MAY the fun never end... part 2

After the short weekend trip, Daniel had long crazy working hours (36 hours non-stop) and I had to go to Galveston for a work meeting. When that was over, we were ready for our next trip... Orlando, Florida! It was our 2nd anniversary trip.

We left Houston on May 23rd to begin our 15 hour drive. We stopped at Pensacola, FL for the first night. Bad choice. We booked this 2 star motel that turned out to be very crappy. We had to put towels on the pillows to sleep. We left very early the next morning cos we were grossed out. So we drove another 7 hours before arriving in Orlando, FL and checked into our resort immediately. The resort was so comfortable. On Sunday, we had to attend timeshare presentation to get our tickets to Disney World. It took us a while to get out of there. We met with Tanya and Andy at Epcot Center. We had so much fun hanging out with them. We wanted to have a nice dinner together but those restaurants were booked months in advance. We did so much walking that we both had blisters.

On Monday, we met with Justin at Hollywood Studios. Thanks Justin for being such a gracious host. Hollywood Studios was our fav! On Tuesday, we covered both Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. All 3 days were crowded. We realized that on Tuesday, it was mostly crowded with Europeans (British in particular). There was a lot of walking and waiting. On Wednesday and Thursday, we covered the 2 Universal Parks. Universal was nice, but not as impressive as Disney. The quality of the rides and cleaniness of the locations weren't as good as those in Disney. By Thursday, we were done with theme parks. On Friday, we watched Indiana Jones. I think because we have been to the theme parks, the movie did not seem exciting anymore. That was the gist of our vacation. Pictures to follow.

MAY the fun never end... part 1

May was a fun month for us. We started out the month by going to Washington DC for Kaylee and Joe's wedding. On the first day, we met up with Val, Andrew (who just returned from his mission), her dad and Pace. We had planned to meet up in Chinatown, so Daniel and I thought we were going to eat Chinese. It turned out to be a really hip bistro place that had awesome mini burgers and pizza. From the outside of the restaurant, you could tell that it used to be Chinese-owned. It had the words "Traditional" in Chinese on the top. The next day, Daniel and I toured the tourist memorials in DC. Even though Daniel served his mission there, there were some places that he had never been too. We wanted to see the places that was shown in National Treasure 2, so we had to visit the Library of Congress. Too bad we couldn't get into the library itself. (Daniel couldn't understand why we couldn't go in... since it's called a library...sorry honey) That night, we had the chance to meet up with all our friends (Kaylee, Joe, Yejin, Alex, Sunny, Jonathon). We had so much fun catching up. After dinner, we drove up to Baltimore for the night. On day 3, we left Baltimore in the morning to go to Philly. We wanted to go to the Independence Hall (again National Treasure) but the tickets were all gone. So we could only walk around the outside. Kaylee and Joe had their wedding reception in the Pennsylvannia Fine Arts Musuem that night. They had spent so much time and effort in decorating the place, it was so lovely. On Sunday, we made the trip back to DC to visit the Chinese branch that Daniel served while on his mission. It was fun to catch up with the members and to watch the funny video of him and his companions doing a skit for one of the Christmas parties. Meeting the members that he had taught was a great way to end the trip.

Springtime!

We have been avoiding the yard for as long as we could. Both of us don't know how to do yard work. Now that the weather is in the high 70s, our neighbors are starting to mow their lawns. We do not want to get complaints from our neighbors, so we are rising to the challenge. We bought a lawn mower, self-propelled and electric start of course. We also bought weed killer and fertilizer. I guess those are basics. I am so glad that they sold "SpeedyGreen" to dispense stuff. It is so much fun! We also bought a lot of insecticides cos we didnt know what might come in handy. It looked like our house will infiltrated by the insects. We did get rid of a fire ant hill. If anyone has a crash course on yard work, we would be delighted to learn.

Long missing update

It's been a while since we've posted an update. Since our trip to Taiwan, we have survived the long hot summer. There were a few scares of hurricane and tropical storms, that really got us working on our food storage and 72 hours kit. In Oct, we finally moved into our new home and have been spending every weekend ever since buying stuff for the home. Daniel's sister and family moved in with us while they are completing their home across the street from us. Our little nephew, Enoch has been keeping everyone busy, putting anything he holds into his mouth. He has also been bringing home flu bugs that gets the whole family sick. In Nov, we realized that we had forgotten to transfer the electricity account name from the builders to ours. We had a 2 day power outtage! The 72 hour kit really came in useful in lighting up the house during the night. With no power, all of us went out for Chinese buffet for dinner and slept really early that night. Thank goodness we still had hot water cos our water heater is gas powered. Thanksgiving was the best. Tim and Crystal were our first guests. They spent Thanksgiving and the weekend with us. Moving to Houston where we didnt know anyone, we have not hung out with people of our age for a long time. Too bad it was really cold when they were here. (really cold as in the 40s but the day after they left, it warmed back up to 70s) Thanks you guys for visiting and for the Christmas gifts. Daniel's mum loves the throw. She was looking for one. I guess you guys have most of the pictures so I'll let you post them.

We finally made it back it to Asia!

Our long awaited trip finally arrived. We left for Taiwan on 23rd of May and stayed in Taipei for 2 days. It was so hot! Taipei was the worst. We attended Daniel's brother's temple sealing. Congratulations Jack and Grace! We met Grace for the first time. Welcome to the family Grace!

While we were Taipei, we had to visit Taipei 101. Unfortunately we didn't bring our camera so we don't have any evidence that we've been there. It is a nice place though. There were tonnes to do in Taipei. A member from our ward planned our 2 day itinerary but we didn't get a chance to do any of it. After the temple sealing, we headed to Kaohsiung. As our 1 year anniversary, we took our wedding studio pictures. Pictures to come later. That took up the rest of the time in Kaohsiung. Didn't get to do much this time, but the wedding pictures were fun to do.

From there, we made it to Singapore! Daniel's 1st trip to Singapore and my visit since the last one 4 years ago. It was a crazy trip. I wanted to take Daniel to visit all the tourist spots but there was too much to eat and shop that we didn't even get to visit Sentosa (or Night Safari). The first 2 days were spent with the wedding receptions in Singapore. That was the most tiring reception. There was one day when we were there from 12pm till 9pm. We practically could'nt stand towards the end of the day. But after the receptions were done, we ate like crazy. Everyday we set off to eat something different, although Daniel had ice kacang 3 times in 1 day. Singapore was hot but was a lot better than Taipei. I also got my hair done. Thanks Mel for the recommendation. I love it! Here's a picture of my new hair on Tuesday Jun 5th early morning when we are about ready to leave Singapore to come back home.

long weekend

I wish we had a long weekend but we don't. It is a regular 2 day weekend but it is going to feel long. Daniel has to go back to work on both Saturday and Sunday. Hope he doesn't get this client again. As for me, I just attended a 4-day conference and have to get caught up with my work again. The good news is Daniel's family moved here for good as of yesterday. Also, my brother Julian graduated from BYU this week. Good job bro! My family left Provo this morning for their car adventure. I wish I could join them.

Chronicles

I was thinking the other day about how we got here in Houston and how crazy the life has been for us since. Let me list what had happned in the past year so you can see how crazy it is.

December 2005 - Got engaged in English Bay (In short, EBay. Haha) in Vancouver, BC Canada.

April 2006 - Daniel graduated from BYU

May 2006- We got MARRIED!

May 2006- We moved to Houston for Joanne's internship with ExxonMobil. We think California isn't the place for us just yet. We decided to move a place where I thought people are still riding horses to go to work. I am serious… But, when we got here, it is really a nice place. I won't try to convince you…come and see it yourself. Big city and great food J

August 2006- We cancelled our trip to Asia because US Immigration law changes every time I sneeze (it changes so often) :(

September 2006- Daniel moved to Houston to start his first REAL Job with PwC and he bought a new car (first time in his life). This is not exactly the job he wants (he wants to run a restaurant and sell Chinese Burrito. There is really such thing. He invented it) and the car is also not his dream car (all he wants was a BMW 5 series). However, it will suffice him now as career needs time to build and a dream car drinks gas like nobody's business. An auditor and a Scion will do him just as good.

November 2006- Daniel's parents move to Houston

December 2006- Joanne graduates from BYU.

December 2006 - After 6 month research and searching, we bought our first house (to be built) You can see a virtual tour of a model home here : http://www.meritagehomestexas.com/tours/tour.pl?id=4394&type=legacy&plan_id=3507
Of course, we are always crazy for fancy house, but we think we are lucky enough…buying a house right after college…almost like a dream and a lot of burden.

January 2007- Joanne started her job with ExxonMobil. She is right now a contact engineer. BTW, no matter how many time Joanne explains to Daniel what she does, Daniel just doesn't get it. Her job is that complicated!!!

February 2007 - Daniel's sister gave birth to little Enoch and they decided to move to Houston as well. We swear Enoch has the longest finger and leg we have even seen on a baby

January - April 2007 - Daniel's first busy season with PwC. Sometimes he doesn't come home until 1 AM! Isn't it what all auditors sign up for? He is dreaming selling Chinese Burrito whenever he is still in the office and it already passes 6pm.

April 2007- Daniel's brother-in-law, Ezra, got a job in Houston. They are moving to Houston for sure. And...Possibly build a house next to ours too. Wow...that's crazy

May 2007 - We will finally go back to Singapore and Taiwan for wedding reception (1 year later. We got married on May 27, 2006). Daniel's brother, Jack, will also be getting married on May 26, 2007 in Taiwan. And…it is very possible that he will end up in Houston as well. We are thinking Joanne's parents and brothers might end up not too far from here!?

July 2007 - We will move into our new house in Houston. We will carry a sweet burden (mortgage) but our American dream comes true.

So, basically, within about 18 month, we got married, graduated, got a job, and bought a house. All the greatest events (except for expecting a baby) one could anticipate and experience, we have gone through and done it. Sometimes when we reflect upon what we have been given, we truly feel grateful. Although we really can't find time (at least no in this busy season)to visit all our friends in West Coast and East Coast (there are no BYU friends in central states at all!), we want you to know you are very much missed by the Hsiehs.

And…we do have some pictures taken…just need to be diligent enough to post them.

Dozo

Yesterday, Daniel and I went to this amazing Japanese restaurant, Dozo, close to Chinatown. For dinner, they have this All-you-can-eat alacarte style. They just made it to the top of my favorite restaurant list. How it works is you first order a soup then go to the salad bar and try out their wonderful selection of salad while waiting for the appetizer (which is standard). Their salad bar wasn't just the regular selection, they had a lot of asian fusion salads. Just when we came back from the salad bar, they served sashimi, sushi, tempura and yakitori. Their sashimi are some of the freshest and thickest slices I've had, comparable to the ones I had in Vancouver. After they served those, we could order from the menu. From then on, Daniel and I had tried their lamb chop, teriyaki sirloin, beef short ribs, mahi mahi, yellowtail, salmon, seabass, oyster, king crab leg, asparagus in steak and more sashimi. Knowing that was our first time, the waiter placed those orders for us. We were so stuffed that we could not try everything. He was about to bring out a pot of Shabu Shabu when we told me that we had to stop. The great things about this place is that the place has great ambience, the food came out in moderate portions but all very nicely decorated, and each dish was amazing. There wasn't a dish (not even in the salad bar and the fruits and dessert section) that did not taste nice. For fruits, we had sweet papaya and watermelon, and then we ended with this cream puff that we went for seconds.

Anyway, here's a link for restaurant if you are interested in checking it out: http://www.dozo-houston.com/

It's been a while

It has been a while since we last posted an update. The truth is, there isn't much going on. Daniel and I have both been busy with work. We spend weekends running errands or with church activities. Life is just peaceful and calm. Daniel's parents, sister, brother-in-law and their newest baby will be visiting in 2 weeks. We are excited to have them over, and especially excited to see our nephew, Enoch. I guess the other exciting thing would be: we bought Wii!!! After reading Tanya's blog on how she and Andy are having so much fun with Wii, we couldn't wait any longer and bought it too! We really enjoy playing it. Anyway, that's about as much update as there is.

2007 The New Year

Even though 2007 just barely started, both of us are swamped with work. Daniel will be starting his peak season next week where he has to work late till April. He is not looking forward to that. Joanne just survived her first week of work at ExxonMobil. She leaves home at 6am to get to work at 7am and leaves work at 5pm to get home by 6pm. The hour drives get more stressful than work. We both come home feeling tired and lazy so we have been eating the leftover ham from the New Year's celebration. Daniel's parents left last week to visit his sister in San Francisco so we now have the whole apartment to ourselves. We are still attending the chinese branch though. We started going there because Daniel's parents spoke Chinese but have grown to love the branch. It has been an exciting start of the year as we begin a different stage of our lives in Houston, TX. Keep checking to see what's going on in 2007.

Merry Christmas & A Happy Reunion

We have been separated for a while now but Joanne finally graduated from BYU and has joined the Daniel and his parents in Houston, TX. This is the first warm Christmas. We are now attending the Chinese Branch since Daniel's parents do not speak English very well. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Party organized by the Chinese Branch where Daniel's Dad acted as Angel Gabriel and Daniel was one of Herod's soldier. It was pretty funny. Merry Christmas to all our dear friends and Happy Holidays.

Trip to San Francisco and Hawaii

After our last post, we got bored in Provo. We had a month before school started so we decided one day that we were going to drive to San Francisco and fly from there to Hawaii. We packed and left the next day. We drove for a day to Sacramento, after making a stop for a buffet dinner in Reno. The next day, we met up with Sharn and Eric for the Sacramento Open House. Joanne had never been to a temple open house so she was extremely excited. The Sacramento Temple is very beautiful, standing up on a hill. We got a tour of inside the temple. They have 7000+ visitors a day! After the tour, there were cookies and drinks for everyone. Imagine how many cookies they bake a day. (The cookies were good...)

From Sacramento, we drove to San Francisco where we stayed at Daniel's sister's place. We spent a few days there before flying to Honolulu, HI. We had a great time in Hawaii, it was a lot of fun. We went to PCC, Laie Temple, Waikiki beach, Hanauma Bay, Pearl Habor and visited with friends there. We were there for 6 days and the weather was so good throughout the 6 days. We really enjoyed the beaches. It was hard to leave Hawaii.

Now Joanne is back in school and Daniel will be leaving in a week to go to Chicago for training before heading down to Houston for his full time job. We are going to be apart for a few months...

Up on Sandia Peaks.

On our way to Dallas, we stopped by Fort Worth. We found a Livestock Exchange. At the back, they have cattles sitting there, waiting to be sold. Fort Worth is a real cowboy western town.

We are HOME!

It is hard to accept the truth that we couldn't go to Taiwan and Singapore to attend our wedding receptions. So, we made a sudden decision to drive home from Houston to Utah. Since we gonna drive home anyways, we took a road trip and visited some interesting places along the way. I don't wish to take the same trip way back again, but it was a fun trip. Joanne's internship ended and the company compensated for the all expenses on the journey. It was a free road trip. We stopped by Dallas, TX and visited with Aya and Russell and their cute baby girl. She was so sociable and was always smiling. We are so glad that they are doing well in Dallas. The next stop was at Albuquerque, NM. We didn't know what to see there but the weather was awesome!!! It was cool and dry, better than Provo. We visited the Albuquerque Temple and also the Sandia Peaks which gave a very panoramic view of Albuquerque. After Albuquerque, it was a long and boring drive into Utah. We did stop by the Arches since Daniel has not been there but the weather was not very good that day, so we did not stay too long. So that was our short road trip, now were are back in Utah waiting for Joanne to head back to school and Daniel to start work.

San Antonio Trip

The long-waited trip has finally come true today.

We went to San Marcos for the outlet center. It is probably the most beautiful outlet I have even been to. Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel have their outlet store there too. We bought a beautiful plate home. I guess we will be going back often.

San Antonio's Riverwalk is amazing. Alamo is only for history majors. Well...you heard our opinion. You got to go to Riverwalk once in your lifetime. IT IS AMAZING. YES... IT IS THAT GOOD!!!

Indepedence Day

We went to Chinese branch's president house for a BBQ. The BBQ was so good because it is Singapore style. We luv the food, and Daniel got to play with the new camera. Man..did he spend a couple hundreds on that SLR camera or what.

We then watched the firework by the ocean. AND...this is our first time celebrating July 4 together. There will be many more to come :)

To the world you may be just one person... Not Today

We were sealed in the Mount Timpanogas Temple on May 27th, 2006. Daniel's family flew in from Taiwan and SF to attend the wedding. That afternoon, we had a simple reception at a Stake Center. We really appreciate all those who helped out.

Finally this blog is launched from the Shire of the South. You will see some updates of what is happening with Daniel & Joanne as they start a family in Houston.

Welcome to the shire.