Monday, May 7, 2007 ;
5:46 AM
5 May
Sat
Finally went for my much awaited and needed haircut... First one in 5 months. haha. not bad, they don't have the habit of making the "wash hair" part a must as in many salons in Spore, so it was quick, good and cheap. Cost me $13, and the young female American hairstylist was friendly and chatty.
Btw, you won't detect too much of a difference cos I asked to keep the length the same (going to keep hair longer).. But I felt so much lighter and fresher cos I got her to snip off all the flyaway strands and to layer and thin the whole head of hair (I got very thick hair). But then dh, who brought kids to the Toyrs R Us beside the salon while I was cutting, said "har? you cut hair already?" when he saw me again... AFTER the haircut... making me feel like i wasted the money... But i told him i would be using less shampoo frm now cos there is definitely a lot of hair cut off!! I saw it drop off anyway, lots of hair!!
Then we all headed to Salt Lake City Main Library. Dh had been there before, but it was my first time. He said it was by far the best and largest, something like our Orchard (Taka) library and the main National Library at Bras Basah I guess.
It was truly fantastic. I love it... But like at home in Spore.. I don;t think I'd be visiting it regularly, too far... I go to the main Natl Library at home maybe only once a year... haha. Likewise here, I guess. Below are some pics. Cos i know a lot of you would be curious as to how the library here is! :-)
There are many storeys (can't rem how many) but we went to the Children's Library at the basement level only. Below shows the main kids' library book shelves area.
Below left: behind J is the older kids' reading area, with enhanced lighting above the desks, nice.
Below right: the tots play area.
Below left: Multimedia area. notice the signs say the comps are filtered and reserved for kids?
Below right: Crystal Cave is a special room that is covered with some white marble material, from ceiling to floor and there are play structures and nooks and crannies for parents and kids to read. Didn't snap pics of interior cos it was quite crowded. A lot of lil girls were pretending to be princesses inside, cos it's so white and sparkly. :-)
Below left: ds1 at the entrance to the "Attic". Another special room.
Below: kids and dh inside the attic, where we spent some time reading. Errm, ds2 was more interested in playing with the rocking horse and the girl, but nvm...
Below: The media section. Oh, they had some DVDs that ds1 really liked and kept asking me to borrow. Like Little Einsteins, Clifford, Thomas the Tank Engine etc...
Unfortunately, this is the Salt Lake County and within each county, the amenities and facilities are funded by the local taxpayers, so are meant for the locals to use only. Hence, for us from other nearby cities, we have to pay US$80 a year for a SLC Main Lib card in order to borrow things.
In a prev post I mentioned the lib nearest to our place wasn't that great and we went to the next city right? That's cos our county has signed an Inter-Library loan agreement with the nearby one, and so using our address, we can apply for a card in that nearby library too and borrow things for free.
Otherwise, we have already learnt that things are pretty much city-dependent. Where you stay will determine where your kids go to school (public schools) and where you borrow books, where you go for enrichment or community classes and celebrations etc.
If I were an immigrant then I would certainly choose where I want to stay, VERY carefully. :-)
Like for schools, they have boundaries and if you stay within a certain boundary, you have to attend the elementary, junior high and high schools within that area...
Which is why I had such a headache searching for a school for ds1. That's another story and I will elaborate in another post. :-)
After the library, we went to Sizzlers for dinner. To celebrate a number of things, haha. One of them being dh having successfully repaired the car air con himself. It's getting hot now, some afternoons are really hot to drive without any air con, so finally we got down to fixing up the air con. Had done fine without it the past 5 months, but it's becoming unbearable now.
No wonder they say there is only summer and winter here. Cos it's just hot and then freezing cold. The locals say it is a torturous heat, but we're quite ok. It is hot, but coming from Spore, it is still tolerable.
Wow, dinner was great, first steak I had in 6 months too. :-)
Ok, then below, just pics I am too tempted to post. Know you already think I'm crazy abt flowers, so it doesn't matter. I had to put the onion pic down. I was cutting them and found the cross-section really too beautiful to just cook and eat it up... Must preserve it... haha
Then the asparagus, cos it is really sooooooo fresh and nice to eat, must show too. It has been in season for about a month and it is so sweet to eat. Just have to stir fry or drizzle with some olive oil and pinch of salt and bake in oven for few minutes, and it is so crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Heavenly...
We love it (me and dh, that is)! the kids somehow don't like it, but i rem not liking it when i was young too, so just wait for them to like it lah.
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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