Oklahoma National Memorial. The memorial was built to remember the tragedy of Oklahoma City bombing, occurred back in 1995 [find out more about this tragedy here]
They then took me to Norman, to see the Oklahoma University (OU) football stadium. It was huge. I also got to look around the campus. The place doesn't look anything like any other campus university i've seen/been before. The place, rather, looks more like a town [click here to see OU campus]
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| Monday, 11-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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St. Louis, MO
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Our next destination was St. Louis,MO. We went to see the famous Gateway Arch and been on the top of the arch which is 630 ft from the ground. The architecture, i must say, is magnificent. And the view from the top was breathtaking, especially when looking down at the beautiful green landscape.
We stopped at Chili's for lunch before continuing our journey to factory outlets in Branson. Branson at night was amazing! neon lights everywhere! with big screens and all, it looks just like Vegas -- the mini Vegas. Very cool place, i thought. [read here to find out more about Branson]
*fact* (i learned this from a tourist who just loves everything about Gateway arch) - the height of the arch is equal to the distance between the two ends.
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| Sunday, 10-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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Indianapolis, IN
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After got detoured into Wisconsin last night, we ended up in a motel just outside Chicago. We were supposed to follow east to get to Michigan, but *somehow* the car keep headed to the west 
We went to downtown Indianapolis and visited Indianapolis Museum of Art.
We checked into a motel around 10-ish pm to get a good night sleep before continuing our road trip to St. Loius, MO tomorrow.
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| Saturday, 9-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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around Chicago IL
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on the evening I arrived in Chicago, I looked up for Jenn who already arrived in the morning from Toronto. We walked along Chicago river and decided to go and check out the Navy Pier. The place reminded me of Brighton Pier, but obviously Navy Pier is a lot bigger and offers many more rides and things to see.
We didn't see much of Chicago during the conference as the program was quite packed, from 8.30 to 7pm - apart from the IBM cruise on the second day.
So, when Idayu and Stan turned up on Saturday to pick me up in the afternoon, we spent the rest of the day wandering around Chicago. We went window shopping along Michigan Ave., went on top of Sears Tower, and tried the famous deep pan Chicago pizza - for cheese lovers, you guys definitely gonna love this pizza as its cheese is as thick as the crust 
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| Wednesday, 6-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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Grace Hopper Celebration 2004, Chicago IL 6-9 Oct
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i honestly didn't think I was able to make it to the States. The fact that I received my passport from the US embassy's courier only at 8 pm the day before, was really terrifying.
anyhow, here I was, in Chicago, attending the Grace Hopper Celebration conference - Women in Computing. Jenn and me represented Lancaster University, UK. The whole experience was fantastic. I personally found it really inspiring, and motivating to learn how some of them have achieved so much in their career, and touching at the same time as they share their experience on balancing their career and life as mothers and wives.
The conference focused not just on research breakthrough, but also on issues of women in computing around the world, teaching computing - how to make it more fun, leadership programs, etc. and the social events were awesome. we had formal dinner on the second night, and a party organised by Google on the following night. Really had a great time!
On the last day of conference, I learned about the six women programmers who involved in the ENIAC computer during World War II. It was such a great honor to meet one of the women, Kay Mauchly Antonelli in person. (read more about ENIAC computer here)
p/s I considered myself very lucky coz I've been awarded the GHC scholarship. and I'm grateful to God because of that. I would definitely apply again for the next GHC conference - with free flights, staying at five star hotel, giant companies as its sponsor, making new friends around the globe, who would say no eh?!
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| Friday, 24-Sep-2004 00:00 |
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Zurich - Interlaken - Hinwil
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am - midday = zurich
midday - evening = interlaken
night = hinwil
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| Thursday, 23-Sep-2004 00:00 |
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Stuttgart, Germany
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We stopped en route to Zurich at Stuttgart for lunch.
* for those of you who collect fridge magnets, this is not the place.
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| Friday, 10-Sep-2004 00:00 |
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can't get enough
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...taking pictures of my desk
this time, my desk is in real mess. i have a deadline to meet. i managed to get both papers done and sent to Alan before I left the office around 9 pm.
so what's new with infolab?
screens finally arrived *the screen can be seen in one of the pictures*
ladies toilets have been changed back to unisex *urghhh!!  *
access-card is now ready *look forward to working late at the office - who am i kidding??*
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