2010 May 25 - Walmart

Tuesday 25 May 2010

In the morning, it was a sent-off for Anica’s sister who had been in US for close to a month. She flew back to Belgrade, happy with the time she had spent with Anica.

22 May: Anica and her sister

We continued our shopping spree at Walmart. I discovered that the $200 pocket money I had brought is not enough – I was running out of cash !!

After I attended the Austin Toastmasters meeting at 6.15 PM, we had crepe for dinner, prepared by Anica.

It was Twilight for movie night. I watched until 1.30 AM as this is was the movie that had created a legion of Robert Pattinson (Edward) fans.

The first scene with Edward, he is is walking past in slow motion, with his impossibly pale good looks and red lips. He turns and looks right at you / Bella in the movie. Then he walks pass.

We find out that he is a vegetarian vampire which means he does not drink human blood, just animal blood because it is more humane. There is a dancing scene at the pavilion where he looks good with tuxedo with his tie askance.

2010 May 24 - Shopping at San Marcus

Monday 24 May 2010

It was on this day that I finally understood why it is a shopping paradise in US. Anica drove us to San Marcus strip mall and it turned out to be a major shopping spree. With Levi jeans costing US$19.99 and Coach bags going for US$89, the prices were unbelievable.

At San Marcus

We had lunch at Cracker Barrel before continuing with the shopping activities. As I had tennis lessons from 5 – 7.30 PM, it was left to Beh Ling and Bikia to stimulate the economy until the shops closed at 9 PM.

Evidence of our shopping spree at San Marcus

Back at Abi's condo, we had leftover party food for dinner while I heard tales of mad rush to finish shopping before the shops closed.

2010 May 23 - Picnic at the Park

Sunday 23 May 2010

The three of us (minus Abi) went to church at Hyde Park, with gospel singing just like what we see in the movies except that the choir team is all ang moh instead of African-Americans. Then we had a short visit to University of Texas, Abikia’s and Abi’s alma mater.

At the Hype Park Baptist Church

University of Texas

We decided to get some dim sum at the “Get Sum Dim Sum” place, just to taste some Chinese food, the Austin version.

Get Sum Dim Sum place

In the afternoon, we watched Avatar, filled with action, beautiful scenes and romance between the two blue coloured main characters.

Just before heading to the park for Shakespeare in the park, I quickly did some Internet research on Midsummer's Night Dream, the play that we would be watching at the park. Abi told us that the park was nearby. Somehow it felt like it was a 30 minutes walk to the park.

At Austin Park

We had our picnic consisting of the wedding party’s left-over food (yes, there was a lot of leftover food), surrounded by others who were also there early to get a good spot. At 8 PM the play started and it ended at 10.30 PM. It was hilarious, especially the scenes where they were rehearsing a play for the King.

The play was a cultural event sponsored by Austin city, which means it was a free cultural and educational event for us. Thank you, Austin.

A scene from the Midsummer's Night Dream play

We walked back guided by the stars and Abi. Then it was time to shower and time to sleep.

2010 May 22 - Lakeside Party

Saturday 22 May 2010

At 9.30 AM, we were off to the Lake to prepare for the lunch wedding party. Abi had ordered salt-lick BBQ ribs, sausages, salad, pies, Amy's ice-cream, noodles and lettuce wraps. It was more than enough to feed an army.

Feast fit for a king

The hostess and host of the party

The party was held at the Pecks’ summer house. It was a magnificent place, just overlooking the lake.

One of the living rooms

View from another living room

The six of us

The four of us

At 6 PM we were back at Abi’s condo, tired after a whole day at the Lake. We had leftover noodles for dinner. Then it was movie time with Wall-e, a cute robot.

2010 May 21 - Touchdown at Austin

Friday 21 May 2010

Bikia, Beh Ling and I arrive at 5.30 PM after travelling for 30 hours, with transits at Singapore, Tokyo and Minneapolis. We flew with Delta Airlines, to ensure a complete American experience. We even had vintage flight attendants on board.

Abi picked us up from the airport and we had an early dinner at Chipotle which serves Tex-Mex food of burito, taco and chips with guacamole. Our burito was with chicken, beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole and cheese.

Dining cum kitchen area of Abi’s condo

The living room area

After a short tour of Abi’s condo where we will be calling “home, sweet home” for one week, we unpacked, showered and then slept at 12 midnight. There were 6 of six, including Anica and her sister, staying at the condo.

Good news - no jet lag !