Ice Kachang Land: July 2008

Done

I asked "What do you think?"

She said "Yes."

=)

Chronological Recap

I think it was a pretty quiet week for the most part, the came the weekend... well the party started Thursday night with the Storming of the Bastille, a mindless 5 mile run around the city of Milwaukee in celebration of the flashpoint event that sparked the French Revolution.

I was supposed to run that with Tammy and Becky but somewhere between heavy rain, shopping (not me, them) and a scrumptious dinner, we somehow managed to be late for the run. I mean, when we reached the start line, there was NOBODY there. And, there were thousands of people running, so the tailback should have been pretty long, so i would say we were pretty late.

D-O-H! Where the %*@#$ did everyone go?

Well, determined to run we were, since we had braved the night to turn up in running gear and all, plus the 2 gals had actually paid good money to run. After snaking through a few sidewalks and buildings, we caught sight of the runners and quietly slipped in to... the FRONT PACK. We were running hard but these people ran like they wanted to WIN, and were going past us left right & centre. We probably would have run faster if not for the Kobe burgers and crab cakes bouncing up and down in our digestive systems. I probably would not have lasted the full 5 miles, so it was a good thing that we were late and ran only 1.5 miles ultimately... haha... that's what i call a discount!

As with all good fun runs, we had our supporters show up. Brandon showed up with his lady Luly in tow, not to run but probably to have a few laughs. I somehow even managed to literally bump into Chris Gilmar from our sales desk at work. I think we all had good fun that night =) .

$20 for that T-shirt?!?!?

Chris Gilmar on the left

The motto at the Bastille festival after the run of course is "Drink Beer, Save Water", and there was plenty of that going on. It was a pretty neat festival with shops selling various knick knacks and live music being performed all over.

Do i get to drink the number of beers shown on my number tag?

Quite a crowd of thirsty runners

Welcome to Paris baby!

America!

I'm 26

Thanks all for the kind words and wishes yesterday! Appreciate it!

And thank you Marcia for dinner!

4th of July

Independence Day in the USA; a day for a grand showing of patriotism towards Uncle Sam. I spent the eve of this big holiday soaking in a ONE AND A HALF HOUR long fireworks display.

Absolutely mind-blowing stuff.

It was so good and beautiful that i really want to be around here to see it next year... but only if you're here with me.

Independence Day itself was pretty good as well. I had a big brunch consisting of pancakes and eggs benedict at a place called The Original Pancake House.... good stuff. Then, i peddled to the beach for some volleyball with a group of friends before rushing back home to meet up with Brandon and friends for the Stone Temple Pilots Concert which was the main event tonight for Summerfest.

When they sang Interstate Love Song, I really let go. One of the best songs from the 90's. Hopefully i get some pictures from them to post... =)

I'm Lucky

And when I count my blessings, I count You twice.

The Boss & the Visitor

Last week was the big trade meeting in Milwaukee and coincidentally, we had a visitor from ADM's fresh recruits program, Claude Diogo, who is from Liberia, grew up in Ivory Coast and just completed his undergraduate studies in Michigan State.

So, once all the big fish had cleared the pond, we managed to take Claude out for a nice meal in Milwaukee at the Blue Sombrero, a Mexican place in the suburbs. Most fresh recruits don't normally go through a rotation with the cocoa group but given Claude's background, he specially requested to be attached with us and Uncle Archer kindly obliged.

He's a great fella and by looking at the photos, i am cocksure that nobody can guess his age... btw, the silver-haired chap beside him is Mr Bill Lansing, head honcho of cocoa North America and my boss for the next... 6 months or so... =)